OPTIMISM WITH PARKINSON’S PT 01 -530

0:00Welcome to On Mike with Jordan Ridge. This is the first of a two-part series on a subject that's personally important to me and affects the lives of millions. Parkinson's disease. As many of you may already know, I was diagnosed about three years ago with it. I'm doing well. Every day can be challenging physically and emotionally, but I'm part of a community caring for ourselves and others and also blessed to have many competent professionals helping to guide me through this process. The goal of this podcast is to offer information and hope. Recently, author John DeChico and the late Robert Cuomo convinced me to join them on a book project. The book is called Jordan's Rich Journey, a path of purpose, strength, and hope with Parkinson's. It launched back in December of 2025. In this and a future podcast, author John DeChico and I will talk about the book in more detail and a reminder that proceeds from the sale of this book will be forwarded to two organizations, one-ten fitness in Rockland, Massachusetts, an inclusive fitness and wellness center for all people with a particular

1:04emphasis on Parkinson's disease. And also to an organization I've come to know and love, the American Parkinson Disease Association of Massachusetts will be promoting the 40th annual optimism walk to raise funds for services to help more people with Parkinson's, as well as to fund cutting-edge research to help find better treatments and ultimately cure. We'll be joined by our special guest Kathy Thomas, program director of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Center at the Boston University Medical Campus. She's also on the board of the APDA of Massachusetts. She'll be telling us about Parkinson's symptoms and treatment modalities. Website you should know, APDAMA.org for more on the walk and how you can help and one-ten fitness.org to be up to speed on what's happening there and it's amazing. But let's kick things off with author John DeCicco as we go on, Mike. Let's begin with a look at chapter one. Its entitled, Jordan says, that's me, let's just do it. What is it and what are we planning to do? Honestly, when I first started weighting

2:09the book, we had gone through a UNI Jordan, and gone through a series of conversations about even attempting to put this together. You had some apprehension in the process. I said, okay, here's a couple of reasons why. You got a great voice, you're sending a message, and not only are you talking about people who are afflicted with Parkinson's, you yourself have been diagnosed with it. And I said, I don't think you could escape this. I think you really have to get out there and talk about what you're going through, be a sounding voice for the thousands of people that we learn about who have been afflicted with this particular disease. And then you kind of looked at me and you said, okay, let's just do it. Well, John, you did gloss over the fact that you had to really convince me. I mean, you did convince me. Obviously, that's why we did it. Since then, I've had certainly a change

3:12of heart in terms of what my role can be. And I'm no hero. I'll say that over and over again, but I am someone who is concerned that the message gets out. So that is essential. And I'm so glad you pushed me. At the time when I started weighting this book, I talked about Muhammad Ali, because I remember when he was in that brain, he was stinging like a baby and moving like a butterfly. And that's how I had envisioned you through all of your years working on radio. And you kept stinging it. You kept moving. And what you did was you kept giving back. And that's one of the reasons why I wanted to do this book. Because I wanted to talk about giving back. Let's talk about chapter two. Sure thing. Sure thing. And as we discuss the book in a two part series on my podcast platform, we're going to be doing some promoting for great causes, including the APDA optimism walk. We'll talk with Kathy Thomas, who is a nurse and a program director at the Parkinson's disease

4:17movement disorder center, BU medical campus. She's coming up. But let's talk about chapter two then, John. It's entitled diagnosis denial fear and finally acceptance. This is a big part of everyone's journey in Parkinson's. I found out exactly. So once we had agreed to get you acclimated to do the book, then we get into a part that is really painful, physically, emotionally, and spiritually diagnosis. My God, it keeps resolving in my head, Jordan, when you first heard this from the doctor, I know you don't have it yet, but it's coming. And when you were feeling at that time, you wanted to tell people just like anybody else when you get a diagnosis like this, you are afraid, but you're angry at the same time. I want to tell this back at you. Tell me why I might have put denial of fear in the book. You did it probably knowing that this was a big component and it absolutely is across

5:20the board. Everyone I know who has Parkinson's or knows someone or loves someone who has it says it's all about establishing some concrete foundation after you're knocked for a loop because it's like anything that's sudden and sharp and dangerous, uncurable in this case. There's no official cure. It just rocks your world. So I'm glad this chapter's in there because it has to be said. Everyone goes through, I call the five stages of grief in this case. And it has to do with what you said, acceptance ultimately after denial, after anger, after fear, all of these things occur until you get to the point where you're never happy about it, but you do learn to accept. And what I wanted to get to here intrinsically important, how everybody else must feel when they hear about it, but there was no way out of it except to accept it. And here again, you didn't do this with a lot of grace, didn't you? It took a lot out of you just to say choice of a better

