Ruthie Sloan
Ruthie shares her story of courage and determination as she balances motherhood, trail running, and getting diagnosed with cancer during COVID.
More Than Our Story
David Walker
David Walker has defied his Parkinson’s diagnosis and continues to challenge preconceptions about what’s possible for people living with the condition. He advocates exercise, diet, community building, contributing to research, positivity, optimism, and continually challenging yourself as tools to slow symptom progression and to squeeze every bit of juice and joy out of life. He recently gained widespread media attention for completing the Vancouver T100 Triathlon while raising funds and awareness for Parkinson Canada.
Highlights
I saw the cover shot on a magazine called Runner's World, and it showed a few people gathered in a place called Hopkinton in Boston, and I said, “I want to do that.” Not knowing that I had to qualify. So in 1977, I started running, and three years later I qualified. I did a 2:45 in Vancouver and qualified for Boston. So marathons were my first love. I ran in marathons, half marathons all over the world: Boston, Paris, New York, Vancouver, Victoria. I think my first love was marathoning.
I think it’s my personality in my work career. I loved a challenge. I would take on something more than I probably should have, three-quarters into the way of accomplishment. I start to get bored and take on something else… I was also approaching 30 years old back then, and wasn't feeling as good of a dad; I hadn't been exercising. So I bought an Adidas outfit, got a pair of running shoes, and the first day I ran two miles, and I was so happy. So I wanted to be in better health for the kids, and I wanted a challenge.
My initial thoughts [post-diagnosis] were denial, denial, denial. I'm a member of the Greyhounds Masters Track and Field Club, and coach was always getting on me for a few months. My left arm was just hanging down. He said, “Move your left arm, move, push, push, push,” and then, subsequently, in private and family situations, I would see some tremors. It wasn't until we had some company over and I couldn't hold the meat up on my fork. I would put it on my hand under my leg. I didn't want to admit it, and being a white, older male, I didn't want to go to the doctor. Finally, it broke through. I just had to go.
I've discovered since, that in [Canada] it can take up to 12 to 18 months to get a diagnosis. It took some time. The first [doctor] was not qualified- a neurologist, but not a movement disorder specialist. And it wasn't until probably four months later, which was pretty fast, that I landed at the Pacific Parkinson's Clinic and there [I] had a fulsome diagnosis, and they said, “Congratulations, you've got Parkinson's.”
Movement is medicine. Right now I'm taking 34, 35 pills a day—the best, and the biggest one, is exercise. It really is shown to be the best, along with proper nutrition, maybe some mindfulness… [it] mitigates the symptoms of Parkinson's to the greatest degree. It will not cure [it]. Nothing will cure it. Even all those pills that I take… But to stop the symptoms and to give me a lifestyle that is enjoyable and possible: exercise, exercise, exercise - it's by far the best.
With Parkinson's, it's a lack of dopamine in the system, which is the reward portion of our lives in many cases, and the feeling that you get both psychologically and chemically when you come back in from a 5K run or whatever you're doing is so much more than sitting on a couch - and the key is you have to get up off that couch.
The last ten years of retirement life, I sought to continue to grow, and to learn, and to take on challenges - creatively, that is. Yes, I got the diagnosis, but that didn't define me. I was still David, who loved to learn, and grow, and challenge myself, so Parkinson's could not take that David out of me.
Whatever you were before your diagnosis, that doesn't determine who you are after diagnosis. You continue to have the character and the values and the motivation that you had before. And quite frankly, you have to work on it a wee bit harder, maybe three times as hard, but it's still a joy that comes from squeezing all the juice out of life and living.
Going back to the diagnosis… when I first heard about it, I thought, “I could beat this.” Well, the more I read the literature, the more I kind of threw that out the window. Then I thought, “Oh, I'll partner with it.” But that didn't last too long. It's my master. And yet there's lots of little things I don't have to give in today. “I don't have to. I don't let you.”
In the last few years, I went back, and I got my philosophy degree at Simon Fraser University. I became a photographer for several sports clubs. I wrote my memoirs, and I've written short stories. I started to write poems, and now I've posted, I think, 1210 poems. When I finished that first triathlon, that was my 70th birthday, and I gave that as a birthday gift to [myself]. The next morning, “I don't know what am I going to do?” I was doodling, and I drew a cup and saucer, and it was like what a kindergarten kid could do because I couldn't get it. I couldn't get the saucer to sit on the table. So I learned how to sketch myself, and I get up now at 3:00 every single morning on weekdays. I get up at 3:00, and I sketch, and honestly, I would love… maybe in 18 months, my goal is to be in a gallery in the summer, because it's getting better and better over the years, and I think I'm ready to start pursuing.
His recent creative endeavors:
In the last few years, I went back, and I got my philosophy degree at Simon Fraser University. I became a photographer for several sports clubs. I wrote my memoirs, and I've written short stories. I started to write poems, and now I've posted, I think, 1210 poems. When I finished that first triathlon, that was my 70th birthday, and I gave that as a birthday gift to [myself]. The next morning, “I don't know what am I going to do?” I was doodling, and I drew a cup and saucer, and it was like what a kindergarten kid could do because I couldn't get it. I couldn't get the saucer to sit on the table. So I learned how to sketch myself, and I get up now at 3:00 every single morning on weekdays. I get up at 3:00, and I sketch, and honestly, I would love… maybe in 18 months, my goal is to be in a gallery in the summer, because it's getting better and better over the years, and I think I'm ready to start pursuing.
