Revolutionary surgery turns Parkinson patient’s life around

When Herb was diagnosed almost seven years ago with Parkinson’s disease, he did everything he could to slow down the disease.

He took his medication. He exercised a couple of hours a day. He was determined to stay as healthy as possible, for as long as possible.

“I got a beautiful wife and two beautiful sons … that’s why I push myself to do what I do.”

But as Dr. Cullis, Herb’s neurologist states, “Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disease that makes you slow, stiff, and shaky.” You can’t stop it, and over time the medications become less effective.

Luckily for Herb, St. John Health System is on the cutting edge of treatment options for this disease.

“We’re one of only a few centers in the Midwest that are putting in deep-brain stimulators for Parkinson patients. The deep-brain stimulator is kind of like a pacemaker that instead of going into the heart, goes into the brain, according to Dr. Cullis.

"You can take somebody who really can’t function at all because they’re stiff and they’re shaky, you can put this device into their brain, and it restores the function to the point that they may actually be able to go back to work and lead a normal life again. It’s amazing.”

Herb agrees.

“This operation did wonders for me,” he says. “It helped me out a lot. It has been successful for me. What they did for me, I can never set a price on it.”

Herb is back to driving, back to his part-time jobs, and back to being a loving husband and dad.

Dr. Cullis said that “the evolution of neuroscience over the last few years has been truly astounding. We couldn’t even take pictures of the brain 30 years ago. Now we’ve got so much more that we can do for patients. It’s a very exciting thing for us.”

Herb still visits Dr. Cullis to get adjustments to the deep brain stimulator. He said Dr. Cullis even keeps an eye on him between visits because Herb works as an usher at Joe Lewis Arena.

“Dr. Cullis has season tickets across the ice from me. He watches everything I do. Going up and down stairs, taking people up and down, and stuff like that.”

Herb laughs and says that every so often Dr. Cullis makes a trip across the ice just to tell him, “You’re doing great, Herb. You’re doing great.”