En Español

Why Blog?

Do people really want to listen to my ramblings about Parkinson’s Disease? Only time will tell but recently the #uniteforparkinsons campaign invited the disease suffers to make a video of their experience with Parkinson’s Disease. I dragged my family out of bed on a Sunday morning and had them film me walking. Then we did some quick interviews and rushed to edit the video without too much thought.
The results were overwhelming:
Shared 26 times to my knowledge and I’ve received lots of encouraging comments from friends, acquaintances and strangers and lots of prayers….

A short version made by the #Uniteforparkinsons campaign:
32 500 views on youtube
4500 views on facebook
80 shares on facebook

Parts of it was used in their main campaign too.

BUT most importantly (numbers mean less)….it has encouraged me to fight against the disease and encourage others in the process. I have been inspired to start a new fitness regime I’ll explain in another blog and although it is hard it is so good.

My conclusion is that if such a video can be so interesting to people and shared so widely and commented positively then I am sure this blog can be of some benefit to others especially with more thought and planning.

And if not, that is ok – it will keep me accountable in keeping myself fighting the disease.

Banner Photo: Favi Béjar Fotografía

Porque un Blog?

¿La gente realmente quiere escuchar mis ideas sobre la enfermedad de Parkinson? Solo el tiempo lo dirá, pero recientemente la campaña #uniteforparkinsons invitó a la gente que sufre de esta enfermedad a hacer un video sobre su experiencia con el Parkinson.

Saqué a mi familia de sus camas un domingo por la mañana y les hice que me grabaran caminando. Luego hicimos algunas entrevistas rápidas y corrimos a editar el video sin pensarlo demasiado.

Los resultados fueron una sorpresa:
800 + vistas en youtube
Más de 1500 visualizaciones en Facebook
Compartio 26 veces, que yo sepa, y recibí muchos comentarios alentadores de amigos, conocidos y no conocidos y muchas oraciones …

Una versión corta hecha por la campaña #Uniteforparkinsons:
32 500 visitas en youtube
4500 visitas en facebook
80 compartio en facebook

Algunas partes se usaron en su campaña principal también.

PERO lo más importante (los números significan menos) … me ha animado a luchar contra la enfermedad y animar a otros en el proceso. Me inspiré para comenzar un nuevo régimen de ejercicios que explicaré en otro blog y, aunque es difícil, es muy bueno.

Mi conclusión es que si un video de este tipo puede ser tan interesante para las personas y puede ser compartido y comentado positivamente, estoy segura de que este blog puede ser beneficioso para otros, especialmente con más reflexión y planificación.

Y si no, está bien, me siento responsable de seguir en mi lucha contra esta enfermedad.

Banner Foto: Favi Béjar Fotografía

Videos

Christine Jeyachandran: 9 years ago at age 37, Christine was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in Peru where she lived until recently. It started with a slight tremble, weak fingers and led to left foot dragging and difficulty walking without medication. Gymnastics has changed her life completely and empowered her physically and mentally. Her video Handstand for Parkinson’s was a finalist at the World Parkinson Congress.	Finalist for video Competition 5100+ views
She regained range of movement, balance, flexibility, coordination, and she’s stronger than ever. And her video Before and After shows a huge contrast in how it has changed the way she moves.
In April 2020, Christine edited a video: What are the benefits of exercise?. This shows the amazing stories of 13 people with Parkinson’s from around the World who swear by and implore people with Parkinson’s to exercise with determination and intensity, an apt message during COVID19. Parkinson’s disease never takes a day off.
Christine herself had to “overcome apathy, doubts, fatigue, and fear” in training gymnastics so she wanted to help others understand the benefits went beyond her story and are worth the effort. This video comes with a sequel discussing “What keeps you motivated” as we know motivation is a big challenge for those with Parkinson’s too! This project was featured in Parkinson’s Life, online magazine.
The video – Would you sell your house to save your mother? Has been had amazing feedback (see poster below) and exposure and was a top 5 in a popular vote for the Focus on Ability Video Competition last year. It has over 44 amazing comments just on their site and many more through social media. It challenges the world to see the needs within the Parkinson’s Latino community. Finalist in Focus on Ability Film Festival

I have many videos on my youtube channel. Please SUBSCRIBE to my youtube

I’m am amateur video maker but I’m learning so much and I do it to educate people about Parkinson’s most of all so forgive the small errors you might see.

¿Cuáles son los beneficios del ejercicio? Los secretos de

Parkinson para vivir con éxito. Video 1

What keeps you motivated? Parkinson’s secrets to living

successfully! Video II of a II part series

What are the Benefits of Exercise? Parkinson’s secrets to living successfully. Video I of II

La perseverancia Ejercicios y Parkinson.

Antes y Después – Christine usaba gimnasia artística para combatir el Parkinson

Homenastics – Hogar-nasia

¿Que es la enfermedad de Parkinsons?

