Stay Active Helps Man with Parkinson's Disease

SAINT JOHN - Merv Cormier knows first-hand the feelings of fear, depression and "why me?" that those first diagnosed with Parkinson's disease experience.
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Noel Chenier/Telegraph-Journal
Retired phys ed teacher Merv Cormier, with his trusty camera, says a positive attitude makes it easier to fight Parkinson’s disease. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2004.

"Like everybody else, I was kind of down in the dumps," he said, recalling his own 2004 diagnosis with the degenerative disease of the central nervous system that often impairs motor skills, speech and other functions.

"For two years, I didn't dare to do too much," recalled Cormier, who lives in Champlain Heights with his wife Dorie. "There's still so many things not known about Parkinson's and the symptoms seem to vary from person to person."

Now on three medications and coping fairly well with the disease, the 63-year-old former physical education teacher has some advice to offer newly diagnosed Parkinson's patients as he and the other members of the Saint John chapter of the Parkinson Society, Maritime Region, prepare to mark April as Parkinson Awareness Month.

"The thing to do, I believe, is to stay active and not get negative thoughts running through your head," said Cormier, an avid bird watcher, photographer and gardener. "A person who is positive, it is easier for him to fight Parkinson's because, if you get down in the dumps with it, you're going to get depressed."

No matter what stage of the disease you're at, a positive attitude will help you cope.

"I didn't have much energy at first, much less than I have now and much less than when I was normal," said Cormier who, as a dedicated birder, often rises at 5:30 or 6 a.m. to seek out and photograph his feathered friends.

Apart from continued pain in his right leg, which led to his original diagnosis, his symptoms are usually mild compared to some. But when he does get overly exhausted, he can get the shakes.

"I was breaking the ice in the driveway one day this past winter and when I got thirsty, I got a glass of milk," he said. "I could barely hold it. I had to put it down right quick because I was shaking so much I couldn't squeeze my hand on the glass."

And on a recent trip to seek out the only known nesting spot of a pair of red-shouldered hawks in New Brunswick in the Gagetown area, carrying his trusty Canon 40D camera, with a 100-400 mm lens, he found he was totally worn down by the time they heard the hawk's sound near the end of a five-kilometre trek.

Cormier, who is now on a disability pension, takes his own advice by staying busy these days.

The Cap-Pelé native now has a life list of 350 species of New Brunswick birds he has seen and catalogued. And, combining his passion as a birder with his passion as a photographer, he's photographed more than 330 of those species.