OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — In the same thing she kept to herself for years, KMTV Station Manager Lisa Volenec is now finding purpose.
- Volenec was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's 10 years ago. Early-onset makes up only 10 percent of all cases.
- "It was a hard thing to hear and it was a hard thing to even say for many years afterwards because I had no idea what that was going to mean and how it was going to change my life," Volenec, who's from Omaha, shared.
- Through the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Volenec has come to see the importance of sharing her story - and that doing so could provide an example for others newly facing early-onset Parkinson's.
Continue reading for the expanded version of the story, as seen on-air.
She's walked countless red carpets, but for Stevie Nicks, this November night in New York was more personal.
"For me, my friend Lisa has Parkinson's... and so, it's incredibly important to help her and help Michael's foundation," Nicks said in an interview before the event.
Both Nicks and Fox performed at the Michael J. Fox Foundation's A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson's Gala.
Like Fox, Lisa Volenec, who's from Omaha, was diagnosed young. Early-onset makes up only 10 percent of all Parkinson's cases.
"It was a hard thing to hear and it was a hard thing to even say for many years afterwards because I had no idea what that was going to mean and how it was going to change my life. I knew it would, but my effective healthy way was... I'm just not going to look at it," Volenec admitted.
Her silence went on for a decade until Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie.
The documentary changed Volenec's perspective as deep brain stimulation would change her life. In August, she had two surgeries at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.
"I was thinking that I would feel some electricity, like, zzzt zzzt! But, I don't," she said with a smile, describing the device.
Instead, Volenec describes feeling relaxed as the tension and tremors are improved. The battery-powered device breaks up Parkinson's signals from her brain.
Her surgical scars have healed, and Volenec now believes it's important to share her story.
Nicks challenged her friend with this question: What if she could help one person?
"'Cause I would watch all of these videos and they were people that didn't look like me. And I would go into my neurologist's office and I'm like, 'Who has time to sit and eat a sliced apple on a park bench?!' 'Cause those are the brochures and I'd bring these and I'm like, 'Who looks like this?!' And I'm like, 'They're lovely people, but this doesn't look like me. I have to go to work. I have to pay bills'," Volenec said of the differences with early-onset.
As the station manager at KMTV, she is not eyeing retirement. She is, however, anxious to get back to boxing.
"Because one of the things that can slow progression is exercise," she explained.
With all forms of Parkinson's, there is no cure, but because her device is working, Volenec takes about one-seventh the pills and no longer needs shots in her feet and legs.
And, what she's received, she says she's determined to pay forward.
"I'm so fortunate. I'm so lucky because I have incredible people in my life, and that's what we all want, right? Is to have those friendships and those connections that mean so very much to us."
CHI Health and Nebraska Medicine are among those closer to home which have used DBS to help people with movement disorders.
If you, or someone you love, is living with or impacted by Parkinson's disease, visit the Michael J. Fox Foundation's website for free resources and ways to support finding a cure.