See how a remarkable new technology now available at Marcus Neuroscience Institute impacted Boca Raton journalist Marci Shatzman’s Essential Tremor with just one outpatient procedure, instantly restoring her quality of life.
[Transcript]
- [Marci] My name is Marci Shatzman, I am 77, I'll be 78 in October, and I have been a journalist for 56 years. Ryan and I knew each other in college, and we've been married for 43 years. My husband and I are dyed in the wool Boca Ratonians and absolutely love it here. When I first came here, I was diagnosed with essential tremor. I was not a happy camper when I was diagnosed because both of my parents had it, and I just felt like, what do I do now? [Timothy Miller, M.D.] I first met Marci about three months ago in my clinic. She came to see me because of essential tremor that she's been dealing with for over 20 years. [Marci] When I met Dr. Miller, I was very happy to see his demeanor. He's very calm, he's very trustworthy. I felt that I was in good hands with him. [Dr. Miller] What stood out to me most about Marci's case was just the severity of her tremor. She's been unable to even hold a cup or a bottle of water to drink. [Marci] I can't really use this at all. I certainly can't drink coffee. If I hold a cup or a glass, I have to hold it with both hands. I have a shaky hand when I take notes. I can hardly log into my laptop and I can hardly put makeup on. See how bad my hands are. [Dr. Miller] We had a very nice conversation and discussed several options, one of which was high intensity focused ultrasound. The cause of essential tremor is not fully understood, but what we do know is that there's a small area of part of the brain where if we can affect the activity of the neurons in that area of the brain or stun them or slow them down, then it does improve people's tremor, and that's the area that we target with this ultrasound treatment. [Marci] Even though the procedure is noninvasive, they will shave my head. They put a helmet on you to make sure that they get the right spot. It's very similar to an MRI and they lay you down and they just zap it. [Dr. Miller] This is unique in Boca in that it's the only one available in Boca Raton right now. [Marci] I have a lot of people waiting to clap after my shaky hand is steady again. [Dr. Miller] This is our first day of treatment at Marcus Neuroscience Institute. We treated two patients successively, one of them being Marci. [Marci] The idea that the hospital has this machine is unbelievable to me. And they have you draw to make sure that your hand is steady then. [Dr. Miller] Seeing Marci improve so quickly and so drastically is a little bit emotional. [Marci] Look at this. Look at this. I could not ever have done that. And I'm just glad that I live long enough for this to happen.
15 сен 2024
