JoAnn,
The Neurosurgeon burred the holes in the skull 3-4 inches back of the hair line and inserted the stimullator probes from there , for me it sounded far worse than it was, as previously posted it usually is done in three steps as I understand it.1st step is to burr the holes and position the probes in the brain, second step is to implant the brain stimulator generator in the chest underneath the skin (like a pacemaker) and look up the probe leads or wires, step three is where they turn it on and make the ptrliminary adjustments It sounds a lot worse than it really is and it can dramatically improve your quality of life. I was awake and conscious during the entire first step (much to my Neurosurgeons surprise) and had no pain or discomfort .

My husband had DBS surgery started late Sept. His was done in 3 stages, finally turned on in Nov. His tremors are completely gone!! But since has so many other things that have cropped up, & it hasn't helped with those situations, however, he sees Park Dr. June 7th, so hopefully they can adjust, so it will help with his stiffness & rigidity & pain in shoulders.

Thanks for the info!

My surgery is scheduled for August.

it's a little more complicated than that,, they put the sensors ( or probes in on the first surgery which involves boring through the skull to do, then a week or so later they implant the stimulater device just under the skin of the chest like a pace maker. Then about a month later they turn it on and start setting it up. It takes a little while to get the settings adjusted, I see my Neurologist about every three months, but it does help..