Have you ever met someone who unexpectedly changed your life? In this special episode of Live an Exceptional Life with Parkinson's, host Chris Kustanbauter shares a powerful story of chance encounters that redefined his journey with Parkinson's.
You'll discover:
How seemingly ordinary people can have an extraordinary impact.
The power of connection in navigating life with Parkinson's.
Inspiring stories of hope and transformation.
Practical takeaways to build meaningful connections and live your best life.
Join Chris as he dives deep into the power of chance encounters and the profound impact they can have on your Parkinson's journey and overall well-being.
This episode is perfect for you if:
You're living with Parkinson's and seeking inspiration.
You want to learn how to build stronger connections.
You're curious about the power of unexpected encounters.
Don't miss this uplifting episode!
Visit Liveparkinsons.com and sign-up to get FREE Resources including the FREE Monthly Report and other resources to help you on your Parkinson's journey.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only is not intended to treat or diagnose Parkinson's Disease. Please ensure that you are following the treatment plan developed by your doctor. Please ensure before starting anything new you get approval from your doctor. The information being provided is based on my own personal experiences and does not guarantee that it will benefit everyone.
Have you ever met someone who unexpectedly changed your life? In this special episode of Live an Exceptional Life with Parkinson's, host Chris Kustanbauter shares a powerful story of chance encounters that redefined his journey with Parkinson's.
You'll discover:
How seemingly ordinary people can have an extraordinary impact.
The power of connection in navigating life with Parkinson's.
Inspiring stories of hope and transformation.
Practical takeaways to build meaningful connections and live your best life.
Join Chris as he dives deep into the power of chance encounters and the profound impact they can have on your Parkinson's journey and overall well-being.
This episode is perfect for you if:
You're living with Parkinson's and seeking inspiration.
You want to learn how to build stronger connections.
You're curious about the power of unexpected encounters.
Don't miss this uplifting episode!
Visit Liveparkinsons.com and sign-up to get FREE Resources including the FREE Monthly Report and other resources to help you on your Parkinson's journey.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only is not intended to treat or diagnose Parkinson's Disease. Please ensure that you are following the treatment plan developed by your doctor. Please ensure before starting anything new you get approval from your doctor. The information being provided is based on my own personal experiences and does not guarantee that it will benefit everyone.
Hello and welcome to Live Parkinson's live an exceptional life. I'm your host, chris Kustenbotter, and I've been living an exceptional life with Parkinson's for the past 14 years. The mission of this podcast is to help as many people as possible living with Parkinson's lead a great quality of life. Now, today's topic is Life-Changing Encounters a Story of Hope and Transformation. Imagine ordinary people becoming extraordinary forces that reshape your life, not just making you better, but pushing you beyond your limits and igniting dreams you never thought possible. This isn't just a story. It's a story of shared journeys, of unexpected connections that empowered me to live life to the fullest, even with Parkinson's. So join me in this episode of Life-Changing Chance Encounters, a story of hope and transformation, where I'll share how a chance encounters fuel my passion to give back and inspire others to be their best selves. You're early 1970s and I'm an eight-year-old boy, and my grandfather is a country doctor in central Pennsylvania. Now, while he had office hours, he also spent a large majority of his time making house calls, calling on people that either lacked transportation or just couldn't afford to get out and go into the office. So I was fortunate enough that he would ask me if I wanted to go on to the house calls with him, and people were always excited when I would come in. They'd say, oh, I see you have your little buddy with you today. Is he going to help you assist during the examination? And then I would always watch my grandfather treat these people not only with kindness and respect, but he always wanted to make sure that he heard what they had to say and he treated them so that they could get back to doing the things that they needed to do to support their family. Now, a lot of these people couldn't afford to pay my grandfather, but that wasn't why he did it. So a lot of times people would bake him a pie or just do some small gesture, because they just didn't have the income and funds to be able to pay. But again, he did it because he wanted to help others. So I learned from a very early age that, helping others, you could really change the course and have a great impact on someone's life. Now fast forward to 2018.
