02/11/2009

Trevor's story - Parkinson's Disease

Inside Out first filmed Trevor Mills from Norfolk five years ago. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at just 39.

For an active person like Trevor, who had previously served in the forces, the disease meant an end to full-time employment replaced with a life controlled by pills.

It led him to change his life - leaving London for a life in Norfolk, which he loves.

The symptoms of Parkinson’s, which can also include severe shaking, can be partly controlled by taking a cocktail of pills. But Trevor was soon up to the maximum of more than 50 a day.

Even five years ago Trevor was desperate for another solution. Deep Brain Stimulation involves inserting wires into the parts of the brain that control movement which are then connected to a battery pack placed in the patient’s chest. Electrical impulses are sent to the brain interrupting the abnormal signals that are causing the symptoms. The treatment is not a cure, but lessens dependence on tablets. Trevor has had to wait until now to have that operation.

For the past year Inside Out has followed Trevor as he goes through the stringent tests required before being accepted for surgery.

Then the cameras go with him into the operating theatre at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridgeshire as he undergoes a seven- hour operation.

Only when the device is switched on will Trevor find out if he will get something of his old life back.

Neurosurgeon Colin Watts warns Trevor of the dangers of the operation:

"There is a risk that haemorrhage could be severe enough to cause death, those risk are small but they are not nil. This is not a magic bullet – it might not cure everything and it may even be disappointing."

It's an emotional journey for the whole family and the results are a surprise for them all, as Trevor emerges from the hospital and begins running – something he has been unable to do for years. The operation has been the success he hoped for.

"I see my life as being having a totally different slant on it now because I’ve been there I’ve been in the depths of absolute no confidence in myself whatsoever – I know I appear it, but it’s all been a front – now it’s the real thing.

"Nothing scares me, nothing will put me off – nothing will stop me achieving anything I want now – I’ve been as low as you can get so I’m on the way up now."

Trevor is well known as a DJ in Norwich – specialising in SKA music, and campaigns for the Parkinson's Society.