Ukrainian War Refugee Finds Peace and Parkinson’s Relief in Her New Home

At her child’s New Jersey home this winter, Tetiana Zaitseva knits, makes herself tea and bakes goodies for her grandchildren. These are all things she couldn’t do just a few months ago.

Tetiana was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2008. Tremors, or involuntary shaking, caused by the condition had become so bad she couldn’t do anything.

“With Parkinson’s, if something happens, she’s unable to dial and call somebody because she’s shaking,” says Tetiana’s daughter, Anastasia. “She cannot unlock the phone. She cannot text or call.”

Life-Changing Treatment

But everything changed for Tetiana in September 2024 when she underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) at the Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.

DBS is a therapy that requires surgery to put thin wires in the brain, says Shabbar Danish, M.D., the neurosurgeon who performed Tetiana’s DBS procedure. The wires connect to a battery placed underneath the skin below the collarbone. The system delivers electrical stimulation to the area of the brain that causes tremors.

A few weeks after the surgery, the movement disorder team at Jersey Shore turned the battery on and adjusted it with a wireless software program to relieve Tetiana’s symptoms.

“This therapy has been around for almost 40 years,” says Dr. Danish, who is chair of Neurosurgery at Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. “While people may be nervous about the operation, all of the data tells us that people who are good candidates for it should have this surgery because they do much better the sooner they have it.”

A Struggle for Survival

Tetiana and her family had been hoping for years that some treatment would allow her to regain some of her function and independence.

Tetiana was working as a nurse in her home country, Ukraine, when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. She took medication, but as it became less and less effective, her tremors got worse. She traveled outside Ukraine seeking more effective treatment but only managed to receive even higher doses of her medication.

Then, Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

“You are living your beautiful life. You are happy. You live in a beautiful city with all your friends and family. And then one day, at 4:30 in the morning, you wake up from explosions,” says Anastasia.

Tetiana and her family lived in strangers’ basements as they fought to survive and cross the Ukrainian border into Moldova. Food and gas were scarce, as were the medications Tetiana needed.

Given the dire situation, the family decided Tetiana, who does not speak English, would travel with her daughter, Anastasia and her family to the United States, where they had family. Tetiana’s husband remained in Ukraine to care for his elderly parents.

A Refuge and New Life

Once safely in the U.S., Anastasia got her mother an appointment at Jersey Shore, where they learned Tetiana was a good candidate for DBS. Six months later, Tetiana had the surgery, and her life changed.

“While the surgery does not slow down the progression of the disease, it can improve a patient’s quality of life,” saysDana Dolce, AGACNP, BC, network modulation program manager and nurse practitioner, who works with Tetiana to manage her Parkinson’s symptoms.

However, for now, and hopefully for many years to come, DBS has given Tetiana her life back. “Her tremor is greatly suppressed, and we’re working on making her walk a little faster,” Dana says.

“This surgery is one of the best things that happened in my life,” Tetiana says through a translator. “It changed my life.”