Speaker 1:
I've been living with Parkinson's for a number of years and I felt like I was living an exceptional life, but I felt like I didn't have a purpose life, but I felt like I didn't have a purpose. I didn't have the ability to help other people that were going through the same struggles that I did. I really didn't know a lot of people with Parkinson's. So I was exercising every day, I was going to the gym and participating in group fitness classes and I really felt like I had a good social connection and I had hobbies and interest outside of exercising. You know, I played guitar and I tied flies and went fly fishing, but I still felt like something was missing.
Speaker 1:
And 2018, the whole course of my Parkinson's journey was about to change. It was at this point that the York PA Jewish Community Center, where I go and work out and swim, received a grant to start a new program for people with Parkinson's to try to get people to sign up and participate in the class, because what it was really designed to do was to have focused exercises that were going to help us manage our motor and non-motor symptoms. So I thought what do I have to lose? So I signed up for the momentum class and I was fortunate enough to meet several people that were going to play a key role in my life and impacting how I looked at my Parkinson's journey, and the first one is Andy. Andy is a retired middle school music teacher, and Andy had to stop working because of his Parkinson's symptoms. And Andy and I formed a bond immediately because we both have very similar personalities. We like to joke around and kid with each other. But one of the things I also noticed about Andy is he was a very compassionate soul. He had the type of personality that would draw people in and really make them feel good and at the same time Andy would be able to make people smile and laugh. And then the other person in the class, who was probably 20 years older than me, was Charlie, who we called the general because of his service back during the Vietnam War. But he headed off with Andy and I because we all shared the sense of laughter and we just all connected because we had very similar interests. We had very similar interests.
Speaker 1:
And the third person was Susanna, because she taught a number of the courses or the classes that I participated in and I decided, based on some of the activities that we did, that I was going to do personalized training and try to improve my abilities and my Parkinson's skills, but I'll get to that later. So we were having great classes, we were learning a lot, we were really bonding and then, all of a sudden, everything came to a screeching halt. In 2019, early 2020, that's right, you guessed it COVID hit. So with the COVID shutdown, we were not able to get together and I think everybody had in the back of their mind well, the momentum class is pretty much going to fall apart because we can't get together anymore. Luckily, susanna started weekly Zoom meetings, so we would all get together on Zoom meetings and talk about what we were doing at home in terms of exercise to help manage our symptoms, and she would give suggestions on different exercises for us to do. But we'd also share success stories and what's working and what's not working. And we also talked about our families, and so one of the things that we really started to do is got to know each other, not just on a personal level, but on a family level as well, and how our Parkinson's impacted our families, because a lot of times we don't look at how the caregiver views us. So fortunately, let's fast forward to 2020.
Speaker 1:
After we were allowed to get back together again, they started the momentum classes again, and pretty soon. Because of the popularity, of how well the people were doing in the class, they were able to recruit a number of other people living with Parkinson's, and that's where I got to meet some outstanding people as well. One of the people, well several of the people I'll mention here and again I'm not trying to exclude anyone else, but these were people that have been in the program for a while, but we bonded on the more personal level just because they attended most of the classes that I attended and Vera. Vera came in and she was kind of quiet at first but she's really become one of the leaders in the class. She makes sure she does all the exercises that are taught and she does all the moves and exercises at home as well. So she's not only taking the class but she's applying what she's learned in class to help improve her symptoms and to help her improve her quality of life. So Vera's been a real role model for me, watching her take what she's learned and continue to do the activities at home to better herself, and she's really come a long way.
