From Gatorade to The Quaker Oats Company, I’ve worked at some of the biggest companies, focused on clinical research that links exercise and nutrition parameters in health and athletic performance. As a nutritional biochemist and scientific researcher, I worked to understand how our bodies work and what happens when they stop functioning the way they should.

In 2013, I received the sobering news that I had Parkinson’s disease (PD). Like most people with PD, after I was initially diagnosed, I wanted to understand the long-term implications of this  progressive disease. As a former researcher, I began searching for answers.

My initial thoughts and feelings were about how my health would change and how PD would affect my family. I worried about keeping up with my daily routine, driving my sons to practice, working around the house or golfing — things many people take for granted.

Over the last 10 years, I’ve grasped how PD affects me, my family and lifestyle. My PD is tremor-predominant, but I deal with slowness and other non-movement symptoms, like low energy and sleep disturbances. It continues to be a challenge, but I’m taking it one day at a time.

Tracking Progress

Just over a year ago, my engineer son began working for Rune Labs, a company that created an app called StrivePD that helps people with PD track exercise, symptoms, medications, treatment side effects and sleep behavior. As a former PhD-level scientist, I can appreciate the data and its insights. My son asked me to try the app, so I did.

My outlook on PD has changed after using the app for just a few months. I feel I have more control over my disease, allowing more time to do things I love, like spending time with my family. It has improved my medication timing, workouts and dietary decisions. Since it links to my AppleWatch, it takes no conscious effort.

While Parkinson’s remains a struggle, StrivePD has helped me realize the importance of exercise and how it dramatically reduces my mobility issues. It motivates me to stretch, lift weights, complete core workouts and visit my physical therapist twice a week. Exercise has dramatically reduced my symptoms and helps me control them.

Looking Toward the Future

As I continue to use StrivePD, I plan to share my data with my clinician to better understand how my daily routine affects my disease, specifically exercise and how I can improve my energy and sleep. It can be daunting to encapsulate months of my disease experience in a one-hour visit. StrivePD helps capture symptom changes and a bigger picture of how things are going. I am proud of how my son continues to help build StrivePD so that people like me can better manage this disease.

Energy with exercise. After a decade of dealing with Parkinson’s, that has become my mantra. Exercise gives me the energy to go about my day and helps keep me alert. I urge my fellow PD community to have a goal and not let this disease control you.

Learn more about Parkinson’s and Exercise. Explore our Fitness Friday exercise classes you can try on-demand from home. 

I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) in March 2021. I do my best to stay healthy and positive, while encouraging others in the PD community to do the same. I applied to be a Parkinson's Foundation Ambassador because I'm passionate about sharing information and helping others on this journey. I am also currently the Virginia Ambassador with the Davis Phinney Foundation, and I was recently invited to be an ambassador with the PMD Alliance.

I have a YouTube channel where I share my efforts for living well with PD, including exercise and motivational videos. I hope my videos inspire other people in the Parkinson’s community to keep moving and stay positive! I pledge to donate 50% of the channel's revenue to Parkinson's research.

In April of this year, I started my polymer clay jewelry business. I donate 50% of my jewelry sales to Parkinson's research as well. I'm excited to continue raising awareness for PD with this new venture! As of July, I've been able to donate over $800 help this cause.

I have been married 31 years. My husband and I have two sons, who are both married, and one grandson. My family is my greatest blessing and I'm grateful for their love and support with all my activities in the Parkinson's community. Our grandson turned three this year and has become aware of my tremor, so I published a children's book called "Grammy Has Parkinson's." I hope this book helps alleviate some of the mystery and concern children may have regarding family members dealing with this disease. I plan to also donate 50% of book sales to Parkinson's research. I still work full-time and aside from my activities in the PD community, I love spending time with family, hiking in our national parks, doing jigsaw puzzles and crafting. I'm proud to be a part of the Parkinson's community and know I'm in the company of brave, resilient warriors!

Get involved in the PD community by raising awareness and funds. Create your own fundraiser today!

My journey with Parkinson’s disease (PD) began a couple of years before my official diagnosis. I was 57 years old. My first thought that I may have Parkinson’s occurred when a colleague asked me why my hand was shaking. I thought that my sugar level was low, so I went and got a Coke. I now know the tremors in my right hand were not due to decreased sugar levels.

