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Side-Dish Bar For
Old Tom . . . . . . 108

Surgical procedure brings relief to patient with essential tremor.

hari Finsilver does something new every day. She says even old, corn-
mon tasks feel like she's doing them for the very first time.
For 30 years, Finsilver experienced essential tremor, uncontrol-
lable rhythmic movements caused by muscle contractions. After
decades of tremors that accompanied even the simplest chores like pouring a
drink, she says deep-brain stimulation surgery performed in February "totally
changed my life." Now each morning, Finsilver turns on a generator
implanted in her body that blocks signals in her brain, stopping the tremors.
It began with her hands shaking at the age of 11. Two years later, she
describes the disorder as having become "full blown," causing her head to
move. Somehow, Finsilver was able to hide the movements until age 19,
when her mother discovered her secret. That's when a neurologist diagnosed
the young woman's condition as essential tremor, an often-hereditary illness
for which tremor is the only symptom.
Finsilver left the doctor's office with a prescription for librium, a mild tran-
quilizer. It had no effect on her disorder. Nor did anything else she tried
through the succeeding years, including acupuncture, chiropractic and herbal
treatments.
The tremors she was experiencing accompanied even the simplest chores,
such as pouring a drink or carrying a buffet plate. To survive over the next
30 years, she used what she terms 'coping skills," created to hide her
tremors. She learned such tricks as writing and receiving change in a
store while laying her hand flat on a table or counter.
As an adult, the Orchard Lake resident says her husband, Stan,
and children Amy, 27, and Brett, 25, "acted like intermediaries."
When someone needed the salt or water pitcher passed, they
would immediately reach out so she wouldn't have to. A fre-
quent entertainer, she says she would prepare everything in
advance, out of sight of her guests, down to pouring drinks
and lighting candles.
Finsilver once thought she was the only one who
had essential tremor. But a few years ago, she dis-
covered the International Tremor Foundation

Shari Finsilver demonstrates
her tremor tee hand.

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