CBS Miami Ted Scouten's personal journey with Parkinson's disease
Life is not promised, you never know what's coming up and in my case, I found out Parkinson's is going to be part of my life going forward.
That's an entry into a video journal I've been keeping for the past year, as I try to wrap my head around my Parkinson's diagnosis. It's when I realized my life had changed forever.
I'm one of nearly a million Americans who are living with Parkinson's disease.
Every now and again I sit back and go, 'Wow, you have Parkinson's disease, you have something that's going to impact the rest of your life'.
It was about a year and a half ago when I began to notice something was wrong. I noticed probably in January of 2023 that my arm wasn't swinging as it's supposed to and that I had some weird things going on with my fingers.
I was having trouble typing, a couple of my fingers just weren't cooperating. Eventually, I headed to my doctor. I showed him and said "If I'm flexing, I go like this with my right arm and it's like a normal flex, when I do it with my left arm, that happens. (Tremor) I'm not doing that on purpose."
From there I went through a battery of tests early on and finally had one called a DaTscan. Dr. Sean Kenniff is the first neurologist I went to. He's a former colleague I've known for years.
"This is my DaTscan," I said. "What are we seeing?" I asked Dr. Kenniff.
He explained the scan showed decreased dopamine in the right side of my brain, which controls the left side of my body.
Dr. Kenniff recalled he saw concerning signs when I first went to see him.
"It was easy for me to judge something was wrong. You seem to be moving a little bit more slowly on the left side of your body, and when you walked, there was a decreased arm swing in your left arm, and you complained of a tremor, which is one of the core features of Parkinson's disease," he said.
I'm on a medicated patch now to help control my tremors. According to the Parkinson's Foundation, the disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that progresses over time. It's most common in men over 60, but we are seeing more people being diagnosed earlier. Some of the symptoms may include tremors, slowness in movement, stiff limbs in addition to gait, balance problems and, in some cases, cognitive impairment.
My most pronounced symptom is tremors. It's what you can't see when I'm on TV, but it's there.
My left arm shakes. It normally happens just before I go on the air. Usually, it's over in just moments, but sometimes it lingers.
Monday I had a tremor. It started before my live shot, continued throughout the entire live shot then ended after my live shot, so it lasted several minutes. It was the longest one I've had so far.
It freaked me out a little because I hadn't had one that lasted that long.
One thing my doctor told me I need to exercise a lot. He said, "You need to sweat."
While I can't stop the progression of Parkinson's, exercise can slow it down.
"We, 100% can tell everyone who comes in the room who is diagnosed with PD, if you exercise, your disease will go slower than if you did not, 100%," said Dr. Ihtsham Haq, a Parkinson's expert at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine and works with the Parkinson's Foundation.
He's encouraged by current research.
"So when I say my level of hope is spectacular, I don't think I'm just blowing smoke. I think there's objective evidence for believing that we're getting closer than we ever did before," he said.
Haq said the Parkinson's Foundation "PD GENEration" testing and research program gives game-changing information.
"The fact that we can test a person's genes allows us to identify those things that might allow us to make a personal difference for them because their genes tell us about their Parkinson's disease," he said.
"And then that allows you to get medication geared toward that personalized treatment?" I asked.
"Yes exactly," he replied.
With hope on the horizon, I'm also very in tune with how fortunate I am to have Dave, my husband, my fierce and advocate, joining me on this unpredictable journey.
As we move forward, I don't know what life's going to hold or what it's going to look like 10 years from now, or 15 years from now. But I know wherever I am 10 to 15 years from now, I'll have Dave holding my hand and being by my side, so I'm grateful for that.
I've learned to value even more my friends and the people who surround me and have my back throughout the day.
I found that with my co-workers, with my family, with reporters and photographers from other stations, my competitors, the kindness that people have shown, the care, the concern, it's really overwhelming. To have them come up and hug you, ask you if you're okay, it means something. It gives you strength when you're not having a good day.
If you'd like to get involved and find more information the Parkinson's Foundation Florida Chapter is holding its annual fundraiser called "Moving Day." The inspirational and empowering walk happens at Tropical Park on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 9 a.m.
