• UCLA Health
  • myUCLAhealth
  • School of Medicine
U Magazine

U Magazine

U Magazine
  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Centennial Campaign for UCLA Issue
  • Browse U Magazine
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • UCLA Health
  • myUCLAhealth
  • School of Medicine

U Magazine

Browse U Magazine

  1. Home
  2. Browse U Magazine
Share this
The Cutting Edge

Veronica's Story

WHEN UCLA NEUROSURGEON Antonio DeSalles, M.D, first met Veronica Jacobs, she was “a very sad teenager … always looking down, she never smiled.” It was clear that the young woman was in pain and annoyed that “she couldn’t do anything in life but stay in [her] wheelchair,” he recalls.

Veronica suffered from dystonia, a debilitating neurological disorder that caused her to experience abnormal muscular twitches and spasms that twisted her limbs and body. The condition, which affects some 125,000 Americans, deteriorated over several years, to a point where Veronica could no longer walk and was virtually wheelchair bound.

“I didn’t like my family seeing me going through the rough times that I was going through,” Veronica says, crying. “I didn’t want my brother or my sisters seeing me struggle.”

To treat Veronica, Dr. DeSalles recommended surgically implanting a pacemaker-like device to block the abnormal impulses in her brain and stop the transmission of electricity to the muscles.
At a minimum, Dr. DeSalles expected the surgery would stop Veronica’s spasms and allow her to sit up. But the outcome was far more successful.

After Veronica returned home from Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, her parents went to the garage to retrieve her walker. Still in her wheelchair, she decided, “The heck with this, I’m going to get up and see if I can walk.” She got out of her wheelchair: “I walked to the living room … to the kitchen, from the kitchen, outside,” Veronica says. “And I just kept doing laps around the house, and I thought, wow, this is amazing. I can’t believe this is happening to me.” Veronica’s ordeal now is just a painful memory. Today, she is walking and smiling like never before.

Photography: Courtesy of Nancy Williams
Previous
New Department Established
Next
Drink to Health


YOU ARE VIEWING

Spring 2009

Spring 2009
Printable PDF
IN THIS ISSUE
  • Our Story of Medicine
  • New Advances in Stem-Cell Research
  • By the Numbers
  • Multifront Attack
  • Surf the Web, Sharpen the Brain
  • Small Science, Big Goals
  • New Department Established
  • Veronica's Story
  • Drink to Health
  • Building a Bicultural Bridge to Better Healthcare
  • UCLA Tops in Physician Survey
  • Insomniacs Beware: Poor Sleep = Hungry Habits
  • Nursing's New Dean
  • UCLA Program Goes National
  • Thanks for the Memories
  • A Reason to Love Broccoli
  • Dr. David T. Feinberg
  • Doctors Across Borders
  • 'Thank You for Giving me My Life'
  • I Wonder if We Could ...Donate?'
  • The Forest and the Trees
  • Remembering Dean Cowan 1938-2008
  • Awards / Honors
  • In Memoriam
  • Grants
  • I Remember CHS
  • Face to Facebook
  • MAA Honors Outstanding Physicians and Scientists
  • Bridging the Gap with Gifts
  • Scholars' Voices Speak Volumes
  • Caring for Wounded Warriors
  • Events
  • Chairs of Distinction
  • In Memoriam
  • Gifts
  • Grace Notes
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest
UCLA Health hospitals ranked best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report
  • UCLA Health
  • Find a Doctor
  • School of Medicine
  • School of Nursing
  • UCLA Campus
  • Directory
  • Newsroom
  • Subscribe
  • Patient Stories
  • Giving
  • Careers
  • Volunteer
  • International Services
  • Privacy Practices
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Billing
  • Health Plans
  • Emergency
  • Report Broken Links
  • Terms of Use
  • 1-310-825-2631
  • Maps & Directions
  • Contact Us
  • Your Feedback
  • Report Misconduct
  • Get Social
  • Sitemap
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest

Sign in to myUCLAhealth

Learn more about myUCLAhealth