Pennsylvania woman finds relief from Tourette’s with deep brain stimulation
BRAIN. I HAVEN’T PUT THIS BODY IN A DRESS IN YEARS, SO HONESTLY, I. I HONESTLY DON’T EVEN KNOW WE’RE IN FOR WE’RE IN FOR A SHOCK TODAY. SO ABBY BAILEY HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR ABOUT THE UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE, INCLUDING TOURETTE’S. WHAT KIND OF DRESS ARE WE LOOKING FOR HERE? I’M LOOKING FOR A LACE DRESS. IF YOU ALL KNOW WHO HAILEY BIEBER IS, I WANT, I WANT, I WANT HER DRESS. EXCEPT NOT STRAPLESS. NOT. I LIKE THE SLEEVES ON THIS ONE. ABBY. THAT ONE’S PRETTY, TOO. I THINK WE CAN GET IT IN, I BREAK IT DOESN’T HAVE TO COME AND WATCH. WITH GENERATIONS OF WOMEN IN HER CORNER TOASTING A HAPPY DAY THAT ABBY BAILEY NEVER THOUGHT COULD HAPPEN. WHERE’S MIMI AND THEM? LOOK PRETTY. I LOVE IT, I LIKE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT. TO REWIND TO KINDERGARTEN, GRADUATION. ABOUT EIGHT SECONDS INTO THE VIDEO, HER PARENTS RECORDED, YOU SEE THE TICS START THE OFFICIAL DIAGNOSIS OF TOURETTE’S CAME AT AGE THREE AND A HALF. I KNEW LIKE THIRD GRADE. ON FIFTH GRADE. I REMEMBER IT A LOT. BUT MIDDLE SCHOOL IS REALLY WHERE I STARTED, LIKE HAVING PROBLEMS AND WHERE I STARTED LIKE NOTICING IT BEING MORE PRONE IN MY LIFE. ABBY’S MOM, COLLEEN, WOULD PUT ICE PACKS ON HER TO CALM THE EFFECTS OF TOURETTE’S, WHICH INCLUDES INVOLUNTARY MOVEMENT AND OCD. OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER. SHE WOULD WALK TO THE CAR AND SHE WOULD WALK THREE STEPS, DO A TWIRL, TOUCH THE GROUND, WALK THREE STEPS, TWIRL, TOUCH THE GROUND. AND MY HUSBAND WOULD BE LIKE, OKAY, FORGET THIS. AND HE WOULD JUST PICK HER UP AND JUST WALK TO THE CAR. AND WHEN I WOULD LAY IN BED, I’D HAVE TO TELL MY MOM, LIKE, DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING? I DO SAY, THINK, ACT. BUT EVERY DAY I HAD TO ADD ANOTHER WORD ON TO IT SO IT WOULD BE A WHOLE LONG THING. AND GOD FORBID I DIDN’T SEE IT BEFORE I WENT TO BED LIKE I WAS. IT JUST BLEW UP. ABBY’S CONDITION WAS VERY SEVERE. IT SHE’D HAD SYMPTOMS SINCE ABOUT THREE YEARS OF AGE AND IT HAD BEEN PROGRESSIVE. SHE ACTUALLY INJURED HERSELF, YOU KNOW, BREAKING FINGERS, BREAKING RIBS BY THESE INADVERTENT MOVEMENTS. ALL YOU WANT IS TO BE ABLE TO PROTECT YOUR KIDS, AND YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS. AND WHEN YOU CAN’T, IT’S DEVASTATING. SO ALL I DID WAS WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, I WAS A RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. THROUGH ALL OF THAT, ABBY GOT HER ASSOCIATE’S DEGREE IN SOCIAL WORK WHEN SHE TRULY WANTED WAS HER BACHELOR’S. MY TRACKS ACTUALLY KEPT ME FROM GOING TO COLLEGE. SHE LANDED A JOB AS A CASE MANAGER WITH CONNECTIVE, ARE WORKING IN THE MEDICAL FIELD. I WAS SO HAPPY I COULDN’T EVEN PUT IT INTO WORDS. SO WHAT I WAS GOING TO SCHOOL FOR, IT’S WHAT I WANTED MY DEGREE IN AND I GOT THE JOB. SO I WAS SO EXCITED. AND THEN IT WENT. IT WAS LIKE TAKEN AWAY FROM ME AND STOPPED. HER TOURETTE’S, THOUGH, HAD ADVANCED SO MUCH SHE HAD TO RESIGN FROM HER JOB. NEW YEAR’S EVE 2024 ABBY HAD TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL. IT WAS SEPSIS AND I REMEMBER JUST BEING IN THE HOSPITAL AND I WAS LIKE, IT’S TIME. LIKE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT IT AND TALKING ABOUT IT AND I KEPT PUSHING IT OFF. I DIDN’T WANT IT. I DIDN’T WANT IT BECAUSE IN HIGH SCHOOL I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT AND I STILL DIDN’T WANT IT. YOU KNEW IT WAS AN OPTION? YES, I KNEW IT WAS AN OPTION. THAT OPTION, DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION, BRAIN SURGERY, SOMETHING THE CHAIR OF NEUROSCIENCES INSTITUTE, DOCTOR DONALD WHITING, TELLS ME HE’S BEEN PERFORMING FOR A