Parkinson’s is ‘a new challenge and adventure’
Duane Glader
Fort Myers, Florida
Year of diagnosis: 2018
Exercises of choice: Rock Steady Boxing, walking/hiking, and the latest is pickleball.
Favorite outdoor exercise: Hiking
Favorite place to hike: The Rockies
Toughest hike and why: 17,000-foot elevation Everest Base Camp, Nepal, because I was symptomatic PD but undiagnosed. This hike revealed that something was wrong with my body, but I just powered through. Three months later I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
Most proud of related to outdoors: The number of people I have helped by providing a life experience hiking at high altitude and the impact of their achievement. For many it was their first time having to overcome their fears in high elevations. I love being part of people experiencing the impact of Mother Nature.
Exercise gear that is a must: Boxing gloves, proper hiking boots, and hiking poles.
Advice for someone recently diagnosed who wants to stay active: You can do more than you think. PD is not the end; it is the beginning of a new challenge and adventure. Find or build a support team — you can’t fight PD alone (and it is a fight). Your impact is related to being transparent about PD in your life. I have learned that many people want to support us, but we must invite them to join our story.
Advice for someone with PD who is just starting to exercise: Exercise is the magic elixir, and I have found it has the single biggest impact on slowing progression and on mental resilience. Find a PD exercise class and show up. If you want tangible results, exercise five times a week. Know that it takes months to get the impact. Find doable hikes close to your home and increase distance and difficulty.
Biggest challenge with Parkinson’s right now: My biggest challenge is actually a collection of annoying PD symptoms: trouble swallowing, general muscle soreness and recovery time, slower movement, verbal freeze (word retrieval), fatigue, loss of sense of smell, tremor, muscle cramps, feeling cold easily (hence the move to Florida from Chicago), and declining balance. These symptoms by themselves are pretty manageable. The challenge is managing them all at once.
How I try to stay positive: I fight! I have friends and family support, I am not fighting alone. I show up at the gym whether I feel like it or not. PD is not who I am, rather PD is what I fight. In fact, in an unexpected and inspirational way, PD has prioritized and enriched my life and relationships in ways that would not have happened without PD.
Advocacy work for PD: Since my diagnosis I have raised money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. I participated in an eight-person fund-raising climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, raising over $100,000. We have also organized an annual fund-raising 14’er challenge combined with ATV touring in the Rockies and Arizona, raising nearly $40,000.
Career field: After 50 years in business, I am “semi-retired.” I have had an eclectic business career in business, which includes commercial real estate, music, corporate custom publishing, and ERP software. I was a visiting professor in China and I was employed by a U.S. software company leading to seven years total in China and Singapore. For the past 15 years I have been working in higher education, specifically business development in the U.S. and Africa. I also partner with South Africa to deliver desperately needed digital skills.
Something the world should know: Coping with PD is not “one size fits all.” Each of us needs to understand how the disease is impacting our life, body and mind. Concisely, we need to be Parkinson’s Warriors.
If you have Parkinson’s and the outdoors and exercise are part of your life, you could be featured in Unshakable Voices, too. Email unshakablehiker@gmail.com.
