TORONTO — Kenny Bearg finds it a little tough to get going in the mornings. He’s up at 5 a.m. and is out of the house by 6:30. But for the first moments of the day, he’s pretty much at a standstill.
“Whether it’s getting dressed or anything else I have to do in the morning, nothing much happens until the meds kick in,” Bearg says. “That could take a half hour to 45 minutes. But once I get going, I’m fine.”
Bearg, 57, has Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that affects about 100,000 Canadians. The most common symptoms are tremor, slowness and stiffness, balance problems and muscle rigidity.
The average age of onset of Parkinson’s disease is 60, but it can affect people as young as 30 or 40.
Diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2003, at the age of 52, Bearg experiences muscle cramp and his legs get sore, but that doesn’t stop him from working out at the gym most mornings before putting in a full day at work.
It’s the little things that drive him crazy. He says, “One of the first things in Parkinson’s is your handwriting gets very small. It’s hard to write. That’s one of the worst side effects.”
Cutting meat at dinner is another annoyance because his hands are weak. Also, Bearg acknowledges, “My golf game is not what it used to be, but I still play.”
His neurologist at the Centre for Movement Disorders in Markham, Ontario; his exercise instructor at Baycrest, where he participates in a Parkinson’s exercise group; and the physiotherapists at the clinic he attends twice a week help him to maintain a full and active lifestyle.
Then there’s the support he gets from people with Parkinson’s. Recalling attending a meeting for people who had Parkinson’s for five years or more, Bearg says, “I had only been diagnosed for two weeks, so I didn’t know what to expect. But I came out of that meeting feeling great. I saw how well people were handling their Parkinson’s five years down the road. They were working out, they were in great shape and they were positive.”
Bearg has taken their example to heart. He has since joined a Parkinson’s disease support group that meets for lunch once a month. He and his family have also become avid fundraisers for Parkinson Society Canada and participate in SuperWalk for Parkinson’s every year. This year SuperWalk takes place on Sept.12 and 13.
He says, “I have great support from my family and friends. I feel lucky that there’s so much research now on Parkinson’s disease, and I’m just hopeful that one day there’s a cure.”
Visit www.superwalk.com to register online for SuperWalk. For more information, visit www.parkinson.ca.