Mary Klein / John Klein

My husband first noticed a left-handed tremor about two years ago.  He was not formally diagnosed  until close to a year ago.  His tremor has increased slightly but still very sporadic.  He joined Rock Steady Boxing which has been a great help physically and emotionally.  Still not on any medication but follows/up with the Neurologist every six…[Read more]

Hi Tina,

If you have the urge to write but typing is problematic, perhaps you could use one of the dictation aids – Dragon for instance.  Then you could get your thoughts down quickly.   This might be very helpful.

Try and find a Rock Steady Boxing group in your area – it is wonderful for the exercise component and also for the comraderie.  We are finding that you have to be pro-active and do some of your own research -as long as our sources are credible.

We are somewhat surprised that Family Physicians don’t seem to be aware of some of the well-known symptoms associated with Parkinson’s (loss of smell, sleep disorders included) that can be powerful clues and that they seemingly aren’t trained to make an assessment based on gait etc.  Your Neurologist and ours knew within a couple of minutes just…[Read more]

Hi Ally,

Yes, once we had a confirmation of the diagnosis, we could at least do some further research into what we could do on a personal level.  One of the first things we discovered on-line was the recommendation to join a Rock Steady Boxing group.  Fortunately for us, there is a group about a half an hour from us.  This form of exercise has be…[Read more]

My hyusband was noticing left-hand tremors for a couple of months before he brought it up to our doctor.  The doctor immediately said not to jump to any conclusions – that a tremor could have several causes.  He told him to come back in a few months.  My husband only lasted a couple more months before he went back to see him and asked for a re…[Read more]

This is encouraging information regarding your mom’s decade of use without severe side effects.  My husband was diagnosed close to a year ago (he had left hand tremors for a few months prior) and, at this stage, since there has been no real progression to speak of, he is still without any medication.  His next f/up appt. with his Neurologist is i…[Read more]

Tony, thank you for sharing your experience with becoming overly-emotional…..my husband has handled his diagnosis much like you – in good spirits and thankful it wasn’t an even worse diagnosis.  He is on no medications at this point (he was formally diagnosed almost a year ago).  However, he also finds that he is more emotional than usual – a s…[Read more]

I was just reviewing some of the topics and came across yours regarding REM sleep disorder.  My husband likely was experiencing this periodically long before he was diagnosed.  His first symptom was a loss of smell which occurred about 8 years ago or so.  He was just diagnosed in May 2019 after having a let-handed tremor for several months.  How…[Read more]

I think, for those people with Parkinson’s that don’t have any symptoms of dementia, it is important that they try not to become overly worried that they will most certainly develop this.  The stats are somewhere between 50 and 80% of patients will have this issue – however, I am sure this figure is so unprecise as so many people with PD are…[Read more]

After researching on-line for the best resources to help with Parkinson’s, we discovered Rock Steady Boxing.  Luckily, there was a location about half an hour away.  They hold classes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for one hour.  A full class consists of 30 people.  the fitness trainer running this class went directly to the Head Office of Roc…[Read more]

It is amazing to see how differently this illness surfaces and progresses with each individual.  Thank you for your advice re stress.  This is something we will control the best way we can.  Having joined Rock Steady Boxing has been the best thing for my hubby – he is a social person to begin with but no one understands better than those af…[Read more]

Hi Jean,

Although my husband and I are new to this forum, we are very excited to be joining in on these valuable conversations.  This is exactly what we had hope we could find as an on-line resource!

Wishing you all the best and looking forward to hearing from you in the future.

Mary & John Klein

Wow Michael – thanks for sharing about your background etc.  My husband is badge 62 on the Dept. which now has well in excess of 300 firefighters.  He is therefore one of the most senior members and will be 73 next week.  He retired at age 60 as it was mandatory at that time.  So far, he is the only one diagnosed with Parkinson’s.  He spent a numb…[Read more]

My husband never participated in any formal sports or forms of exercising.  He was a firefighter, then Captain, for 34 years and there is some controversy about why they have Parkinson’s at the rate of 10x the average.  Since being diagnosed in May 2019, we discovered Rock Steady Boxing which was designed specifically for Parkinson’s patients.  Th…[Read more]