6:26word. I am pissed. Why? Why is it me? No, I'm glad you're using that word and I'm glad you're being as honest and true as you are in my particular case. I've sailed through my life with issues, mainly mental health issues, but never physical. I mean, I've had perfect physical exams. My body isn't still excellent shape, better shape now. We'll talk about that later. There isn't anybody I know who gets a diagnosis of some kind or another who doesn't say, what the hell did I do to deserve this? And yet it's a fact of life. It's a part of life. So acceptance is very tough and I will tell you this, John. And I know listeners who are experiencing anything like this agree you don't fully accept something like this. You just don't. I mean, you wake up every day. You know it's there. You know, it's another day to figure it out. You don't like it, but you learn to live with it. And that's about the best you can do. We do live with it, but when I move on to chapter three, and you talk about looking back and reminiscing, I stop by saying that every one of us has triggers,

7:31moments, edge deep in our memories that involve powerful waves of the motion, tied to joy and pain. We talk about traumatic experiences in our life. And you did a really good job when you were writing a book of five, fifty years of radio. I love to feel with radio. One thing they could never take away from you was your ability to make people feel good despite going through all these traumatic events in their lives. You talk to thousands of people over the years. What could which trigger did you have to look at that PTSD, if you're well, turn it around to accept it and say, I could do something about this. That's a great question, a great thought. And I think the way to answer that is admitting that we collectively and me, particularly in this case, very vulnerable, very much a human being, not a perfect specimen. There is no such thing

8:32on the planet. So I had to come to grips with the fact that I couldn't be on that high that I'd been on for decades. And when depression hit and when post-traumatic stress hit for various reasons, and it's in the book, and when I dealt with loss and grief and so forth, I fell into a deep chasm and clawed my way back. The first thing I did was admit my vulnerability. And the second most important thing, and this is key to the Parkinson's story, is you can't and you shouldn't go it alone. You need either professional help or you need emotional support from friends and family and community. So that's a lesson, a takeaway. Anyone out there who's given a diagnosis of Parkinson's or anything else, try to remember you're not alone and you need to be with other people, particularly those who can help heal you, those who can help restore your sense of humanity and and personhood by being your friend. It goes right into chapter 4, living at the now and setting with priorities. Okay, so we're not past anymore now. We still

9:35are a little bit, but you said we're learning to live with it. What do you mean by setting priorities? Unlike some situations, physical maladies, physical conditions, there are things that you can do to mitigate Parkinson's disease. You can't cure it yet. We're making great progress. The APDA of Massachusetts and all the other wonderful organizations that people know about. But, and I didn't know this, John, as we've discussed. I didn't know that there were options beyond the traditional medicines and that includes all the things that I do currently. I have changed my life drastically in terms of my schedule, in terms of my workouts, in terms of dedication to exercise, to good diet, to sleep. I mean, it's a full time job. And yet God blessed me with the ability to continue to do the work that I've loved my entire life. So I do, as you know, continue to do my voice work and radio. Now I'm doing a lot of other things that, yeah, take me away from

10:40going to the movies and going golfing every day or doing whatever people do at my age. But, you know, something, it's definitely a feeling of accomplishment when I can work my body and stave off the symptoms as long as possible. And in some cases, I know people who have had this condition for 20, 30 years, well into their 80s and 90s. I'm not throwing any money down to say, I'll make it that far, but you know what? I'm willing to give it a shot. So it has to do with lifestyle change. It was education. Education informed me and we're going to be talking with Kathy in a bit, but education informed me about all the options. It's not the end of your road. It's just the beginning, in a sense. Yeah, right. And the thing is, things that we have taken for granted now become things that we have to be conscious of. One of the things that you point out when we talk about chapter five, dealing with the greatest fears and conquering them with open encouragement, we seem to see the world in a different way. Myself, even dealing with

11:43macular degeneration, bones at perfect eyesight, like, why me? Why is this happening to me? Although some things aren't the way they used to be, you see the world that you appreciate what's out there, a lot better, spending more time with family, friends and doing things traveling, if you will. And it kind of goes with chapter five hope. We got a lot of conversations about that. Going from your doctor's words, it's coming to now. I'm in a boxing ring and I'm a bit of shape than I ever was. How do we get there? Hope and encouragement. All the activities that I'm involved with in promoting the cause have the word hope somewhere involved and somewhere connected to them, including the optimism walk, which we're very happy to promote because it's a huge way to raise funds and so forth. Hope is the key. Without it, we're left dangling in the wind and we don't have any direction. So hope offers direction. And encouragement is very, very important. I am a

