Kristin: No Longer Reliant on Others

This story recounts the experience of one patient who is receiving Medtronic Deep Brain Stimulation Therapy to reduce symptoms of essential tremor. Please bear in mind that the experiences are specific to this particular person.

Kristin was 15 years old when she first noticed the tremor in her right hand. She didn't talk about the shaking and tried to hide it. She kept her hand in her pocket and avoided situations where it might be noticed.

Searching for Symptom Relief

The tremor became worse when she entered college. New lifestyle changes including less sleep seemed to encourage the tremor, and it spread down her leg, up into her arm and into her tongue. Kristin tried hand therapy, and when that didn't help she began taking medication for essential tremor.

"The medication worked for a short period of time and then the tremors crept back and got worse," Kristin recalls. "Some medications made me drowsy, or I'd hallucinate, or feel dizzy. For some people the drugs are effective, but for me they were not. I wondered what else there was. I was only 18 years old and I thought, ‘What if I have to live with this for the rest of my life? What if it keeps getting worse? How can I make it better?'"

Discovering Medtronic DBS Therapy

Kristin was earning a degree in sports medicine and was aware of the importance of being your own healthcare advocate. She began researching treatments for essential tremor.

"I found the Medtronic website and learned about DBS Therapy," she says. "I learned everything I could and then met with a surgeon."

Because she was just 19 years old, Kristin's doctor referred her to a neurologist who tried other medications. Her physicians wanted to be sure that medications would not control the tremor. They determined that DBS Therapy was her best option.

Kristin had been making the trips to her doctor appointment from college, a 90-mile commute. She brought her parents to her final appointment prior to surgery so they could understand the therapy and how it would help her. At the appointment, they realized how significant her tremor had become and agreed that DBS Therapy was the best way forward for Kristin.

Surprisingly, Kristin was not nervous about having surgery for DBS Therapy. "That may sound strange," she says, "but I was looking forward to getting myself back. I was so reliant on other people. I asked friends, roommates and parents to do so much for me. I guess my one fear was that it wouldn't work for me because no other treatments had so far."

In January 2003, Kristin had the procedure. It took about six hours and she was awake for four and one-half hours of the procedure.

"During the surgery, the doctor would ask me to do things, like write or draw a picture or hold a glass so he could determine if he was accessing the correct part of my brain," she says. "Before the surgery, these things were hard for me. Now I could do them because my tremors were controlled! It was an overwhelming feeling of joy to know that it was working and that this was my life from now on and all those years of shaking were over."

Kristin had surgery on a Monday and went home on Wednesday night. After the procedure, she had limited range of motion in her arm and neck. She also had to get used to the feeling of the neurostimulator under the skin of her chest, and the stiffness in her neck after the DBS wires were placed under the skin of her neck.

"For about a week I needed help with daily living activities like washing myself. But then the stiffness improved and I've had no concerns or setbacks since," she says.

Risks of the Procedure and Stimulation

DBS Therapy requires brain surgery. Risks of brain surgery may include serious complications such as coma, bleeding inside the brain, seizures and infection. Some of these may be fatal. Once implanted, the system may become infected, parts may wear through your skin, and the lead or lead/extension connector may move. Medtronic DBS Therapy could stop suddenly because of mechanical or electrical problems. Any of these situations may require additional surgery or cause your symptoms to return.

Medtronic DBS Therapy may cause worsening of some motor symptoms associated with your movement disorder, and may cause speech and language impairments. Stimulation parameters may be adjusted to minimize side effects and attain maximum symptom control. In patients receiving Medtronic DBS Therapy, depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide have been reported.

Celebrating Daily Victories

Before her procedure, Kristin was concerned that her tremors would prevent her from pursuing a career in healthcare. At that point, her tremors interfered with simply placing a bandage on a patient. Today, Kristin enjoys a fulfilling career at a hospital performing stress tests and cardiac monitoring.

For the most part, her tremors are controlled. She notices them mainly when she is fatigued.

"It took a number of months before we found the right setting. Now it is set and I only need fine tuning here and there. My settings haven't been tweaked in a year and a half or two years."

After she began receiving DBS Therapy, Kristin got married, became pregnant, and now has an eight-month old son.

"I can't imagine my life without him," she says. "I don't know that I could have cared for him with tremors. DBS Therapy has allowed me to work in a healthcare setting, to have my own family, and to not be reliant on other people."

Next: Bryan

Medtronic invited this patient to share her story candidly. Not everyone who receives Medtronic DBS Therapy will receive the same results as the individual in this story; some people may experience significant symptom relief from DBS Therapy, and others may experience minimal symptom relief. Talk to your doctor to determine if Medtronic DBS Therapy is right for you.

This therapy is not for everyone. Please consult your physician. A prescription is required. For a complete list of adverse events that have been associated with the therapy, please refer to Important Safety Information.