Crossing the Finish Line

It started as just small shakes. Cary Ann Bailey, a 35-year-old nurse practitioner and vivacious mom of two, was working at Marshall Browning Hospital in Du Quoin, Ill., while studying for a doctorate in nursing practice. At the time, she thought it was just the stress getting to her. But as the symptoms worsened, her doctor suggested that she see a neurologist, who ordered a DaTscan to determine the amount of dopamine in her brain. In October 2011, Bailey was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

“I was in denial at first,” says Bailey, who had cared for many patients with Parkinson’s in the past. “I didn’t want my husband to have to take care of me at such a young age, and I didn’t want my kids to see their mom suffer from such a degenerative disease.”

Last summer, Bailey’s symptoms—jerking muscles, tremors, a shaky voice, a poor gait—increased to the point that she couldn’t continue working. Dr. Pratap Chand, director of the movement-disorders program and a professor of neurology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, recommended surgery to place a deep-brain stimulator, which sends electricity from a battery-operated impulse generator to a lead with electrodes placed in the brain. The procedure involves two surgeries and potentially serious complications, but Bailey was determined.

“I didn’t want to have brain surgery,” she says, “but I thought of my family and how much it could improve my quality of life, so I went for it.”

In January, Bailey had the surgeries. On February 19, Chand turned on the device—and Bailey’s shaking stopped in seconds.

Less than two months later, after exercising each day, she crossed the finish line at the Go! St. Louis 5K. But her goals didn’t stop there.

“I want that doctorate,” Bailey says. “I want to be a patient advocate, now that I’ve been on the other side of things. I never realized how vulnerable patients can feel, even how debilitating and humiliating it can be. I want to teach other practitioners how to work with patients.”