I had other symptoms as well, including cramping and fatigue. My handwriting also changed dramatically and became very small, sloppy and sometimes unreadable. I’ve had to retrain myself to write slowly and legibly. Additionally, my sleeping pattern changed and my right arm stopped swinging when I walked.

About a month or so later, I was at my annual physical and I mentioned the hand tremor to my primary care physician. She asked me to hold my hands out, and eventually said she wanted me to see a neurologist. At that moment, I knew I had Parkinson’s. I made an appointment. After a two-hour assessment, the prognosis was that I had young-onset Parkinson’s disease (YOPD). February 21, 2017, became my Parkinversary.

Even though I thought I had PD before my diagnosis, I was still in shock. I was scared; the more I read, the worse I felt. But one day, I decided to change my mindset and embrace my diagnosis. I did more research and got involved with the Maryland Association for Parkinson’s Support, eventually becoming a board member. This experience led to me to learn about the Parkinson’s Foundation and Moving Day, A Walk for Parkinson’s. I attended Moving Day Baltimore with my family; it was a great, educational experience.

I ended up taking early retirement due to my demanding, stressful, high-pressure and high anxiety job. Working only made my symptoms more noticeable and advanced my disease progression.

Six years later, now at 62 years old, my progression has slowed. I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in! We moved to South Carolina, and I found a gym that offers Rock Steady Boxing. I organized a team for Moving Day Charleston, recruiting the twelve people in my boxing class as team members. Our team raised more than $5,000 to help the Parkinson’s community!

Now I work out about five times per week — Monday, Wednesday and Friday I start with a 30-to-45-minute stationary bike ride or some other cardio workout, and then I go to a Rock Steady Boxing class for about 75 minutes. Tuesday and Thursday, I work out at home for about 60 to 90 minutes. Saturday and Sunday, I do a lot of walking. Exercise is the best non-prescription medication for Parkinson’s disease ­— you don’t need a referral. I also enjoy taking walks with my wife, who is my extra set of eyes and ears.

I take my Parkinson’s medication as well as anxiety medication. For hobbies, I enjoy cooking (especially grilling) to make healthy meals, as well as going to concerts and tending to my vegetable garden. I make time for family, friends and myself. I also talk to people who are newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s and help them realize that living with PD is an adjustment, but life is not over. Parkinson’s is not a death sentence; if managed correctly, you can still have a good quality of life.

PD taught me that a positive attitude will go a long way, and that we should live life to the fullest. We are all Parkinson’s Warriors, always fighting, always courageous and always surviving. Parkinson’s disease will not define us — our courage and strength will! Keep up the fight!

We Care. We Fight. We Move. Find a Moving Day event near you.

On a Thursday evening in March 2007, one of my clients called and asked if I could travel from my home in Florida and be in California by noon the following day. He assured me that I would be home four days later.

As it turned out, I returned home six weeks later having closed one of the most complicated, contentious and stressful transactions of my legal career. By the time I finally made it back to Miami, FL, I realized that I had lost the ability to write my name and typing was all but impossible.

After seeing my general practitioner and an orthopedic doctor, I found myself at a neurologist. When the neurologist asked, “What can I do for you today”? I just laughed and I said “I think I have that disease — carpal tunnel syndrome.” He laughed back and said, “You have Parkinson’s disease.” He put the medication Azilect in my hand and said “Take this and if it works, then we will know that I am right.”

Little did I know that that was to be the beginning of this adventure that 16 years later I know to be Parkinson’s disease (PD).

I had heard about Parkinson’s disease, but no one in my family had it. In fact, I didn’t know anyone who had Parkinson’s disease. Thankfully, I didn’t have the crushing depression or debilitating anger that many people experience upon being diagnosed. I suspect that I didn’t know better, but I acknowledge that those reactions are real and must be addressed early in the diagnosis.

That’s where a referral to the Parkinson’s Foundation can be life changing. Through its initiative for those newly diagnosed, the Foundation fills the void of critical information most people with PD lack regarding their recent diagnosis. Often times, the diagnosing physician is too busy to provide a sufficient explanation on how to live a quality life with Parkinson’s disease.

Shortly after I was diagnosed, I was introduced to the Parkinson’s Foundation. My wife and I were invited to participate in a weeklong retreat for those newly diagnosed and their care partners. There, my wife and I became yoga fanatics. It was that introduction by the Foundation to the power of exercise in the fight against Parkinson’s that forever changed the trajectory of the disease for me.

