After having her head shaved by nurses at the Novant Health Mint Hill Medical Center in Charlotte, in the US state of North Carolina, Catherine Klie’s right hand shook as she tried to trace spiral circles and straight lines with a marker.
It did not look good, with scribbly markings on the test paper.
Tremors run in her family, and began affecting her in her twenties. The hereditary condition has since had a large impact on the 78-year-old’s life and stopped her from performing small routine activities that most people take for granted.
“I know for a guy it’s different, but I can’t do my nails, I can’t do my make-up, I can’t use a curling iron,” Klie said. “It’s all those small things that you don’t really think about that you can’t do.”
Klie performs a drawing test before an incisionless brain procedure at Novant Health Mint Hill Medical Center, in the US state of North Carolina. Photo: TNS
But a brain procedure at the facility helped change that, where for neurosurgeon Dr Charles Munyon, the most fascinating part of his work is removing tremors without putting patients under the knife.
On September 29, Klie became the 709th incisionless brain surgery patient. The medical centre celebrated its 700th surgery in August.