QUARTER CENTURY ON THOUSANDS OF PATIENTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. IT IS IS WHERE WE PUT AN ELECTRODE INTO A CERTAIN PART OF THE BRAIN THAT ISN’T FUNCTIONING NORMALLY. AND THEN WE PUT ELECTRICAL CURRENT, LOW VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL CURRENT INTO THAT AREA TO GET IT TO GET BACK IN SYNC WITH THE REST OF THE BRAIN RHYTHMS. OKAY, ABBY, IT’S FOUR IN THE MORNING, DAY OF THE SURGERY. HOW DO YOU FEEL? AWESOME. VERY NERVOUS, BUT I’M EXCITED TO GET IT DONE WITH GUYS, I LOVE YOU. SHE’S GIVING ME MY VALIUM. I ROCK THE SURGICAL CARE CENTER GETTING READY FOR BRAIN SURGERY. SURGERY NUMBER TWO, DOCTOR WHITING SAYS AFTER THE PROCEDURE TO IMPLANT THE ELECTRODE AND THEN THE PACEMAKER LIKE DEVICE, YOU DON’T JUST FLIP A SWITCH TO ERASE TOURETTE’S. PROGRAMMERS SPEND MONTHS PROGRAMING ABBY’S HARDWARE, NAVIGATING 64,000 SETTINGS. YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY GETS SURGERY AND THEY SAY, I WANT TO WAKE UP AND BE BETTER. WELL, THIS ISN’T LIKE THAT. THIS IS LIKE BUYING YOU A GUITAR AND THEN YOU LEARN TO PLAY IT. AND THE MORE YOU PRACTICE, THE BETTER IT GETS WITH US, THE MORE WE PROGRAM. TILL WE GET TO THAT RIGHT SETTING, THE BETTER IT GETS. BUT IT’S WHEN THEY TURN THE BATTERY ON THAT I FELT LIKE A SENSE OF HAPPINESS. DESCRIBE THAT TO ME. SO YOU FELT A DIFFERENCE WHEN THEY JUST TURNED THE BATTERY? I FELT LIKE MY LIFE WAS LIKE COMING BACK. LIKE I WAS GETTING IT BACK. THIS WAS THE NEXT STEP. IT’S HAPPY. YEAH IT IS. THESE ARE HAPPY TEARS. YEAH. FOUR VISITS TO RECALIBRATE AND ADJUST THE AMPS. YOU CAN FEEL EVERY AMP THEY GO UP. OH WOW. WE’RE CRANKING YOU, ABBY AND ABBY’S LIKE I CAN FEEL IT IN MY NOSE. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH. LIKE A TASTE IN HER MOUTH. METAL TASTE METAL IN MY MOUTH. OR LIKE, ONE SIDE, DEPENDING ON WHAT SIDE THE ELECTRODES ARE ON. I CAN FEEL ONE SIDE OF MY BRAIN, LIKE BURNING OR THE OTHER SIDE BURNING. SO IT TOOK HER PROBABLY ABOUT THREE MONTHS TO GET TO WHERE IT WAS. AND, AND BUT YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A REALLY GREAT TEAM WHO DOES GREAT PROGRAMING. AND SHE GOT TO WHERE SHE ALL OF HER SYMPTOMS WERE GONE. ALL OF THEM. YOU SAY THAT PHRASE, ALL OF HER SYMPTOMS WERE GONE. THAT JUST MAKES YOU CHOKED UP BECAUSE YOU’RE GIVING HER HER LIFE BACK. FAST FORWARD TO OCTOBER. LET’S JUST GO SHOPPING. BUT HE’S LIKE, I’M THINKING ABOUT PROPOSING TO ABBY. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? AND WE’RE LIKE, GO FOR IT. LIKE, THAT WOULD BE AWESOME. ABBY’S BOYFRIEND, SHANE SMITH POPPED THE QUESTION ON THE BEACH. SHE SAID, YES, WE’RE VERY HAPPY TOGETHER. HE’S A COUNTRY BOY. WHILE SHE PLANS HER OCTOBER WEDDING, SHE’S GOING BACK TO COLLEGE AT ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY FOR THAT BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION. AND ONE MORE THING. SHE GOT HER OLD JOB BACK. WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR YOU, SORT OF YOUR FIRST DAY BACK ON THE JOB? OH, I SAW ALL MY OLD FRIENDS. I SAW MY OLD BOSSES. IT WAS AMAZING. EVERYONE WAS LIKE, HOW ARE YOU DOING? OH MY GOSH. ABBY AND HER FAMILY ARE GRATEFUL FOR DOCTOR WHITING AND HIS TEAM. I JUST THANK H
Pennsylvania woman finds relief from Tourette’s with deep brain stimulation
Updated: 3:19 PM EST Jan 3, 2026
