Bill Corrigan

Bill Corrigan, a resident of Hicksville, NY, was 62 years old when he first noticed his hand tremors. Eventually, he sought medical advice and, in 2003, he was told he had Parkinson’s disease (PD). His doctor put him on a regimen of medications—about 15 in all—but, over the years, his PD advanced rapidly from bad to worse.

In time, Bill began to shake so much that he could no longer read his newspaper, write simple notes or shave. He took forever to tie his own shoes and walked slowly and with great uncertainty. Simple tasks, such as drinking his morning coffee or talking on the phone, became nearly impossible. He stopped going out in public because his helplessness caused him so much embarrassment. “I went into a deep depression,” Bill remembers. “Judy, my wife, had to do almost everything for me. I thought that the best place for me was in a nursing home.”

In August 2005, hoping to find some relief, Bill made an appointment with Alon Mogilner, MD, a neurosurgeon at the Parkinsons Disease Center and a specialist in performing deep brain stimulation surgery. “Dr. Mogilner told me that I was the kind of patient who could probably be helped considerably by a procedure called deep brain stimulation. He said the surgery had some small risks, and that he couldn’t guarantee how long the beneficial results would last, but that so far patients were very satisfied. I didn’t want to go on living as I was, so I was ready to try anything.”

By his own account, Bill emerged from the minimally invasive procedure a new man. The tremors in his right hand have almost completely disappeared; those in his left are considerably diminished. He has cut his medications in half. “I’m beginning to live again,” he says, with Judy’s concurrence.