Time out with T.O. – A Parkinson’s success story

It was a New Year’s Eve to remember.

It started with the Marquette vs. Creighton game and continued with an overnight stay in one of Omaha’s downtown hotels.

“I got real emotional at the Creighton game,” Terry Tonkin said. “It was amazing that I was able to go to the game.”

We’ve told Tonkin’s story before. The 71-year-old Omahan has been battling Parkinson’s disease since 2000.

UNMC’s Skate-a-thon for Parkinson’s begins Friday! See sidebar for registration information or to watch the event live.

By the end of 2012, the tremors had gotten so bad that life had ceased to be much fun. Attending a Creighton game was a major undertaking. Going to a restaurant — a chore.

It’s tough to go out in public when your hands are shaking constantly.

But things changed dramatically for Tonkin last January when UNMC neurosurgeon Ken Follett, M.D., performed deep brain stimulation surgery on him at The Nebraska Medical Center.

Not all Parkinson’s patients are candidates for deep brain stimulation surgery. Tonkin’s UNMC neurologist Dan Murman, M.D., was confident that it would help Tonkin.

“As brain surgery goes, it is considered relatively minor,” Dr. Murman said. “With Parkinson’s, certain parts of the brain are overactive. It’s all about knowing the circuitry of the brain and identifying those areas that need to be targeted – and then doing so very precisely.”

“This is the expected outcome. It’s not the exception.” Dan Murman, M.D.

Minor surgery, huh? It involved drilling two holes in the top of Tonkin’s head and connecting wires in his brain to a pacemaker-like device near his collarbone – all while he was conscious.

Talk about a game changer.

The results were almost immediate. “The tremors are 99 percent gone or they are hiding some place,” Tonkin said. “They can keep hiding.”

It’s no surprise to Dr. Murman. “This is the expected outcome,” he said. “It’s not the exception.”

For Tonkin’s wife of 48 years, Judy, it’s been nothing short of a miracle.

“We feel very blessed. It has changed our life,” she said. “Before the surgery, we were limited to what we could do, where we could go. We were much more homebound.

“Now, we’re back to being normal people. Terry smiles more and his disposition is better. For our children, it feels like their dad is back.”

The Tonkins welcomed 2014 with a Creighton victory and kept the celebration going until 2 a.m. with family and friends back at the hotel.

A night to remember . . . no doubt.