Speaker 1:
The second person is Joan. When I first met Joan and when she first signed up for Momentum, she was very quiet and shy and reserved. But it wasn't long before Joan started to break out of her shell and all of a sudden, you could just see she blossomed and was doing great with her exercises but also became very much more social. And then, after I wrote my book Spectacular, she came up to me and said she always wanted to start a website. Would I help her with the website? And I said absolutely. And so Joan stepped out of her comfort zone and started a website called Press On for Parkinson's and she writes blog articles, she writes poems and she writes stories, and it was just truly touching to watch the transformation she made from being that quiet, shy individual and blossoming into one of the leaders in the class and stepping outside her comfort zone and sharing her stories online with other people.
Speaker 1:
And then two other people, mary and Shelly, joined the Momentum class and I remember them telling me that they thought they would last maybe a week because they just didn't feel like they were going to be able to keep up with the group, because there's usually 15 to 25 people in any one particular class. Some classes have more than others, and one of the things that they found right away is the welcoming and the support that they received that nobody was judging them on how well they did the exercises or what they could or couldn't do. And so they told me that they went to one class and then a second class. And then pretty soon, they said I think I can do this because everybody's been so great and so helpful and so supportive. I can do this because everybody's been so great and so helpful and so supportive and they would attend another class. And then here they are, two to three years later and they come to every class and they're viewed as one of the leaders in the class as well. So it's amazing to see how two individuals were thinking to themselves I'm not going to be able to do this because everybody's going to be judging me but found out that they could transform their Parkinson's journey with the support and the care of other people. And then Donna is another person in the class and Donna stepped outside her comfort zone as well and she started, in addition to the momentum classes, she started doing a lot of group fitness classes that really challenged her abilities and she goes to soul fusion and a bar class that incorporate a lot of yoga, pilates, strength, and she's able to keep up with other people in the class and it's it's. It's just a great feeling to watch someone go from a momentum class and go into a group fitness class and be able to keep up with others. And then John, and the interesting thing about John is my son and his granddaughter used to date in high school. So I kind of knew John a little bit before the Momentum class, but John's really blossomed as well. We first started he would have trouble if we did floor exercises getting up off the floor, and now he's able to get up off the floor by himself. It may take him a little bit but everybody's there to cheer him on and he feels great after getting finished.
Speaker 1:
Now one of the things that why I say Momentum really transformed and changed my life is because I've met a group of people that we've all become like a second family, so we all get together. We have a monthly breakfast where we get together, so whoever can make it, we show up, and a lot of times people will bring their spouse or their caregiver or some people just show up by themselves, which is fine, and we just sit and we talk and we talk about what's going on in each other's lives and we really get to know each other on a more personal level. So it's really helped me in my Parkinson's journey because it's helped me to realize that there's other people that are out there that are going through the same challenges and struggles that I am, but also there's people out there to support you and, when you're not feeling your best, to push you and challenge you and just make you a better person. So these particular people that I didn't know before, these ordinary people I look at now as extraordinary because they've helped not only transform me but they've transformed themselves as well. And we also get together outside of momentum classes. We've done a happy hour, get togethers where people bring their, their spouse, we've done a picnic and other people. We get to meet other people's families and see how they live. And it's great that we've become this second family that you can always count on and lean on to help you on your Parkinson's journey. So that's really been a major transformation in my life, transformation in my life.
Speaker 1:
And then, in addition to that, I was talking about Susanna, who developed, was one of the co-developers of the Momentum program and I started working with her on as a doing one-on-one personal fitness once a week to help me with improve my my balance week to help me with improve my balance, my strength, my flexibility, and because Susanna had a similar background to mine. I have a degree in biology and she has a degree in biology, and then she got her master's degree. But one of the things that we all noticed is that she was a very caring person. She listened and then also tried to understand where people were coming from, how they were feeling, and then she was able to target exercises and activities based on how people were feeling. And so I was fortunate enough to be able to work with Susanna over the course of six years, and one of the reasons that she made such a profound impact on my life is that she pushed me to do things that maybe I didn't think I could do or were outside of my comfort zone, and I was just amazed and you feel proud of yourself at the end.
