I soon will celebrate my 15th year anniversary of being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. I had just turned 40.  That is a day I will never forget and a day that changed my life forever.  How those 15 years have flown by fast. But, on the other hand, I can’t remember life without PD.  So many new people, new learning, new adventures, new dreams, new perspectives, new goals.

 

I will not let it beat me. With a few holistic changes to my life-style, I feel empowered that I can make a difference in the progression of this disease. I have decided to take this challenge and face it head on.

 

I started my fight against Parkinson’s soon after my diagnosis.  I found a dear friend and doctor in Canada who was involved in a trial on exercise and PD.  I went there and met him and worked with his group.  I read research articles and I met with anyone I could to learn about this disease. I decided to hire a personal trainer to work my body as hard as it could. I fought through the shaking, and I continued to feel better and better. I moved better. I had more energy.  That electricity I felt in my body from PD was released by exercising and I began to feel more “normal” again.  My doctor noticed improvement in my symptoms and said, “keep doing what you are doing, it’s working.”  And so, I did, and 15 years later, here I am.

 

As an educator with PD, it has become my mission to help others with PD to be the healthiest they can be in their journey with this disease. I am a Physical Education Teacher in Glastonbury and a youth athletic coach of many teams.  I took the program that I developed with my trainer and fine-tuned it. I wanted to share my success with beating PD with everyone I knew that is afflicted with this disease. I started exercising with a couple PD friends and they felt better. I realized I had to share with more of the PD community. That is when I started “Beat Parkinson’s Today”, an exercise program for people with PD. We are almost three and a half years in business.  I have 11 locations in Connecticut. Through trial and error, I have developed this program that meets the specific needs of Parkinson’s symptoms.  Participants in Beat PD classes have seen amazing improvements physically and emotionally.  Beat PD Today empowers people to take classes with certified trainers where we offer beginner, intermediate and advanced classes to people with PD of all ages.  They feel they have taken control of their destiny with this disease.  The fight is possible and doing it with other people with Parkinson’s makes it fun and rewarding.

 

Here is where my focus lies, with all friends and family. I will not let it beat me. I feel empowered that I can make a difference in the progression of this disease. I have decided to take this challenge and face it head on. I want to share my exercise with everyone. The people in my classes inspire me to keep working hard.  We inspire each other.

 

I Believe.

Michelle Hespeler (April, 2022)