Moving Forward

Post written by Dr. Karen Blindauer

---

Here’s an amazing story where fun and generosity combine:

I like to golf. I have a patient whose wife works for Time Warner Cable. Time Warner Cable has an annual employee golf outing. This year it took place at The Bog in Saukville on Saturday, Aug. 14. The TWC folks have a lot of fun. They golf, they eat, they socialize; but here’s the amazing part: THEY GIVE BACK. Every year they chose a charity suggested by an employee. This year, my patient’s wife suggested the Parkinson’s Program at Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin. Employees bought (hundreds of) raffle tickets and stuffed them in the jars for various prizes. A handful bid on pricier silent auction items. All of these items had been donated. The money raised on the raffle and the silent auction amounted to $4,000! Thank you Time Warner Cable employees!! We will use that generous donation to further our efforts in the areas of patient, family and community education and support as well as make it available for the efforts taking place in the Chris Butson Research lab.

Here’s what’s on the calendar as we move into fall. Hard to think about fall with the heat and humidity we’ve been having. I’m thinking about it because my son has turned 5 this year, and we have begun “school shopping” for the first time!

For the Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Program, September means Parkinson’s Symposium (see the Parkinson's Symposium invitation) and October means Moving Forward: Ride/Run/Walk for Parkinson’s.

Check out the lineup for the Sept. 25 Symposium for People with Parkinson’s and Their Families:

Keynote address:
J. Eric Ahlskog, MD, PhD
Professor of Neurology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, and Chair, Section of Movement Disorders, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic
Debunking Ten Myths that May Sabotage Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease.
Also, Q&A: Dr. Ahlskog will also take your personal questions at his table in the Exhibit Hall over the lunch hour.

Harvey Padek, Master Trainer
Chronic Disease Self-Management Program: Living Well with Chronic Conditions.
Several of our patients have already attended this program and are learning how to problem solve and “self-manage.”

Christopher Butson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin
Hear a description of his Parkinson’s research – Up to the Minute. You’ll have a chance to work with some of his experiments interactively and his presentation includes 3D images of real brains!

I know how my patients struggle with sleep issues. I’ll give a talk called “Parkinson’s and Sleep: From A through ZZZZZZZZZ.” My Co-Director, Brad Hiner, MD will talk to us about his “Reflections” on 13 years of work with Deep Brain Stimulation.

And our newest Movement Disorders physician, Katie Spangler, MD, has volunteered her sister and brother-in-law, Attorneys Kristin Tietz Janis and Kevin D. Janis to address “Basic Estate Planning – What are the tools and how do I use them?” This session will describe basic estate planning strategies and will differentiate between wills, living wills, trusts, and powers of attorney. They will also discuss why estate planning is important.

As Far as Moving Forward: Ride/Walk/Run for Parkinson’s:
It’s a great way to combine two of the top three things that are good for our brains – exercise and socializing! (Learning something new is No. 3). I haven’t decided if I’m riding or walking or running; but my family and I will be there. I hope you will, too.

Another marvelous and beloved activity is resuming in September: Moving and Grooving Parkinson’s Dance Program. My patients who participate in this class are performing all three cognition improvers – exercise, socializing AND learning something new! Learn more (PDF).

By the way, another way to learn is through reading and navigating the Web. I hope you’ve noticed that we've created a blog roll, which can be found on the right hand side of this page. This means that a visit to our blog will be “one stop shopping” to other blogs of interest to the Parkinson’s community. In the weeks ahead, we’ll add blogs we find helpful and empowering relating to some of the other movement disorders that we treat,  i.e., essential tremor and dystonia.

Post written by Dr. Bradley Hiner

---

From left, Drs. Hiner, Hung, Kopell, Chris Sheridan, Vicki Conte and Sherrell Bertoni.

It was a “stimulating” and “stimulated” group gathered together on Saturday, July 10, at the Falk Park Pavilion on the edge of Oak Creek, Wisc. The deep brain stimulation (DBS) team from Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin was on hand to cook up burgers, brats and hot dogs for a very special group of people. Among the crowd of 50 were 18 people who have had deep brain stimulation implant surgery, and they were surrounded by their spouses, siblings, children, grandchildren and friends for a pot luck picnic.

This pleasant picnic outing, supported by Medtronic and their representative Cathy Dorangrichia, was designed as an opportunity to share a bite to eat with special friends. It quickly turned into a special day of gratitude, caring and sharing. The DBS team was represented by Dr. Brian Kopell, implanting neurosurgeon; Dr. Serena Hung, movement disorders specialist; DBS nurse programmer Sherrell Bertoni; Chris Sheridan, DBS program manager; and Vicki Conte, Parkinson’s Program coordinator. Oh, and me. I have been assisting in DBS surgery for five years here at Froedtert & The Medical College for seven years before that at the Marshfield Clinic. We introduced ourselves and then asked each of the picnickers to do the same and to say a few words. Here are some of the quotes:

“I felt like I had my husband back after his DBS surgery.”

“Having DBS surgery got my tremor under control and that gave me the confidence and self-worth to leave a verbally abusive marriage. I knew I could continue to work and support myself and finally felt I deserved respect.”

“We love to travel and to dance. DBS allowed us to stay out on the dance floor. Now we have plans to travel to India and South America for six weeks this fall, and then we’re off to Lima, Peru, this winter to teach English.”

“I am 47 years old and have had Essential Tremor for 40 years. DBS has eliminated the tremor in my right hand. I feel like a new man. I can’t wait to schedule surgery for my other hand.”

“I know DBS can’t cure my Parkinson’s but it has pushed back the clock on my symptoms. I am still raising children, and I want to be as active during these years as possible.”

The room was full of smiles and a few tears of joy, including one gentleman who had DBS surgery earlier this year as treatment for his Parkinson’s disease. He was bouncing his 6-month-old granddaughter on his knee, moving with ease to play with her, pick up her rattle, smile and engage her. His son and daughter-in-law clearly had no reservations about his taking charge of little Lily. This is a scene that would not have been possible before his DBS surgery.

“Thank you,” “thank you,” “thank you,” “thank you” was the universal mantra. The expressions of gratitude were greatly appreciated by the DBS team, but each of us on the team knows that the true heroes are the people with Parkinson’s disease and their families and caregivers, who continue to take the fight to PD every day. Thank YOU!