When Life Gives You Parkinson's

Super Awesome Science Show (SASS) talks with Larry Gifford about his journey with Parkinson's and find out how he manages to cope both physically and emotionally. His story is both compelling and also inspiring and will reveal why his podcast has been designated at one of Apple Podcast’s best of 2018.   In our SASS class, we’re going to explore the efforts to find answers to help those with Parkin...

David Sangster is an Ambassador for World Parkinson Congress. On April 3, 2019 David is having Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery. It’s a treatment used for late-stage Parkinson’s disease that involves surgically implanting electrodes into the brain. The electrodes deliver small electric pulses which help reduce slow movement, tremor and stiffness. David was diagnosed in 2011 and lives with seve...

One of the exciting areas of research as it pertains to understanding Parkinson’s disease is in genetics. Dr. Matt Farrer is a Geneticist at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health. In 2004, he found the first genetic connection to Parkinson’s, LRRK2, and his team has sincee identified about dozen others. Dr. Farrer is the first to admit Parkinson’s is not a genetic condition, but as with e...

After he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Tim Hague Sr. won the first season of “The Amazing Race Canada” and wrote a book called Perseverance: The Seven Skills You Need to Survive, Thrive and Accomplish More Than You Ever Imagined. In this episode, Tim and I chat about diagnosis, acceptance, finding balance, asking for help, building a community and why it is important for people with Parkinson’s...

In June, I will be traveling to Kyoto, Japan for the 5th World Parkinson Congress (WPC). WPC is a global Parkinson's event that opens its doors to all members of the Parkinson's community, from neurologists and researchers to those living with the disease.  Since my diagnosis in August 2017, I’ve launched the podcast When Life Gives You Parkinson’s. As an extension of that podcast, I have teamed u...

I’m a fairly hopeful guy. Sure, I have dark moments as we all do but, hope wins out more often than not. You might be wondering how I can have hope or be hopeful while dealing with an incurable, progressive brain disease like Parkinson’s. It’s a fair question. I don’t know that I have the answers, but in this episode I go about searching for a better understanding of the role that hope plays in th...

This is a special bonus episode of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s which we are calling “Extra Dosage.” Full episodes will be release every other Wednesday. In between, Niki and I will share new information, original interviews and extra material that provide more context to topics raised in the previous episodes of the podcast. We’ll also answer your questions. Feel free to write us with question...

In this episode of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s we explore the role of the caregiver. Seeing as I’m a person with Parkinson’s and not a caregiver, my caregiver and wife Rebecca is featured prominently along with my co-host Niki Reitmayer and other caregivers Noel MacDonald and John Parkhurst. At the end of the episode, I chime in with a quick interview with Dr. Robert Duff about what caregivers...

This is a special bonus episode of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s which we are calling “Extra Dosage.” Full episodes will be release every other Wednesday. In between, Niki and I will share new information, original interviews and extra material that provide more context to topics raised in the previous episodes of the podcast. We’ll also answer your questions. Feel free to write us with question...

In this episode, Niki and I talk to my colleagues and bosses about how their adjusting to my PD diagnosis, get advice from my neurologist Dr. Jonathon Squires, Neuropsychologist Dr. Robert Duff, and employment lawyer Lior Samfiru. I also chat with Jim Redmond about being a teacher with PD and Jonny Acheson about adjustments he’s had to make as an emergency room doctor who was diagnosed with Parkin...

This is a special bonus episode of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s which we are calling “Extra Dosage.” Full episodes will be release every other Wednesday. In between, Niki and I will share new information, original interviews and extra material that provide more context to topics raised in the previous episodes of the podcast. We’ll also answer your questions. Feel free to write us with question...

In this episode, you will meet my 9-year old son Henry, hear his infectious laugh and find out the one burning question he has about Parkinson’s. I think Henry might just want a normal Dad, not one with Parkinson's , my co-host Niki Reitmayer and my wife Rebecca try to convince me otherwise. On Saturdays,  Henry and I go on adventures. We hang out, run errands, laugh, talk, and just spend time tog...

