Parkinson's Disease

I have worked on people before who suffer with Parkinson's Disease. I don't pretend to know much about the causes, etc. of this affliction, but I am aware of the push there currently is to help find a cure for this disease that affects many of those around us. Currently, I have a patient named Don Bohlander - some of you may know him, he taught auto mechanics at Pekin High School and was something in transportation at Illini Bluffs, AND he was a race car driver! I can't imagine that because he's tall - I thought they had to be short to fit in those little cars. Anyway, I digress. Don has had a rather experimental (I think) surgery with some stimulating thingys put in his brain and it is really helping him - I can see a huge difference. I'm going to insert a note he and his wife have written to help explain a little of his history and then you will know why it's imperative that research into a cure for this disease go on. Several fundraisers are being held in the next few months to help support Parkinson's research in this area, with 100% of the monies received staying at Bradley University for this research. I'll be reminding you as these fundraisers come up, and I hope you will all find it in your heart to participate - some of them are as easy as eating! Yay! March 8th, eat at Culvers in Pekin between 5-8; March 15th, eat at Mickey's Pizza in North Pekin, 4-8; April 3rd, Peoria Speedway - Race for Parkinson's disease; and May 1, Spaghetti supper, raffles, auction at Goodfellas in Pekin, 5-8 (Tan man and I will be doing chair massages that night, too). Thanks for your support and prayers. Here's Don's story:

Don Bohlander's History of Parkinsons Disease :

Here's some of the facts about Don. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2001, however, we suspected he had it before that. He had a small tremor in his thumb on his right hand. He waited about a year before he saw a neurologist who immediately diagnosed him with Parkinson's Disease. For several years he took no medications at all and allowed our family doctor to treat him. In February of 2008, we went to Rush Memorial Hospital in Chicago and visited their movement disorders clinic where Don was given many tests. They confirmed that he had Parkinson's Disease and recommended we begin seeing a Neurologist. He was tested by an occupational therapist to see exactly how far the Parkinson's disease had progressed and to give us a baseline for is condition. We began seeing Dr. Sunil Chauhan who is Don's neurologist and attending Central Illinois Parkinson's Support Group. We learned of a seminar that Medtronic, Dr. Patrick Tracey and Dr. Katchen were having regarding deep brain stimulators. Several people in our support group had deep brain stimulators and when Don discovered one of his classmates had one, the phone calls began. She encouraged Don to get one. She thought it would surely improve his quality of life. On April 29th Dr. Tracey did the surgery and put Don's stimulator in his brain. On May 6th the stimulator was turned on with good results. Very little shaking. Halleluiah!! We were thrilled. However, it didn't last long. The doctor and Medtronics rep tried to adjust Don but he had problems with his speech, double and triple vision and lose of balance. So, after several attempt we accepted that maybe he wasn't going to get an adjustment good enough to stop the shaking. All was well for about a year. We began taking Don to Deb Moldenhauer at Soothing Moments Massage just so he could relax...even if it was just for an hour. Then, on January 8th we left for a vacation in Cancun, Mexico. While on vacation, Don could barely walk. He couldn't dress himself, I had to cut his food and feed him part of the time. He was miserable and I was miserable. We had an appointment to go to Rush Memorial Hospital's movement disorders clinic the Monday after we returned from vacation. Dr. Verhagen was able to dial in Don's stimulator. He made a huge improvement. Most of the Parkinson's tremors were gone, his walking gait was as normal as it had been for several years and the rigidity related to Parkinson's was gone. He was shaving himself, feeding himself, drinking coffee without a straw, dressing himself and brushing his own teeth. He was on cloud 9! We were all on cloud 9! It was like a miracle! He did lose a bit of his speech and his balance isn't the best but his quality of life has improved beyond belief. It's like a miracle to us. So, that's why we are so passionate about finding a cure for this crippling disease. It's hard to live with, it gets really ugly at times but a cure is near! We have every intention of working until a cure is found! We won't give up as long as our family and friends continue to support us!