12:47professional encourager, but I need it and still do as much encouragement as anybody when I'm facing this thing because it takes a lot of effort when your dopamine is down to get excitement, to get enthusiasm. So I rely on other people in the community, fellow Parkinson's members, parkies we call ourselves, or people like the next person is going to join us in a few minutes because they offer not just hope, but they actually offer real experience and real knowledge and know how about this very intricate disease that affects everyone differently. That's what makes it so darn conniving. And it also gives you hope because it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to go down that road that everybody else is going down. So hope there's a four-letter word that I love. It's the most important word next to love, especially when it comes to Parkinson's. You're listening to On Mike with Jordan Rich, and I want to remind you that the optimism walk is coming up. It's a nationwide campaign supporting all people affected by Parkinson's disease. Here in the Boston area where this podcast emanates from, the optimism walk takes place on Sunday

13:51May 17th. It's the 40th annual in Massachusetts at Bodichfield in Framingham. Here from the APDA of Massachusetts is Jessica Vandestod with more. The optimism walks are part of a national movement posted by the American Parkinson's disease association. And here in Massachusetts we'll have our 40th annual walk taking place on Sunday May 17th in Framingham. And it's an opportunity to come out, support the amazing work of APDA, Massachusetts chapter, but also to support the greater Parkinson's community and walk together to eventually find a cure. This year our goal is to break 200,000. It's a heavy goal, but we think together we can absolutely do it. And the funds raise, go to support the work we do across the state from our health and wellness programs, and our community partnerships to our educational series, and then also additionally into research to find a cure. Thank you Jessica. Find out more at APDAMA.org. That's APDAMA.org. You can join my

14:51team, Jordan's Trailblazers. Whatever the case, get all the information at APDAMA.org. The optimism walks Sunday May 17th. Before we wrap things up today, John and I have invited a special guest, Kathy A. Thomas, registered nurse and program director of the Parkinson's disease and movement disorders center at the Boston University Medical Campus. Here to tell us more about the condition and what's being done to help people with Parkinson's. Would you tell John what you told me last night at the meeting about Westboro, was it? Oh, yes. So I was at a support group meeting and it was actually a large group and the gentleman came up. I had just met with Jordan and everyone the night before so I brought the book and he came up and he actually called me to figure out how to get his own copy and he did and I spoke with him last week and he really enjoyed it and he is now on a mission to figure out how to get more active physically. So that's my story.

15:58It made my heart. That's great. That's fantastic. Kathy, it's so nice of you to join us now. Both John and I are thrilled you're here and I see you in a lot of places including the board meetings online for the American Parkinson's disease association of Massachusetts and I know you're very much involved with that organization but we thought we'd chat a little bit about Parkinson's disease in general and since you work at the Parkinson's disease and movement disorder center at BU Medical Campus, you're in the fight every day. Perhaps you can give us first a quick definition for those who are listening for the first time as to what Parkinson's disease is and then we'll talk about some of the hopeful signs out there. Okay, thank you for having me join you tonight. So Parkinson's disease is a neurological condition. It's a chronic health condition and it results because a chemical in the brain called dopamine is decreased and that's because

16:59there's a loss of some of the cells or neurons, the nerve cells in the brain that produce dopamine and dopamine is really important because it helps with smooth movement and a lot of other movement issues. We also know there are some other brain chemicals impacted which may account for some of the other symptoms that a person with Parkinson's has but basically it's a movement disorder but also individuals report other symptoms that are non-motor such as difficulty perhaps with mood or sleep or you know there's a number of different things that people experience. People including me in the pre Parkinson's days of my own thought it was old men with canes shaking a little bit as they went to sit down on a park bench and yeah there are those people

17:59but it's become widespread and young onset is a very serious matter of course. You mentioned non-motor symptoms. I for one do not have an outward tremor. I do not have that. I feel the tremor on the inside sometimes. Muscle stiffness, rigidity and apathy which is the worst because it's like oh my god why are you striking now when I want to have a good time. Can you share a little bit more about those symptoms? So tremor would actually be a motor symptom and then slowness of movement or brady canesia would also be a motor symptom. Individuals also have muscle rigidity and for some people are as over time people may have some difficulty with balance. So those are the motor symptoms. The non-motor symptoms as I mentioned sleep, mood changes, there's a whole number of

