Parkinson's is a condition that affects the brain. YouTube / Parkinson's UK
A mother-of-three has revealed how the simple act of repeatedly dropping things ended up with a life long diagnosis.
Christine Jeyachandran, 46, was on a humanitarian mission in Peru, where she was meant to be for a decade, with her husband and three children.
But, suddenly, things started to change. She remembers picking up a mug that was intended as a gift for a friend but, without warning, it slipped out of her hand and shattered on to the floor.
A similar instance, with a jug from the fridge, saw water splattered over the floor of her home as it tipped and began to pour out.
She went to a doctor, who performed a series of tests but found nothing. She was the referred to a neurologist.
“I felt very strange, like my arms were all of a sudden very weak – especially on my left side,” Christine told news.com.au.
Christine Jeyachandran, 46, was on a humanitarian mission in Peru when she was diagnosed with Parkinson's. Photo / Instagram
“I went to the neurologist, and once the tests came back, he said: ‘From the moment you walked into the room I knew you had Parkinson’s because your left arm didn’t swing when you walked and your foot slapped the floor’.”
She was given her diagnosis in Spanish, so she asked him to repeat it once again in English.
Not soon after, it was also pointed out she had a tremor.
Christine was with her husband in the hospital when they found out the news, and the pair cried as they didn’t know much about the degenerative disease.
A mum-of-three has revealed how a seemingly simple, clumsy act ended with her receiving a life-changing diagnosis. Photo / Instagram
She was just 37 at the time.
“It was really hard to cope with it in the sense [we didn’t know what to expect] and every time I took a step I felt like my foot was screaming as me ‘you have Parkinson’s, you have Parkinson’s’,” she said.
“I felt like I could never forget.”
She added that it felt like her future had a huge question mark over it, and any chance of ageing gracefully felt impossible.
Within four years, she could feel her body getting worse, tripping over and hitting her face as her feet were dragging and she lost the flexibility and reflexes in her arms that would protect her face. Her shoulders also became stiff.
Christine said that was the wake-up call she needed to start doing everything she could to give her body a fighting chance.
“I was living in Peru [when I was first diagnosed] and when I came back to Australia I started looking into exercise, and I was told to try different sports and learn the skills,” she said, adding it was really hard.
Christine used gymnastics to strengthen her body and worked harder, learning how to climb a rope. Photo / Instagram
“There are some basic exercises you’re meant to do surrounding walking but they just drove me mad.”
Christine’s kids went to gymnastics, and she realised their teacher also taught adult classes so, despite being frightened, she signed up.
For 10 months she worked on the basics to strengthen and lengthen her muscles, until she was strong enough to be able to do a handstand.
Christine made a video documenting her journey to her handstand and she went to the World Parkinson’s Conference in 2019 to show it.
She was praised by many, and, it prompted Christine to work hard to raise awareness of just how important exercise can be to those diagnosed with Parkinson’s, and how much it can help push back the disease.
“I worked harder at the gym, and I spent more time there than I ever expected. I learned to climb the rope, and all sorts of other things,” she said.
“I started to realise how powerful the body is – I feel like it’s so much more powerful than people give it credit for, it’s all about the mind.
“I really want people to understand that, pushing their bodies slowly to do more than they ever thought.”
She worked up the strength to do a handstand. Photo / Instagram
She still works hard, going to dance classes at her local gym to challenge herself to follow the rhythm and pilates to improve her walking, which she tries to do as much as possible.
While she is on medication to help kick her body into gear each morning, she believes exercise has helped her with things such as her tremors.
But, after being on the medication since 2014, she can already see it’s effectiveness decreasing and it’s a stark reminder that it is a degenerative illness.
On days she doesn’t take it she can tell the difference, taking her a while to type and do basic things like pull up her own pants.
Christine is currently working with Shake It Up Australia, and she said the organisation was vital to not only help patients, but to raise awareness and money for Parkinson’s research.
“People can get quite depressed with Parkinson’s, and that can make it hard for people to exercise or remain involved in their community. But when people isolate, it’s worse,” she said.
“I just encourage people to get involved with community. The most important thing is what you can do today – don’t worry about the future.”
