A Life Reclaimed After a Parkinson’s Disease Diagnosis

In the remote Utah desert, Bill Daggett searches for his next creation. He lets nature guide him until he arrives at a towering, gnarled piece of juniper wood. Bill cuts down the ancient wood and hauls it back to his home in Arizona, where he transforms it into timeless art infused with movement and emotion.

This has been Bill’s greatest passion for the last 12 years, and what he intended to do for the rest of his life. That was until the onset of an insidious disease robbed him of the ability to carve his beloved sculptures.

A Guiding Force

When Bill first noticed his hands shaking, he didn’t need an official diagnosis to understand what was happening—his father, mother, and older sister all had suffered from Parkinson’s disease. He knew what was in store, and while he accepted it, one question still haunted him: Could he continue creating the sculptures that brought him so much joy?

The answer came in the form of a chance encounter that would transform Bill’s life. “I was at an art expo and met a couple who really connected with one of my pieces. We got to talking, and the husband asked if I had seen anyone about the shaking in my hands,” he says.

It turns out the husband was a doctor at Barrow Neurological Institute, and he put Bill in touch with Holly Shill, MD, director of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center.

“From the moment I met Dr. Shill, I knew she was the right doctor for me,” he says. “She was compassionate and supportive of what I was going through and had the experience and knowledge to back it up.”

Facing the Inevitable

Over the years, Dr. Shill did everything she could to help Bill maintain his ability to sculpt, but the disease continued to progress. Eventually, he lost all dexterity in his hands. “I was devastated when I couldn’t carve anymore,” he says. “I put my heart and soul into those sculptures. I wasn’t ready to give up my passion just yet.”

Dr. Shill didn’t want to see Bill give up either and offered another solution—one that would change everything.

That’s how Bill found himself in the office of Barrow neurosurgeon Francisco Ponce, MD, discussing deep brain stimulation (DBS). DBS uses electrical stimulation to correct abnormal rhythms in the brain, much like a pacemaker does for the heart.

Bill felt immediately at ease with Dr. Ponce, and by the end of the meeting, decided that he would be his surgeon.

“Before the procedure, I couldn’t even lift a spoon to my mouth to eat,” says Bill. “But when Dr. Shill turned on the DBS device, the shaking stopped, and my whole body relaxed. I didn’t have words to describe the feeling. All I could do was cry.”

A Life Reclaimed

The DBS surgery did so much more than help Bill get back to carving his sculptures; it improved his life in ways he could have never expected. In fact, he’s made a list of them.

• I can smell again, and I have an appetite.
• I’m not embarrassed to go out in public.
• I can sleep through the night.
• I can walk without shuffling.
• I have my voice back.
• I have my smile back.

Bill’s wife, Jennifer, says the change in her husband has been remarkable. “In the 56 years we’ve been married, I had never seen him more down and discouraged. But now, he has life in his eyes again. I’m so grateful to have my husband back.”

Just like Bill has done time and again with the juniper wood, Barrow gave him a new lease on life when it seemed nearly impossible.