19:00them changes in blood pressure and it's very individualized from person to person as you just pointed out. The cognitive impairment, talk just briefly a little bit about the issue of cognitive impairment. Yeah so it's different than what you may see in other neurological conditions. What people oftentimes have difficulty with with Parkinson's disease is executive function meaning for example doing two things at the same time multitasking may be impaired which for some people that's been a lifelong experience anyways but in Parkinson's disease there are some key things with that. Once again not everyone has the same symptoms and if a person does experience some changes in cognition then what the physician will oftentimes do is do an assessment and then also

20:01perhaps order some testing to see if in fact it is related to changes in the brain chemistry. So I think it's an important symptom for people. People are always concerned about that. A lot of research is being done in this area and there are things that can actually improve cognition and we use certain specialists for that. It's important for people around those of us to notice things isn't it? For sure and I think you know certain symptoms are more observable than others. You know we'll bring up tremor again but I think oftentimes your family and friends or perhaps if you're in a healthcare setting that's when things can be observed you know maybe a decreased arm swing changes and getting up from a chair so it's very variable but oftentimes notice by other

21:02people first. John and I talked about it and I think it's great to have you here for a few more minutes Kathy to let people know that it's not a death sentence by any stretch and there are things that can be done holistically and one of them of course the biggie exercise but chat a little bit about what we've learned and then we'll end with just a little recap as to the research that is promising. What have we learned about exercise diets? So they're important for everyone whether you have Parkinson's or not and I know you dedicate a good part of your book to that talking about your lifestyle which actually probably occurred before you had Parkinson's and clearly exercise, nutrition, sleep. There's been so much research recently on sleep and we know patients or individuals tell me all the time if I have a good night's sleep I feel so great the next day it's so you know our goal in working with people is how can we make sleep the best

22:06it can possibly be so yes there are many lifestyle choices staying social staying active I mentioned mood at the beginning people with Parkinson's even very early on may experience depression based in neurochemical depression it's not simply because a person tells you you have Parkinson's you actually have mood changes so that's important to do all of the things that we know that can be helpful for that and then there's the medicine and the prescriptions and the techniques including DBS deep brain stimulation we don't need to go into detail to sound as new talking stem cells just briefly from your perch what do you look forward to hearing more about? Yes there's so many things every day there's new information shared and I'm not I'm serious about that I mean just to today I noticed that paracquot which is a chemical in agriculture that's used is not going to be

23:14produced or sold by the largest company so there's something every day to help us better understand I think really all of the biomarker work that's being done new medications looking for disease modifying agents there's a tremendous amount of research you mentioned the American Parkinson Disease Association they provide great updates as well as other organizations on what we can look for and what is being done for sure there's so much happening Michael J Fox comes to mind Davis Finney and so many more great people and the final point I'll make is community and that's why I'm thriving as well as I am because you can't do this alone and Kathy you see people every day you impress upon them that this is a group effort you really have to put everything you have into it but be with other people don't be alone that's right and an exercise is so important and I know

24:19you're talking with Brad I believe and he shares community and a lot of good information we're going to do a part two there's a second podcast that's related to this one John our guest will be another fellow who's a big part of the book Brett Miller of 110 fitness and Rockland Massachusetts one of the most innovative centers for exercise and fitness for people with Parkinson's and other issues in the country so we're going to have Brett joining us which will be terrific I guess we'll have an opportunity to talk about the rest of the book chapter by chapter we'll be going to chapter six through eleven we'll recap everything when we're done look forward to next steps indeed and don't forget we are giving proceeds to both the American Parkinson Disease Association of Massachusetts doing great work and also two Brett Miller's outfit which is 110 fitness dot org you can check out that as well John all I can say is it's been a swell ride

25:20exciting and fun even though it's a little cumbersome at times for both of us you with your macular degeneration and me with my Parkinson's we are two sluggers and you also make the best pizza on planet earth so I have never have a bad thing to say about you that's okay let's put it this way there's more to that slice of life thank you for joining us you've been listening to on my with Jordan Rich and my special guest and friend John DeChico just a reminder once again the upcoming optimism walk in the Boston area will be held on May 17th in Framingham at Bodich Field find out how you can participate and help us out a p d a m a dot org we mentioned 110 fitness we'll be talking in another episode with founder Brett Miller just go to 110 fitness dot org to find out more there and once again the book is Jordan's Rich Journey a path of purpose strength and hope with Parkinson's available online and through my website JordanRich.com thank you for being part of the journey and for adding to the hope till next time this is J.R reminding you to be well so you

26:24can do good take care you