World Parkinson’s Day 2024: Northlanders Peter and Jo Boston open up about life with the condition

Peter Boston, a Tai Chi instructor for more than 40 years, continues to practice the Chinese martial art daily. Photo / Michael Cunningham

With World Parkinson’s Day just around the corner, Whangārei man Peter Boston and his wife Jo open up about what it is like to live with the disease* and to love and care for someone impacted by the world’s fastest growing neurological condition. Around 12,000 Kiwis currently live with Parkinson’s but this number is expected to double in the next 20 years. Karina Cooper reports.

Parkinson’s quietly occupied 74-year-old Peter Boston’s body for years before symptoms made themselves hard to ignore.

Looking back, the Whangārei couple now realise there had been a mix of mystery symptoms before Boston’s 2016 diagnosis. One of which was a “little shake” that started in his hand.

“Shaking is the hardest thing to come to terms with,” Boston said.

But shaking is just one of the symptoms.

Jo said there is a whole lot going on inside of the body.

“There’s sluggishness in the elimination system, there’s the choking, there’s the speech, there’s the cognition decline.”

Boston has to undergo cognitive tests such as counting backwards, drawing a clock, walking down a hallway to see whether his arms swing.

“The attempt to draw a clock is unbelievably painful,” he said.

His reaction to learning he had Parkinson’s was “undramatic”.

“Why waste the best years of your life because you have it ... just enjoy life as much as you can,” Boston said.

Peter Boston and his wife Jo. Photo / Michael Cunningham

He can no longer drive as his brain cannot carry out the high level processing needed to for such a task, Jo said.

Trying to carry out tasks around the house could be tough as sequencing became difficult.

Some people with Parkinson’s may find it harder to focus in situations that divide their attention, or experience slowness in memory and thinking. They may struggle to judge depth and distance, or experience visual misperceptions.

While researchers are continuing to figure out why and how Parkinson’s impacts thinking and memory, they believe brain chemicals important for cognition - such as dopamine, acetylcholine, serotonin and norepinephrine - and changes to brain cells both play a role.

The changes in ability were stark for Boston, who Jo said could previously turn his hand to anything. The couple had spent years renovating houses before settling in Whangārei, and Boston had been a bicycle postie in Auckland for more than three decades.

In order to feel like “things aren’t so bad as what they are”, Boston practices Tai Chi daily. He taught the Chinese martial art for more than 40 years.

He also walks a lot. On Monday morning, Boston joins the Northland Red Tulip Group - formerly the Parkinson’s Northland Action Group - for an hour walk on a different track.

The walkers are just one of the many groups on offer to help Northlanders impacted by the disease learn and connect. Groups run from Waipu, Dargaville right up to the Far North.

Once a month a guest speaker fronts a support group for people with Parkinson’s and their carers. People can join the singing group which is significant as some people with the disease have difficulty projecting their voice or with swallowing, or may develop slurred or stuttering speech. The boxing class, Counterpunch, is available as is hydrotherapy, and a group specifically for carers.

Jo said the groups were important as a lot of people with the disease become shy and a lot of the talk was about how to live positively.

The Northland Red Tulip Group is inviting people to attend a one-day seminar at the Northland Rugby Club on Riverside Dr in Whangārei, to learn from a line-up of guest speakers designed to help educate and build social connection among the region’s Parkinson’s community.

The event runs from 9.30am to 3.30pm, and tickets can be purchased for $30 by registering with Vicki Sadgrove at 027 268 4973 or vicki.sadgrove@parkinsons.org.nz; or Kim Ward on 027 530 6221 or kim.ward@parkinsons.org.nz.

* Parkinson’s New Zealand says that as much as possible they do not use the word disease but rather ‘condition’ or simply Parkinson’s. The organisation provides information, education and support for people with Parkinson’s and Parkinson’s Plus conditions living in New Zealand. Visit their website www.parkinsons.org.nz or phone 0800 473 4636 for more information.