Since my first encounter, I have been continuously engaged with the Foundation. I have participated in virtually every Moving Day Miami. I’ve spoken on behalf of the Foundation at many events.

It was that early introduction to the Parkinson’s Foundation, however, and their vast resources of information and support, as well as an incredible community of like-minded people, that really attracted me to the Parkinson’s Foundation. The mission of the Foundation to make life better today for people living with Parkinson’s all while advancing research toward a cure really resonates with me.

I have spent the last several months traveling across the country with my friend, Scott Rider, filming a documentary for a project titled Parkinson’s Across America. Our hope is to provide an informative, yet personal look at what it means to be living with Parkinson’s and to remind people that they can live long and productive lives despite their diagnosis.

While many of the people I have met share stories that include aspects of tremendous heartbreak and difficulty, each offers incredible hope and encouragement to those of us in the Parkinson’s community. One of the common sentiments that resonates so clearly with me is that, despite the difficulty that people living with Parkinson’s disease cope with every day, there is an incredible sense of gratitude for people, like the people at the Parkinson’s Foundation, who make it their life’s work helping people with Parkinson’s live better lives today.

The people of the Parkinson’s Foundation share a passion and commitment for making life better for people living with Parkinson’s that is unrivaled. Without a doubt, they are changing lives. I’m here to tell you that they certainly have changed my life and, for that, I am eternally grateful.

To be associated with an organization that is truly making a difference in people’s lives every day is an honor and a privilege. I am sincerely honored and humbled to be selected as the Paul Oreffice Volunteer of the Year.

Jim is a Parkinson’s Foundation volunteer who received our Paul Oreffice Volunteer of the Year Award in 2023. Meet  our top volunteers and explore ways to get involved today.

I was a globe-trotting, corporate science professional with a year-round list of active hobbies — cycling, fly fishing, hiking, backpacking, bird hunting and cross-country skiing to name a few. My earliest Parkinson’s disease (PD) symptoms were subtle and wouldn't have raised suspicions to anyone not already thinking about PD. First, I experienced difficult bowel movements and odd toe and foot cramps. At 50 years old (and seemingly out of nowhere), I developed a foot drag which I attributed to a disc issue.

At 58 years old, my local neurologist added the term Parkinsonism to my health profile. Two years later, a different doctor — this time a movement disorders specialist — diagnosed me with Parkinson’s with 99% certainty. He asked me why I waited so long to see him, and I responded that I thought my symptoms were a result of a lower back problem. In truth, I was embarrassed and afraid of receiving a PD diagnosis. I thought it meant my life as I knew it was over.

Over the next decade, I would experience all the more life-changing impacts of Parkinson’s. To my wife and friends, the symptoms had been obvious. I continued to blame my back until I turned 60, when the symptoms progressed so fast that I was unable to ride a bike or wade a rocky trout stream.

After I began responding to PD medication, I fought back with a vengeance. I enrolled in a yoga class to counter the stiffness. I resumed my guitar practice to work on manual dexterity. I joined a table tennis league to improve agility and reflexes. I got on my road bike, and by late summer I was back to pre-PD form. I competed in a fly-fishing tournament and waded rushing mountain rivers. Nine months after I my diagnosis, my neurologist told me that if I weren’t his patient, he wouldn’t suspect I have Parkinson’s. I was back!

It hasn’t been all roses since then. I live in Central Pennsylvania and there isn’t a movement disorders specialist within 100 miles, so I’ve figured out a lot about managing the disease on my own. I subscribed to a Parkinson’s research journal to stay up to date on medical advances. I monitor my symptoms and ask for medication tweaks when things aren’t working right. I continue to modify my physical therapy program when something stops working or a new symptom develops.

I discovered the Parkinson’s Foundation about a year ago. Their online resources helped me make sense of my PD history. I watched remarkable videos that opened my mind to new knowledge about the disease. I wish I had known about the Foundation ten years earlier.

I recently became a Parkinson’s Foundation Ambassador. I am retired now and have decided to devote my volunteer efforts to helping the PD community in Central Pennsylvania, which has low access to specialized Parkinson’s care. I am engaging with senior care facilities by delivering educational materials, familiarizing staff with the Parkinson’s Foundation website and connecting facility leadership with the organization so they can benefit directly from the excellent resources the Foundation provides. 

Nobody should have to navigate this disease on their own.