It's just continuing to learn that keeps me fresh.
I can't wait to get up in the morning. Unfortunately, that's at 2:00 a.m. sometimes. I'm part of the Parkinson's 3 a.m. club. I don't know if anybody else can relate, but as soon as the meds kick in - you can have on time and off time - but until the meds kick in, I hold my sketch hand with the other hand, and then sometimes, even with a little quiver, that helps the sketching too. But determination is better than diagnosis, as my little phrase that I say: “Sure, it's taken things from me, but I keep on adding things.”
This is the humbling one because I was born in Ireland, so I'm a 77-year-old Irishman who loves fish and chips and meat and potatoes, and that was it. A little less than two years ago, I joined a study or volunteered for a research study, which, by the way, I’ve now finished six of them, because that adds meaning. I joined this one; it’s called a 360. [We] exercised together three times a week over Zoom. We met once a week and were given instructions on how to meditate. Then we met every Tuesday, and we learned how to cook Mediterranean food… I learned so much from these chefs in Vancouver and worked through different recipes and really, honestly discovered that even a 77-year-old Irishman can change their eating habits, to the benefit of waking up a little fresher and not having that “ugh” of life.
I still have my prime rib sometimes on Sunday because the nutritionist that guides me and instructs me says, “David, you can't, you can't, you know, you can't make it perfect. Give yourself a little space.”
This disease is shitty. It's not fair, it's not good, but it can add meaning if I give up what I am right now to let other people explore if there’s a way to help someone else in the future so they won't look like me right now.
I didn't think that I would learn and apply how to eat properly at my age because I'd said, “Nah.” And it's been transformative, you know, because… I didn't need to be taught how to exercise. I do need to be taught how to have quietness between the ears. But it was the nutrition that just turned a light on for me.
The Pacific Parkinson's Research Institute:
[It’s out] here on the West Coast, and it’s attached to the University of British Columbia, and it's probably the finest in the land… They've got some of the best research scientists and a lot of enthusiasm and understanding of new ways to control some of the symptoms.
What David sees as the biggest challenge facing Parkinson's research in Canada:
I'm very optimistic, and it's sadly because it is the fastest-growing neurological disease at present in Canada and in the United States, in fact, indeed all around the world; and some things are coming home to roost with this vis-à-vis the chemicals in our environment… Increasingly you see on the news “So-and-so has Parkinson's.” So gradually, this disease that had kind of been hidden, or it [has] kind of been an old folks' disease, is now for early-onset people in their 30s and 40s and 50s. It's now becoming quite noticeable. And I think, unfortunately, it takes that sometimes to get the big dollars.
I'm just little David Walker. I don't know the future science potential, but if a little David Walker can, you know, sign up for this, and this, and help all the best and the brightest, I think the money is starting to come.
Within one week of having a diagnosis. I went and found another, and excuse the word ‘parkie’. I don't know if I'm supposed to say that. In fact, I'm not supposed to say Parkinson's disease; it’s a Parkinson's condition. But I'll say it; I went and found another ‘parkie’. In fact, I'm meeting that guy after four years. I'm meeting him for lunch today. So one of the best things you can do once you're evaluated and discover that this is part of your future forever and ever is find another person that found out that this was part of their future forever and ever.
I still enjoy the podium. I'm not getting on the podium with Parkinson's, but I'm getting on a podium of continuing to do charitable things. [Over the] last two years down in Baja, I've ridden 500km on my bicycle with a few other Mexican professionals, raising money for charities down there. I can still do my part.
What networking has taught David about living with Parkinson’s:
To be with grateful people… I would say 99% of grateful people are very optimistic people, and it feeds into your optimism, and your optimism then feeds into hope, and then the hope can make you dream, and you start dreaming other stuff that you can do.
We didn't change when we got the diagnosis; our character is still the same. So who you are before can't be taken away. Parkinson's takes away a lot of stuff, but it can't take away your spirit, and it can't take away your soul, and your character, and your values.
Advice for those newly diagnosed:
First of all, seriously, get the information you need. It's not a death sentence. It will be with you from now until you die… Get with others who can answer your questions. Not medically or scientifically, but with life wisdom, as they have lived a certain number of years with Parkinson's… get anybody that can be a like-minded spirit to keep you going.
Be who you are, with whatever you have, because that's the joy of living. That's when you can squeeze all that juice out of life.
Parkinson Canada
Our mission is bold and unwavering:
To empower and inspire people living with Parkinson’s and their care partners to thrive and live courageously.
Through community support, advocacy, and research, we encourage others to see a diagnosis not as a dimming of light, but a spark for a new beginning.
Pacific Parkinson's Research Institute
Pacific Parkinson’s Research Institute (PPRI) is an innovative charity, dedicated to helping make the ground-breaking research at UBC’s Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre possible. Our donors share a unique relationship with some of the world’s leading Parkinson’s researchers.
@poemsandphotosbydw
Visit and follow David Walker’s Instagram page.
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Daniel
Daniel is an extremely curious person, a wealth of random knowledge and facts. Extremely passionate about a vast array of interests ranging from health to history, science to athletics, everything culinary and the list goes on. Trust us, you would want to be on his team for Trivial Pursuit.
Daniel is also years into his battle with brain cancer. He experienced a seizure while on a Zoom call at work in late 2020 and quite literally, his life changed within minutes. After his operation he started to talk about his story but had always known it was more than just him. From then, More Than Our Story became a PROJECT that has evolved into the starting point it is today.
He has also since become a multiple time IRONMAN.
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