Pittsburgh man fights back against Parkinson's disease diagnosis | KD Sunday Spotlight
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - From bird watching to spending time with friends, Mark Giaquinto appreciates the simple moments of life and the simple movements of his body.
"It's hard to put into words how this disease affects you day to day," said Giaquinto. From his foot to his hand, Parkinson's disease has changed his life since diagnosis five years ago.
Now he's got no ability to stop parts of his body from shaking. It's part of the process of this neurodegenerative disease. "My right foot it works, my left foot because of the rigidity, it does not work. It doesn't flex the way it needs to flex."
Before his diagnosis he was a working man. "I was the CFO at Children's Hospital, then I became the CFO at the blood bank, and it was while I was there at the blood bank that I started showing signs I might have Parkinson's," said Giaquinto.
He's a Pittsburgher through and through, but he retired early because he recognized the symptoms of Parkinson's after seeing his dad go through it.
"You can't stop this thing, it's going to keep going and I watched my dad, and I know that's not going to be me."
Now he workouts fifteen to twenty hours each week because it's well researched that exercise helps slow the progression of Parkinson's. It's a lot of focus on fitness and keeping his ability to move as much as possible. Luckily, he's not going through this journey alone with help from the Parkinson Foundation Western Pennsylvania.
Christine Haythorn is the CEO of the Parkinson Foundation Western Pennsylvania. "The primary goal of the organization is to educate people about the disease so that they can best fight the progression of the disease," she said.
According to the National Parkinson's Foundation, approximately 1 million people have Parkinson's in the United States and that number is expected to rise to nearly 1.2 million by the year 2030.
Haythorn said this nonprofit is separate from the national Parkinson's Foundation. It's completely locally based, it has about 35 support groups and at least 90 exercise programs each week throughout the region. "So we're really trying to reach people where they are," said Haythorn. Haythorn told KDKA, in partnership with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, they will help recruit people for research opportunities on Parkinson's.
"Many people don't ever see a neurologist. They're relying on their PCP (Primary Care Provider); they don't have a Parkinson's diagnosis. Many under-engaged communities don't trust the healthcare system for an obvious and good reason. And we are there to build that relationship, build a bridge of trust and help them live better," said Haythorn.
Over 30 years of service, the nonprofit has helped hundreds of thousands of people in Western Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio and West Virginia.
"We are here, every dollar that we raise stays in our community to help people with Parkinson's disease," said Haythorn. Parkinson's disease can be tough to identify at times, and it's even more tough at times to see a loved one go through. "Depression and apathy are two of the most difficult symptoms of the disease."
However, with three kids and two grandkids in his life, Giaquinto makes fighting Parkinson's his full-time job one step at a time.
"You have to look this thing in the eye and say come on let's go," said Giaquinto. "That's the way I'm going to take it to the end."
There's no cure for this disease yet. There are even some signs of Parkinson's you don't think about like the inability to sleep, constipation, stiffening, and pain. There's also no official tracking system to see how many people have Parkinson's.
That might change soon though because the Parkinson Foundation Western Pennsylvania is working on getting a registry for the state of Pennsylvania.
For more information on the Parkinson Foundation Western Pennsylvania head over to the website.