You can make a difference in the PD community. Become a Parkinson’s Foundation Ambassador today.

Six years ago, I was a 53-year-old man, in great shape, a successful realtor and caregiver to my partner of 25 years. I started noticing changes in my ability to run, walk and write and I suffered from a tremor in my right hand. I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Having so many responsibilities already, focusing on Parkinson’s was not at the forefront of my life. After my partner passed away, I realized that I had let the PD symptoms take over.

Everything I read focused on the fact that Parkinson’s was a progressive disease, and that I wasn't going to get any better. I wasted the next 4 years, having given up hope. I woke up one day and decided that I wasn't going to go down without a fight. While searching online for information about PD, I came across the Parkinson’s Foundation website. The Foundation’s resources helped me learn more about PD symptoms. From there, I decided that instead of looking at Parkinson’s symptoms as a whole, I could break them out individually and slowly work on getting better. 

My worst symptom was stiffness in my right leg and foot. I could barely walk a half block without experiencing pain. I had a gym at my disposal but quickly realized that due to my symptoms, the treadmill was not an option for me. I then noticed the rowing machine — specifically the foot straps. The straps would keep my foot from "wandering" so I could get in a workout.

Fast forward six months later: I lost 13 pounds, and I am rowing 5,000 meters a day without pain! It took a few months to get over the hump regarding pain. I no longer have tremors. I look great for a 58-year-old man. I walk 2 hours every morning and have taken up juggling to enhance my hand-eye coordination!

Through friends and family, I have met several folks with PD since my diagnosis and have shared my story with them. My story has given them hope for a more normal life, and they can see the proof — in me!  I have never been in better shape, and I don't have as many obstacles to deal with on a daily basis. Most people can't believe I even have Parkinson’s. Exercise has been a miracle in taking control of my symptoms and living a better life. I even purchased a three-level townhome, without an elevator.

I continue to counsel people who are newly diagnosed with PD and am happy to keep them from making the mistakes that I did.

Get moving with our PD-tailored exercise videos. Explore our Fitness Friday workouts.

Engagement is my key to wellness with PD.

Getting a Parkinson’s disease (PD) diagnosis is a sobering moment, but fear and backing away from what worries us never works in the long run. What’s sobering, or frightening even, is the uncertainty about what it means to have a progressive, incurable movement disorder. Will I be unable to run? Shuffling along soon? Unable to drive? Mute? When does all this start happening?

Answers to those questions still linger, but after a few deep breaths it became clear that these worries were not going to be faced, say, next week. The most immediate challenge was to convert all this external tremor and internal commotion into some kind of new normal so that I could get on with the business of living well. My key to moving forward has been engagement.

Engaging with friends

Letting friends in on this new development in life has been a source of support moving forward. The support of friends and family provokes the experience of being known for who you are, which for me includes my private experience of the irritating tremor or the latest non-movement symptom. Being open about my Parkinson’s diagnosis has required transparency with friends in order to be known and move forward living well.

Engaging with the care team and the PD community

I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I have access to Corewell Health’s Parkinson’s multidisciplinary team, a program that the Parkinson’s Foundation has designated one of the first Comprehensive Care Centers in the U.S. I feel lucky. This Care Center has served as a gateway to new friends and other communities formed by people with Parkinson’s. The care team invited me to join the PD advisory council to help grow and improve the multidisciplinary program and urged me to help facilitate discussion in our monthly educational meetups.

Engaging with the research community

After these few deep breaths, I decided to participate in a clinical trial. As a participant in a year-long trial, I learned about Brain Storms by John Palfreman, an excellent history of PD research. I also learned about the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting at the Van Andel Institute. There, I met medical professionals, graduate students, clinicians and others doing research on Parkinson’s, as well as staff from Cure Parkinson’s in London. These relationships have been a source of inspiration.

Engaging with the exercise community

I was engaged with a local trail running community for more than a decade prior to my diagnosis in late 2021. Weeks after my diagnosis, I connected with one of the Davis Phinney ambassadors who urged me to start weightlifting to add to my routine as a trail runner. At the gym, I have met a few others with Parkinson’s and made new friends without PD who are lifting and moving like me: to improve their quality of life. My trail running now includes my neighbor’s dog Khloe, one of my best friends and supporters.

Engage with the Parkinson’s Foundation to live well with PD. Find expert care and local resources in your area.