Speaker 1:
So, for instance, she was always challenging me to do better and the end. So, for instance, she was always challenging me to do better and push harder. So, for instance, one of the activities I was doing towards the end was balancing on a Bosu ball with kettlebells, and then also she would add a cognitive piece in there. So she asked me to name all 50 states in alphabetical order, and I was really amazed at myself that I was able to do it with just a little, a few prompts here and there. And then, because I was able to do that, she said why don't we challenge you now to see how you do with state capitals? And again I was. I felt good about not only being able to do the exercise above what my expectations were, but I was also able to name most of the 50 state capitals in alphabetical order based on their state.
Speaker 1:
But one of the things that we would always do during training she would always ask me how I was feeling and she would tailor the program. But we also would talk about our families, and one of the things that I got to talking about is how I wish I could help more people live a great quality of life, because growing up with the story of talking about my grandfather, I still had that burning desire to be able to have some type of purpose and be able to help other people. And so she said you know, you've done so well with Parkinson's, based on four strategies that I researched and that I live by, and those are exercise, nutrition, positivity and optimism, and then community and social interaction. And so she suggested I write a book. So I wrote the book Spectacular and I was amazed at the positive feedback that I received from people that read the book and they said it really got them to think about how they could make changes to improve their quality of life, and so I was really feeling good about that.
Speaker 1:
But at the same time then I would turn the tables on Susanna and I would say to her what do you want to do? What's your ultimate goal? Because she had gotten her master's degree in leadership and she was struggling with what to do next and just asking some probing questions, she was able to come up with a goal and a vision of really what she wanted to do, and so she decided to go back and get her doctorate in public health. Fact that we were both mentoring and coaching each other to improve both our quality of lives. When one of the things that why I said she really impacted my life in such a positive way is she talked about other ways that I could help people lead a great quality of life and she suggested that I start a podcast. She said you know you're an outgoing person and you'd like to help other people. Why not start a podcast?
Speaker 1:
And I thought to myself I don't know anything about podcasting and I was very reluctant and nervous, so I pushed it off for you know, a month or two, but she kept quote, nagging me or prodding me to you should really think about starting a podcast. To you should really think about starting a podcast. So I decided to step outside my comfort zone and I did a month, two months of research to understand how to start a podcast, what to do, and so I launched the podcast, this podcast Live Parkinson's Live an Exceptional Life, in late October of 2023. And at the time I was thinking to myself well, I'm going to be lucky if I get 15 or 20 people, maybe from the momentum class, to listen to the podcast. But I can't express the gratitude that I have that this podcast has been listened to in 24 different countries and 250 US cities and there's been a number of people that have had multiple downloads and I I can't thank you enough and I'm hoping that it's.
Speaker 1:
My ultimate goal is that it's helping you improve your quality of life. So I'm hoping that the information that I provide, the stories that I tell, can help you live your best life, so that you can continue participating with your family, your friends and leading the life that you want to. With Parkinson's, this podcast has given me purpose and transformed my life in several ways. First, it's enabled me to connect with others all over the world who are going through the same challenges as I am. No matter where we're from, we're all connected and can learn from each other and affect positive change in this world and in each other's lives. Doing research for this podcast has enabled me to learn more about Parkinson's that I can share with you, but it's also helped me on my Parkinson's journey as well. And then, finally, it's taught me that you can do anything you want if you're willing to step outside your comfort zone. Now I can't thank Suzanne enough for not only challenging me to be my best, but for also being a caring person and being a great listener, but also for being a great mentor, coach and friend. It shows you that you can have a chance meeting with someone 20 years younger who can be a great coach and mentor. It's been a pleasure to call Susanna a friend and also get to know her wonderful family. Now Susanna recently moved on to another position, a nice promotion, for which is well-deserved. She will be able to share her skills and talents with others, making them better people and helping them to live their best lives.
