Mary Klein / John Klein
Forum Replies Created
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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
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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 number of years of the Rescue Truck attending to highway accidents etc. as well as a couple of very large fires that likely emitted toxic fumes and, even though they wore breathing gear, I think it is possibly for exposed skin to absorb chemicals. Also, we lived, for 29 years, between two golf courses where there was regular spraying of chemicals and now they are saying that they feel Parkinson’s can be cause by these toxins. Obviously, we are all more concerned as to how to slow the progression. You sound like you are right on top of it and we are glad to have discovered this forum. We look forward to further conversations in the future. BTW, John was physically assessed by the Fitness Trainer (who has specific training in Rock Steady Boxing) when he started a couple of months ago. He will be re-assessed in six months just prior to his follow-up appointment with his Neurologist. So far she has not recommended any medications and we are hoping to put this off for as long as possible. His tremor is sporadic and only affects his left hand at this point.
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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. They have a website which great info. There are chapters all across N. America and we were lucky enough to find one about half an hour from us. He also had his knee replaced in June and we are discovering that this program is also helping this recovery and his flexibility. I would highly recommend anyone viewing this post to investigate this. There are about 30 members where he goes and some have had great responses. I think the major goal is to stop the progression and, in some case, actually reverse some of the symptoms.