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This is a special bonus episode of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s which we are calling “Extra Dosage.” Full episodes will be release every other Wednesday. In between, Niki and I will share new information, original interviews and extra material that provide more context to topics raised in the previous episodes of the podcast. We’ll also answer your questions. Feel free to write us with question...

In this episode of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s, I talk to people behind several Parkinson’s fundraisers, learn about their experiences with the disease and meet the researchers who benefit from the funds raised. I also let you follow me into Dr. Farrer’s lab as I donate my DNA. Follow me, Larry Gifford  Twitter: @ParkinsonsPod Facebook: Facebook.com/ParkinsonsPod Instagram: @parkinsonspod Foll...

This is a special bonus episode of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s which we are calling “Extra Dosage.” Full episodes will be release every other Wednesday. In between, Niki and I will share new information, original interviews and extra material that provide more context to topics raised in the previous episodes of the podcast. We’ll also answer your questions. Feel free to write us with question...

I have never been very athletic. I have never been excited by thinking about or participating in exercise. The idea of a daily workout, gym memberships, exercise classes or scheduled physical activity of any kind has always been something other people do.  In August 2017, my neurologist Dr. Jonathon Squires at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Healthat UBC gave me a prescription for levodopa...

This is a special bonus episode of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s which we are calling “Extra Dosage.” Full episodes will be release every other Wednesday. In between, Niki and I will share new information, original interviews and extra material that provide more context to topics raised in the previous episodes of the podcast. We’ll also answer your questions. Feel free to write us with question...

It’s hard to admit it when you need help. It’s even harder to make the phone call, ask questions, commit to showing up, walk into a room full of strangers and share things that still remain secret to the closest people in your life. I’d never been in a support group before I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. I didn’t know what to expect. I wondered how my Parkinson’s would measure up and if I was to...

This is a special bonus episode of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s which we are calling “Extra Dosage.” Full episodes will be release every other Wednesday. In between, Niki and I will share new information, original interviews and extra material that provide more context to topics raised in the previous episodes of the podcast. We’ll also answer your questions. Feel free to write us with question...

Since my diagnosis, I’ve experienced panic attacks, anxious days of feeling inadequate and stretches of melancholy and mourning my life before Parkinson’s. In this episode of the When Life Gives You Parkinson’s podcast we explore anxiety and depression as symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and how people are dealing with these and other hidden symptoms of Parkinson’s. “I was afraid the building would...

This is a special bonus episode of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s which we are calling “Extra Dosage.” Full episodes will be release every other Wednesday. In between, Niki and I will share new information, original interviews and extra material that provide more context to topics raised in the previous episodes of the podcast. We’ll also answer your questions. Feel free to write us with question...

One of the more common symptoms for people with Parkinson’s is trouble sleeping. Some of us can’t get to sleep, some can’t stay asleep, while others are awaken by tremors, painful dystonia cramping or realistic nightmares.  I can’t stay asleep.  My sleeping journal is more of an awakening journal. One day it reads “up at 3a,” the next “up at 1a,” followed by “up at 3a, up at 3:30a, and up at 4:20a...

This is a special bonus episode of When Life Gives You Parkinson’s which we are calling “Extra Dosage.” Full episodes will be release every other Wednesday. In between, Niki and I will share new information, original interviews and extra material that provide more context to topics raised in the previous episodes of the podcast. We’ll also answer your questions. Feel free to write us with question...

I wish I didn’t have Parkinson’s. You wish I didn’t have Parkinson’s. In fact, as far as I can discern no one is really happy about it.  My Parkinson’s is inconvenient and uncomfortable for everyone involved. That uncomfortableness has led me to apologize for having it. I have moments nearly everyday when I try to make people feel better about my diagnosis and symptoms. (Frankly, I always thought...