Parkinson's Treatment: Artist Regains Steady Hands for Woodcarving

Bill Daggett can carve wood again.

The Arizona artist spent decades creating detailed carvings before his hands began to shake uncontrollably. A physician who spotted the tremors at an art show urged him to seek a medical evaluation. The resulting diagnosis was Parkinson’s disease.

Daggett described the physical and emotional toll of the condition. He struggled to perform basic tasks, including eating, because his hands shook so violently. He withdrew from public spaces due to the embarrassment of not being able to hold a fork steady. He stated, “I couldn’t even eat, hardly. I was shaking so bad, and I didn’t want to go out anymore. That’s part of the depression. You don’t want to be seen when you can’t hold a fork and get it to your mouth.”

Standard medication failed to provide sufficient relief. Daggett opted for deep brain stimulation, a surgical procedure that implants electrodes to send electrical pulses to specific areas of the brain. These pulses interrupt the signals that cause tremors. Sam Cradduck, a gerontologist and host of the program “Aging Untold,” compared the device to a cardiac pacemaker. He explained that the therapy helps the brain reset its rhythm to reduce disease progression and side effects.

Cradduck emphasized the importance of addressing the emotional impact of neurological diseases. He noted that while physical symptoms are often discussed, the loss of identity and creative ability is frequently overlooked. He said, “We talk about the physical aspects of disease and aging all the time, but we forget to talk about the emotional loss, and that’s where this guy was at. He was so connected with being the artist and being able to create, and the disease was robbing him of that. We see that it’s robbing him of physical abilities maybe to eat, but we forget that it’s robbing him of a piece of himself.”

The procedure has stabilized Daggett's hands, enabling him to return to his workshop. He is now able to carve without the tremors that previously made the work impossible. The program “Aging Untold” provided the details of his case as an educational example of how deep brain stimulation can improve quality of life for patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease.