Patient Profile
With tremors eased, Elsie enjoys a better
life
 Elsie
Leiker has essential tremors. She also has a curio cabinet full of
collectible china teacups and saucers, but they’re no longer gathering
dust.
For at least 20 years, Elsie’s body has trembled, most noticeably in her
right arm. Drinking hot liquid without a straw had become impossible for
Elsie. But Gamma Knife treatment at South Sound Gamma Knife at St.
Joseph restored her ability to enjoy the finer things in life.
At age 87, Elsie is a model for graceful aging. With a warm, friendly
smile and engaging manner, Elsie has a busy social schedule filled with
potlucks, bingo and board-game marathons with friends.
Elsie cherishes her independence, and since she lives in her own
apartment in Port Orchard, being able to take care of herself is
essential.
Doctors found no specific cause for Elsie’s tremors—she does not have
Parkinson’s, though it runs in her family. Over the years, the tremors
worsened until she found it difficult to take hot food from the oven or
to eat or drink hot liquids without a straw.
“I was so embarrassed to eat in public or even to go out sometimes,”
Elsie says. “I couldn’t drink a cup of coffee and it was hard to play
games with my friends.”
Elsie’s primary care physician knew that there were several new
therapies that could potentially improve the tremors and referred her to
Neurologist Patrick J. Hogan, DO. Dr. Hogan consulted with Neurosurgeon
Peter C. Shin, MD, and Radiation Oncologist Randy D. Sorum, MD. The team
determined that Elsie was an ideal candidate for Gamma Knife surgery,
also known as “brain surgery without a scalpel.”
Elsie had the procedure at the end of November 2005. She says she was
very surprised to be leaving the hospital just five and a half hours
after she checked in that day, and even more surprised to experience a
decrease in the severity of her tremors as soon as two weeks after the
surgery. Her doctors had told her not to expect much change for three to
six months.
Now, three months later, Elsie reports that she is much more confident
in public. She’s sipping coffee from her china cups, cooking pot pies,
eating peas from a fork and sharpening up her Scrabble game. Elsie is
hopeful that she will continue to see improvement in her handwriting,
which has not come along as far as she’d like.
Elsie also says she was pleased with one unexpected side benefit—when
her arm used to tremble, she had constant muscle soreness from the
relentless motion. She didn’t think much about it back then, but now,
she’s delighted to be rid of it.
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