Speaker 1:
Sometimes we're fortunate to meet people who we think are ordinary but turn out to be extraordinary. I've been fortunate in my life to have people impact and shape my life for the better. My grandparents and parents, who are my heroes, taught me to help others and live a positive life. My friend, scott, who I talk about in my book and in one of my podcasts we've been friends for over 53 years and there's not many people that can say that they've had friends for that long, but he and his family are the epitome of helping others and being active in their community. They make their community a better place through all their efforts in community service. My brother, bud real name Brian my sister-in-law, angie, and their kids, amanda, mike and Josh, have also had a profound impact, reminding me of the importance of family and always being there to help when needed.
Speaker 1:
And, of course, my wife, mary. You probably thought, chris, you're going to be in big trouble for forgetting your wife and kids and I'll talk about them in just a minute, but Mary and I will be married for 38 years in September. She's been a true soulmate, mother and best friend. She's been by my side, fighting along with me during my Parkinson's journey. She's got the heart of gold and I couldn't be more grateful. Our kid, emily, who is so much like me. She loves to laugh and make others happy, she's a social butterfly and she'll know your whole life story within the first five minutes after meeting you. Derek and his wife Molly, and my granddaughter Bonnie remind me of the importance of family and spending time with the people that you love, and I also wanted to recognize Molly's parents and my in-laws, penny and Graham, and Phillip and Layla. They're all committed to making positive changes in the world.
Speaker 1:
Now I'd like to fast forward to June of 2024. I've been blessed to meet ordinary people who are superheroes in disguise. They've helped me transform my life and my Parkinson's journey. So to Andy, charlie or should I say General, vera, joan, mary, shelley, donna and John, thank you for helping me on my Parkinson's journey. I would also like to thank the rest of the Momentum class, because you've also played a key role in my Parkinson's journey. I by no means am trying to downplay your role, because you've had such a big impact as well. A big thank you to the Momentum instructors Jen, who not only co-developed the program but does a great job of teaching the weekly classes. Thank you to Craig, jen and Chris as well for being great instructors.
Speaker 1:
And, as my story comes to an end, my hope is that each and every one of you is fortunate enough to meet quote ordinary people who help you become extraordinary. Now I believe that people come into our lives at just the right time to help us, to teach us and, most importantly, leave an indelible mark on us. We can't help but be better and grow as a person because of these people Now I've mentioned. They've made a profound impact on me and have transformed my Parkinson's journey. A special thank you to Susanna for nudging me to step outside my comfort zone and share what I've learned to hopefully help others lead a great quality of life with Parkinson's. You've helped me find my purpose. Again, thank you.
Speaker 1:
Now my hope is that the Live Parkinson's Live an Exceptional Life podcast has helped you live your best life with Parkinson's. My ultimate dream is to help as many people as possible stay engaged and live their life to the fullest with family and friends and overcome their Parkinson's challenges. I would love to hear from you and hear your stories of success and to be able to help others. So keep an eye out for these special people who are going to come into your life and be mentors, guides, friends and coaches. They'll forever change your life for the better.
Speaker 1:
Thank you so much for listening and supporting this podcast. So much for listening and supporting this podcast, but before I leave, please visit liveparkinsonscom and sign up for the free monthly newsletter. And there's some other free resources on there as well, including the Parkinson's medication and symptom tracker, which you can use to help prepare for your doctor visits, and there's a Parkinson's resource guide that's free as well. That consolidates all the national and regional websites on exercise, nutrition, optimism and mindfulness, and social interaction and community. So please visit liveparkinsonscom and then check out some of the recent articles. I just did one on can what you eat help you manage your Parkinson's symptoms, which I just published today, in fact. So again, I thank you for listening to this podcast and I hope this story helped you and is gonna help you transform your Parkinson's journey. I really appreciate you being part of this audience because you've helped me to find my purpose again and feel like I'm making a contribution. So thank you for listening and I look forward to seeing you on future podcasts and have a spectacular day. Thank you.