Norman doctor hosts winter gala to benefit Parkinson's disease research

Even though she is a gynecologist/obstetrician — not a neurologist — she realized what was happening. Tests ruled out other diagnoses; all she was left with was Parkinson's disease, a degenerative condition for which there is no cure.

“It most commonly affects people over 65,” said Jarvis, 39, a married mother of 5-year-old twin boys. “The typical picture is a more elderly person whom you'll see shuffling along with tremors, shaking (and) really rigid or stiff muscles. You'll see a lot with mask face, where they don't have much movement of their face at all.”

Only about 10 percent of patients are under the age of 50, she said. She has Young Onset Parkinson's; so does “Family Ties” actor Michael J. Fox, who was diagnosed at 29.

Medications can alleviate symptoms, at least for awhile. Once Jarvis felt a little better, she started looking for a local way to contribute to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, but although there are more than 1,500 Foundation events annually held worldwide, she could find none in Oklahoma.

That wouldn't do.

So she created the Nicole Jarvis MD Winter Gala for Parkinson's disease Research, which will be from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Dec. 13, at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman.

The inaugural event will include a silent auction, a live auction, dinner and talks by a representative from the Fox Foundation's New York headquarters; Jarvis' neurologist, Dr. Kevin Klos, of Tulsa; and University of Oklahoma women's basketball coach Sherri Coale.