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WTHR Parkinson's surgery gives single mother hope Mark Clegg / Eyewitness News Indianapolis, October 2, 2002 - It's a movement disorder that reaches far and wide -- from Janet Reno -- to actor Michael J. Fox -- even Marion county prosecutor Scott Newman. And in a little home in Greenfield, all decorated with fun for Halloween, there's Lisa Francis. She's 37. And for the past eleven years, Parkinson's disease robbed a little bit of her life each year. "Some days I can't even dress myself," Francis says. "It's taken my livelihood basically." Parkinson's attacks the body's central nervous system., causing uncontrollable shaking. "Sometimes I can't even crawl," Francis says. "I have to just lay there. It feels like a Charlie horse all through my body." A single mother of three, Lisa can't afford much down time. She opted for a fairly new life altering brain surgery on the advice of her doctor. Dr. Joanne Wozcieszek explains, "They put a bure hole in the brain/skull and they put an electrode deep into this route." Parkinson's leads to an overreaction in a portion of the brain, which causes debilitating side effects like shaking and slurred speech. Successful surgery can cut those in half, according to Wozcieszek, "If you put an electrode right next to it, it will block the over active output of the nucleus and so the electrical stimulation doesn't stimulate the brain. It actually blocks the output of an abnormally overactive area." The complicated explanation aside, when Eyewitness News visited Lisa Monday night, the thought of undergoing brain surgery left her obviously on edge. "I'm worried about being the same person," she explained, "about if I'm still going to have to crawl sometimes." But as she does her best to not just spend time with her boys, but interact with them and care for them like every mother wants to. It's a risk she hopes will be worth it. SOURCE: WTHR Eyewitness News http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=958946 * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn