For most of her adult life, LeeAnn DeGroot has been battling depression. It set in sometime after the births of her five children in her early 30s. And it only worsened after menopause, a heavy weight that pulled her into the depths of despair, exhaustion and hopelessness.

For more than three decades, antidepressants helped keep her buoyed in the world of the living, allowing her to function, raise her kids, enjoy life's blessings and navigate its bumps.

Then, a succession of setbacks over the past several years, including back surgery, breast cancer and kidney cancer, sent her spiraling into depression's black hole.

LeeAnn underwent back surgery in the fall of 2001, only to be diagnosed with breast cancer a month later.

"It was so God awful," says LeeAnn, 74, a gifted watercolor painter who lives with her husband of 50 years, Vin, in Little Chute. "The chemotherapy just did me in. I was so depressed and worn out."

Doctors and her psychiatrists tinkered with different types and doses of antidepressants, but nothing was working long term. Each drug seemed to lose its efficacy after awhile.

Then early last year, doctors discovered a lump in her right kidney. She had another cancer and the kidney had to be removed.

She reached her breaking point last February; she was admitted to the psychiatric unit at St. Elizabeth Hospital. She underwent 12 rounds of electroconvulsive therapy to help free her from the despair that had overtaken her again.

"It didn't work at all," she recalled.

Then this past fall, one of her daughters discovered a new treatment option on the Internet for chronic or recurrent depression: Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy.

Several phone calls later, LeeAnn was in touch with Dr. Philip Yazbak of the Neenah-based Neuroscience Group of Northeast Wisconsin. LeeAnn's psychiatrist soon after approved her for the treatment.

Approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration last July, VNS Therapy involves surgically implanting a small, pacemaker-like device in the patient's left chest area. A thin, thread-like wire, attached to the device, runs under the skin up the neck to the vagus nerve.

When activated, the device delivers mild and intermittent electrical impulses to the vagus nerve, which stimulates various areas of the brain. The vagus nerve is responsible for delivering information to and from the regions of the brain that control mood.

Doctors can adjust the duration, frequency and intensity of the electrical pulses delivered.

LeeAnn had the device implanted in November by Dr. Yazbak. She's feeling better.

"To God be the glory, for the things he has done," said LeeAnn, a woman of faith who has been praying for years for an end to her depression. "We praise you, oh Lord, for all your works are wonderful, we praise you, oh Lord, forever is your love. ... I've had so many people praying for me."

VNS Therapy isn't new. It was originally approved by the FDA in 1997 for controlling seizures caused by epilepsy.

Yazbak, who has implanted a number of the devices for that reason, said LeeAnn was his first patient who sought the treatment for depression. A few more depressed patients are lined up to receive the treatment early this year, he added.

"These are remarkably depressed patients who have severe, severe depression," Yazbak said.

The treatment is approved for depressed adults who have not had an adequate response to four or more antidepressant treatments.

Vin, a deacon at St. John's Church in Little Chute, said it's wonderful to see his wife enjoying life again.

"We were at our wits end with the depression," said Vin, a patient and loving husband who has stood by LeeAnn during her decades-long battle with the disease. "She wasn't doing well, she was sleeping 22 hours a day and had no social life."

For the first time in several years, LeeAnn enjoyed the holidays. "Last year, I don't even remember Christmas," she said. "This year, the kids all said, 'oh Mom, it's great to have you back.'"

Wendy Harris can be reached at 920-993-1000, ext. 526, or by e-mail at wharris@postcrescent.com.