Abigail Bailey was tired of living with Tourette’s syndrome. The 24-year-old from Beaver County, Pennsylvania, had to resign from her job and suspend her college career because the tics and OCD that come with Tourette’s became too severe. The tics led to broken fingers and ribs.”I knew, like, third grade or fifth grade. I remember it a lot. But middle school is really where I started having problems, and where I started noticing it being more prone in my life,” Bailey said.On New Year’s Eve in 2024, Bailey went to the hospital with sepsis. It was there that she made the decision to go ahead with deep brain stimulation, a treatment that was established in the 1980s to treat Parkinson’s disease, dystonia and essential tremors.Dr. Donald Whiting, chair of the AHN Neuroscience Institute, believed Bailey could benefit from DBS.”Abby’s condition was very severe,” Whiting said. “She had symptoms since about 3 years of age, and it had been progressive. She actually injured herself, breaking fingers, breaking ribs by these inadvertent movements.”The procedure involves one surgery to implant electrodes in precise areas of the brain. An extension wire connects to the electrode and is threaded under the skin of the head, neck and shoulder. The second part involves connecting the wires to a pulse generator, like a pacemaker, which is implanted near the collarbone.A post-surgery calibration requires multiple visits back to Allegheny General Hospital, where programmers work with the patient to adjust the amps.Bailey let Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 anchor Shannon Perrine come along with her as she shopped for a wedding dress. She says she is nearly 100% free of Tourette’s effects. She went back to college to earn her bachelor’s degree, and got her old job back. The wedding is scheduled for October.Whiting was one of the first physicians to perform DBS. In 2008, he performed DBS on 19-year-old Ed Cwalinski for a severe case of dystonia. Cwalinski continues to do well after surgery almost 20 years ago.
Abigail Bailey was tired of living with Tourette’s syndrome. The 24-year-old from Beaver County, Pennsylvania, had to resign from her job and suspend her college career because the tics and OCD that come with Tourette’s became too severe. The tics led to broken fingers and ribs.
“I knew, like, third grade or fifth grade. I remember it a lot. But middle school is really where I started having problems, and where I started noticing it being more prone in my life,” Bailey said.
On New Year’s Eve in 2024, Bailey went to the hospital with sepsis. It was there that she made the decision to go ahead with deep brain stimulation, a treatment that was established in the 1980s to treat Parkinson’s disease, dystonia and essential tremors.
Dr. Donald Whiting, chair of the AHN Neuroscience Institute, believed Bailey could benefit from DBS.
“Abby’s condition was very severe,” Whiting said. “She had symptoms since about 3 years of age, and it had been progressive. She actually injured herself, breaking fingers, breaking ribs by these inadvertent movements.”
The procedure involves one surgery to implant electrodes in precise areas of the brain. An extension wire connects to the electrode and is threaded under the skin of the head, neck and shoulder. The second part involves connecting the wires to a pulse generator, like a pacemaker, which is implanted near the collarbone.
A post-surgery calibration requires multiple visits back to Allegheny General Hospital, where programmers work with the patient to adjust the amps.
Bailey let Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 anchor Shannon Perrine come along with her as she shopped for a wedding dress. She says she is nearly 100% free of Tourette’s effects. She went back to college to earn her bachelor’s degree, and got her old job back. The wedding is scheduled for October.
Whiting was one of the first physicians to perform DBS. In 2008, he performed DBS on 19-year-old Ed Cwalinski for a severe case of dystonia. Cwalinski continues to do well after surgery almost 20 years ago.
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