{"id":30296,"date":"2018-04-26T21:22:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T01:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fusfoundation-redesign.storywaredev.com\/?post_type=sw_profile&p=30296"},"modified":"2025-03-04T12:15:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T16:15:23","slug":"ron-nickelson","status":"publish","type":"sw_profile","link":"https:\/\/www.fusfoundation.org\/profiles\/ron-nickelson\/","title":{"rendered":"Ron Nickelson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Focused Ultrasound was Worth the Wait for Parkinson\u2019s Patient<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For most people, gaining 25 pounds over the course of a year is not cause to celebrate. But Ron Nickelson sees the change as tangible evidence of how far he has come.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In November 2002, Ron began noticing some concerning symptoms. These first presented themselves while jogging in the Cincinnati snow: the farther he ran, the more his left foot would turn to the outside. After 10 minutes, the only part of that foot making contact with the ground was the outer edge. Concurrently, he began to experience a tingling down the outside of the little finger on his left hand. After 14 months of managing (and receiving a wrong diagnosis), it was clear that he needed to see a neurologist, and, in January 2004, Ron was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease at the age of 49. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movement disorders associated with Parkinson\u2019s disease<\/a> can vary. Patients may have dystonia \u2013 persistent, painful muscle contractions or spasms \u2013 and\/or dyskinesia \u2013 a more rhythmic, involuntary muscle contraction that presents as jerking or twitching. Medications to control the other neurological symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s can exacerbate these movement disorders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron didn\u2019t experience any dystonia for the first five years of his Parkinson\u2019s. But when dystonia did present itself, Ron recalls a progression over the ensuing years. \u201cThe dystonia would be worse when I wasn\u2019t on my medication. It would almost always begin with painful cramping of my left toes. The passage of years brought dystonia to my right toes, down the center of my abdomen, and underneath my right shoulder blade. I would also have trouble articulating my thoughts as the numbness on the left side of my face worsened.\u201d Eventually, he came to see medication \u201coff times\u201d as synonymous with dystonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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