When Joyce Clifton was just 50 years old, she noticed she could no longer write on a chalkboard because of her shaky hands.
At first, Clifton wasn’t overly concerned about her hand tremor. She knew the issue was hereditary. Both her great-grandfather and grandmother had hand tremors.
“We just called it grandma hands when I was a kid,” she said. “I didn’t realize that it was actually essential tremor that my grandparents were dealing with.”
The symptoms of her essential tremor got progressively worse over the years. Eventually, she could no longer do one of her favorite things: baking.
When Clifton’s 10 children were young, she started a family baking business making bread and pies. The money from the business covered most of the college tuition for each of her children.
“It was a great little family business,” she said.
Over the years, her essential tremor kept getting worse. She could no longer do detailed work while baking, and handling pie crust was impossible.
“When you’ve trained your brain to do things, and all of a sudden you can’t do it anymore was very frustrating for me”
She decided to meet with a neurologist, who mentioned an incisionless procedure that can help with essential tremors. In the state of Utah, University of Utah Health is the only hospital to offer the procedure, focused ultrasound (FUS).
Clifton decided to look into it. She met with Shervin Rahimpour, MD, to discuss FUS and other potential treatment options. Rahimpour, a neurosurgeon, specializes in advanced surgical techniques for patients with movement disorders, including essential tremor.
“Dr. Rahimpour went over the treatment options that could potentially help me, based on my specific symptoms,” Clifton said. “After learning more, I decided to move forward with focused ultrasound.”
FUS is an incisionless, outpatient treatment that can reduce symptoms in patients with essential tremor. High-intensity ultrasound energy is focused on a very small part of the thalamus, the part of the brain that controls movement. When the ultrasound energy converges in an area of the thalamus, a small ablation (or burn) is created to significantly reduce the tremor in one hand. The entire procedure takes place within a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, allowing for an extremely high level of precision.
FUS was FDA approved in 2016. Two years later, in 2018, neurosurgeons at U of U Health started offering the procedure to eligible patients.
“We see a lot of patients in clinic, but not everyone is a good fit for this specific procedure,” said Heather Wisner, RN, nurse coordinator at U of U Health “We do a thorough screening process for each patient to make sure they are getting the best treatment for their specific needs, whether its focused ultrasound or another treatment plan.”
In July 2025, Clifton underwent focused ultrasound to address the tremor in her right hand. Rahimpour performed the procedure, using the MRI to guide the treatment to the correct area of the brain. Clifton was fitted with a headframe to stabilize her head throughout the procedure. But first, she had to shave her head.
For Clifton, this was one of the more memorable parts of her journey. Knowing she was nervous about it beforehand, her husband, 10 children and 37 grandchildren helped her feel confident and comfortable. One of her daughters took her wig shopping before the procedure, and her grandchildren surprised her with a show of solidarity on a family Zoom call the week before she had FUS.
“My grandson surprised me and said, ‘grandma, we want you to know how much we support you,’ and he and my other grandsons got their razors out and shaved their heads,” she said. “It’s been so comforting to have such support from my entire family.”
Clifton’s husband has been incredibly supportive as well.
“I think only once in all of this has he not resisted rubbing the top of my head,” she said.
Having this support helped Clifton feel less nervous during the procedure. She was awake and alert throughout so Rahimpour could assess the severity of her tremor and the impact of the treatment in real time.
“The first time they scooted me into the MRI machine, I couldn’t even tell anything was happening,” she said. “Then they pulled me out, handed me a pen and had me try to draw a straight line.”
The fourth time Clifton came out of the MRI machine, the ultrasound was much more intense, but it only lasted about 40 seconds.
This time, she drew a perfectly straight line.
“That was the end,” she said. “I wrote my name. I wrote a sentence. Just to see my hand work again, it was wonderful.”
Having this support helped Clifton feel less nervous during the procedure. She was awake and alert throughout so Rahimpour could assess the severity of her tremor and the impact of the treatment in real time.“The first time they scooted me into the MRI machine, I couldn’t even tell anything was happening,” she said. “Then they pulled me out, handed me a pen and had me try to draw a straight line.”
The fourth time Clifton came out of the MRI machine, the ultrasound was much more intense, but it only lasted about 40 seconds.
This time, she drew a perfectly straight line.
“That was the end,” she said. “I wrote my name. I wrote a sentence. Just to see my hand work again, it was wonderful.”
“Right now, there is an imbalance between my right and left hand, but I can still do so much that I wasn’t able to do before,” she said. “It’s quite a drastic difference between my right and left hand.”
The change has been nothing short of miraculous for Clifton.
“The other day I went to ladle some gravy into another dish with my right hand, and I did it so naturally without even thinking about it,” she said. “It has been remarkable to watch my body work again.”
Clifton, who turned 77 in January, is enjoying baking now more than ever.
“It has been wonderful to go into the kitchen, and be able to do fluting on a pie crust without just ripping it apart,” she said. “My grandkids have won state fair prizes from their pie making. It has been a great family tradition, and for me to be able to get back into that is a real treat.”
In the coming months, Clifton will be eligible for her next FUS treatment. This time, Rahimpour will address the tremor in her left hand. While she looks forward to having two steady hands, the ability to use her right hand has been life-changing.
“It has been a real eye opener and a wonderful privilege and advance for my life...I have said many times that this is an absolute medical miracle.”
Her only regret? That she didn’t get it done sooner.
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