Walk Normally – Christine’s Journey with Parkinson’s #uniteforparkinsons
Made for World Parkinson’s day in April 2018.

One Voice. One Day. This is Christine’s . #Uniteforparkinsons short version edited by World Parkinson’s Day team.

People all around the world talk about their Parkinson’s #Uniteforparkinson’s official video edited by World Parkinson’s Day team. Parts of my video appear in it.

We are hoping to make more videos in the future and especially in Spanish. If you look you can find Spanish subtitles for the Walk Normally video.

Esperamos hacer más videos en el futuro y especialmente en español. Si busca, puedes encontrar subtítulos en español para el video Walk Normally.

Who am I? ¿Quien soy yo?

CHRISTINE JEYACHANDRAN

Public Speaker and Advocate and World Parkinson Congress Ambassador WPC2022/3
Masters, Public Health, University of New South Wales (2020- 2022).
Masters, International and Community Development Deakin University (2004)
Graduate Diploma in Divinity (2008), Australian College of Theology/ Morling College (2008
Economics (Social Science) Degree, Honours in Government, University of Sydney (2000)

Christine is a passionate health advocate, driven to improve the lives of people with Parkinson’s through prevention. Christine’s personal story has impressed doctors and physiotherapists around the world as she used exercise to regain her movement for early onset Parkinson’s disease. Her story was shortlisted in World Parkinson’s Congress video competition (Handstand for Parkinson’s). Christine was living in Peru (10 years) and noted to lack os services and even knowledge about the benefits of exercise so she started to education her community and started a local association and launched an International Alliance of Parkinson’s for Spanish Speaking countries to see how they could work together and look for resources. She is the co-principal investigator for an project concerning Parkinson’s epidemiology in Latin America. She use my lived experience to educate and is now breaking stigma and telling other people’s Parkinson’s stories. Christine is almost fluent in Spanish.

From Christine:

I wrote this when I started the blog in 2018, much has changed so read on in the blog.

I’m Christine. I’m Australian but I live in Peru with my family. I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease four years ago when I was 37 – it was a bit of a shock! My left hand shakes so people think I’m nervous. Parkinson’s has damaged my ability to walk and my foot drags. My left arm/ hand also doesn’t move as it should and it trembles. I need to do exercise regularly, which is time consuming, to keep my body from degrenating.

Sometimes I feel sad. This disease has got me too young – I’m only 41. I feel a sense of loss of what I can’t do. I hope I can be there for my children when I’m older and be full of energy and strength.

Sometimes I’m tempted to question why I have Parkinson’s but in the end it doesn’t really matter why but I do know that God has a purpose for me in this. I know that I can be an encouragement to others. I have shared my story with many and serve God despite the hardships of life.

On that note, I am a bible believing Christian. Obviously I understand not everyone has the same beliefs as me but I cannot express myself most honestly without occasional reference to this. So I hope you keep reading nonetheless knowing that no offence is intended if you disagree. It is just “my story”.

PS- I write in Spanish too, whenever I can, because I live in Peru and I feel there are few resources here in Spanish about Parkinson’s disease. I hope to advance people’s understanding of the disease where I live.

¿Quien soy yo?

Hola, soy Christine. Soy australiana pero vivo en Perú con mi familia. Hace cuatro años me diagnosticaron la enfermedad de Parkinson cuando tenía 37 años. ¡Fue un shock!. Actualmente mi mano izquierda tiembla y la gente piensa que estoy nerviosa. El Parkinson ha dañado mi capacidad para caminar y arrastro un pie. Mi brazo y mano izquierda tampoco se mueven como debería. Necesito hacer ejercicio frecuentemente, lo cual lleva mucho tiempo, para evitar que mi cuerpo se deteriore más.

A veces me siento triste. Esta enfermedad me dio demasiado joven, sólo tengo 41 años. Siento la pérdida de lo que no puedo hacer. Espero que pueda estar allí para mis hijos cuando sea mayor y estar llena de energía y fuerza.

A veces me siento tentada a preguntar por qué tengo Parkinson, pero al final no importa el por qué, pero sí sé que Dios tiene un propósito para mí en esto. Sé que puedo animar a otros. He compartido mi historia con muchos y sirvo a Dios a pesar de las dificultades de la vida.

En ese sentido, soy un cristiano que cree en la Biblia. Obviamente, entiendo que no todos tienen las mismas creencias que yo, pero no puedo expresarme con la mayor honestidad sin mencionar mi fe. Así que espero que aun asi sigas leyendo, sabiendo que no se pretende ofender si no estás de acuerdo. Es solo “mi historia”.

Nota: Escribo en español, siempre que puedo, porque vivo en Perú y creo que hay pocos recursos aquí en español sobre la enfermedad de Parkinson. Espero que la gente entienda mejor la enfermedad.