Billings Man Gets Life-Changing Brain Surgery

BILLINGS - On a snowy Montana day, a walk to the car and driver around town might not be something to celebrate. But, for Larry Leininger, it's a gift.

For the first time in years, Larry was able to fly to San Diego and Indiana to watch his grandson play baseball. Before he had brain surgery, he couldn't have done that. The 73-year-old father of three has lived with Parkinson's disease since 1960. Eventually, the tremors that come with the disease robbed him of basic human functions. He says, "I actually, I couldn't hardly eat and I couldn't walk very far and you're nervous all the time, shaking just like nerves."

Larry couldn't drive, let alone travel. He couldn't even dial a phone. But last August, Larry got his life back. Doctors at St. Vincent Healthcare treated him with a procedure called Deep Brain Stimulation. Larry's neurosurgeon Dr. Stuart Goodman says, "Surgery involves putting two small electrodes deep into the brain to structures that are overactive."

The electrodes remain in the brain, similar to a heart patient's pacemaker.

"This is a great surgery to do. We truly enjoy doing the operation. We love to see the response of the patient during the operation. Sometimes, it's so dramatic that we have nurses start crying in the OR." Dr. Goodman explains, "When you see someone who's life is, who's almost at the point of being totally disabled and then you give them back their ability to function as a human being."

Larry no longer has to take any medication to manage his Parkinson's. He only needs the occasional help of a cane to get around.

Doctors at St. Vincent Healthcare have been performing Deep Brain Stimulation for almost a decade. It is the only hospital in Montana to offer the surgery.