Dealing with Parkinson’s is better together
It started when he noticed tremors in his hands a few years back.
After what was supposed to be a routine hip replacement in June 2016 and a 60-day stay in hospital due to complications Ted Christian, 84, was in the Geriatric Assessment and Treatment program at the hospital as an out-patient when he got the news in March 2017.
Ted has Parkinson’s disease, which is a neurodegenerative condition.
Movement in the body is controlled by dopamine, a chemical that carries signals between the nerves in the brain. Symptoms of Parkinson’s appear when cells that normally produce dopamine die.
Tremors are the first symptom to appear in about 70 per cent of people, according to the Parkinson’s Society of B.C. website. Other common symptoms include rigidity, which is increased stiffness in muscles and joints, bradykinesia, which is slowness of movement, balance and postural impairment.
Other symptoms can include fatigue, hypomimia which is reduced facial expressions and hypophonia when a person’s voice becomes very soft and monotone. Micrographia where handwriting becomes small and cramped, as well as changes in mind, mood and memory as depression and anxiety are also on the list of symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
There are currently 13,000 British Columbians with Parkinson’s disease.
Ted and wife of 56 years, Bertha, 75, from Scotland, have always had an active, outdoorsy life style.
The pair met in Scotland when Ted, born in Vancouver, went over to train as a registered nurse in the 1960s.
“I went over there because it was hard for males to get nurse’s training here back then,” Ted said.
They were both students and Bertha was a year ahead of Ted in her training.
“The third year students thought they were better than the second year students so I had to get back at her so I married her,” Ted laughed. “I came back to Canada with a dog, two kids and a wife.”
After the couple returned to Canada, they had another child and bred Labrador retrievers for two decades.
“I’ve been in Canada for 50 years,” Bertha said.
Ted and Bertha stayed in the lower mainland for a time, Ted working as an RN, then in administration and when he decided that wasn’t for him, he returned to a more hands-on form of nursing.
Ted worked for the Canadian Red Cross at Alexis Creek, an outpost hospital, beginning in 1978.
“There was only one nurse and the nearest doctor was 72 miles away,” Ted recalled, who felt it was quite challenging to take on that role because he had to do everything himself. “I stayed for five and a half years because really, those kinds of jobs are burn-out positions.”
Ted’s relief nurse was Bertha and she drove ambulance, too.
“We fell in love with the Chilcotin and that’s basically why we went to Alexis Creek,” Bertha said. “The kids loved it and learned to respect the outdoors.”
Claire is Ted and Bertha’s oldest child, followed by Michael and then came Paul.
Claire and Paul currently live in Prince George while Michael lives in Kelowna.
From 1982 to 1998 Ted worked at the Cariboo Memorial hospital in Williams Lake.
Bertha worked as an emergency department nurse there from 1980 to 1995.
While there, Ted also took on the role of coroner for 13 and a half years.
The pair retired in 1998 and built their off-the-grid home in West Chilcotin on property they’ve had since 1972. Ted and Bertha recently moved closer to town due to health issues. They will return to their home for the summer months once most of the snow goes, making it more accessible, Bertha explained.
“We’ve had to cope with a lot of changes in our life,” Bertha said, who has been dealing with a knee injury herself.
To help the couple cope with Parkinson’s, because it’s really not just Ted’s disease, he goes to the Rainbow Day Centre for respite a couple of days a week so Bertha can get her chores and errands done, without having to worry about caring for Ted.
“The Handydart comes and picks him up and he loves socializing and it beats sitting and looking at me all day, “Bertha laughed. “And that way I get time to do my own things.”
Ted said he really enjoys the programs at Rainbow.
“The local Parkinson’s society is great, too” Bertha said. “We have meetings once a month and they have different programs for those in the group.”
There’s support group meetings, Songshine and Step-byStep programs to help keep those with Parkinson’s emotionally and physically strong.
“Anybody who has Parkinson’s or anybody who cares for someone with Parkinson’s should contact them – they have just a wealth of information – and they’re such a great group,” Bertha said.
“When I was first diagnosed, it really floored me,” Ted said. “It shook me up pretty good but these programs they’ve got are really good and they help a lot.”
April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month and April 11 is World Parkinson’s Awareness Day.
To celebrate the local chapter is holding its dinner dance and silent auction event called Shaken But Not Stirred on April 28 at The Fore Bistro at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club. The event will have a 50/50 draw and door prizes. Doors open at 5 p.m., dinner is at 6:30. Tickets are $50 each. For more information about this event call Crystal at 250-564-5111 or email
All proceeds go towards the operating costs of the unfunded, non-profit group as well as providing some assistance to those in need, mostly for medical aids required by those with Parkinson’s.
The Parkinson’s support group is held the second Saturday of every month, except July and August, at 2 p.m. at Spruce Capital Recreation Centre, 3701 Rainbow Dr. For more information call Linda at 250-964-7994 or Gina 250-564-8955.
The Step-By-Step program is province wide and is a 12-week walking program aimed at incrementally improving the number of average daily steps taken by an individual. It’s about setting up a baseline and then trying to improve upon it in while reaching a set goal.
The group meets once a week and after the walk they go for coffee to get in some socializing. There are already 19 people registered and more are always welcome to join. Call Linda at 250-964-7994 for more information.