My name is Serge Boily. I am 54 years old, urban pesticide specialist from 1990 to 2001, diagnosed with Parkinson two years ago. In all honesty, I had symptoms much earlier, but I tried to avoid facing them and to hide the reality of what I was going through…
The way people experience the disease is different from one person to another, but the important thing is to surround yourself and find support from contacts and organizations like Parkinson Québec. Many activities, support groups, conferences and information on research are available for all of us online.
Above all, don’t remain by yourself! You will lose more energy than you think…
Be careful with your family too; they are there to support you, but remember that they aren’t there to find solutions.
At first, I didn’t know how to react. I have two children aged 12 and 16, and they want their father to be as he’s always been, but they must accept the emergence of the different symptoms and the fact that we change physically: our way of expressing ourselves, our voice, the tremors… However, everyone experiences Parkinson’s in a different way. Remember that I am 54 years old, and the treatment will change with time (doses, types of medications), whereas for someone older, say, 84 years old, their doses will generally remain the same…
For our well-being, it’s important to remain active, to move, to surround ourselves with people we can count on! Not keeping ourselves from calling and asking for help is crucial to keeping in good spirits. Parkinson Québec is here for us!
There’s a message I want to get across today: Stay away from pesticides!
Pesticides affect agricultural workers (users are directly affected), but also the families who live in the rural areas near the large fields (pesticides are volatile).
My personal battle is finding how to live more peacefully!
But there is no miracle solution for now. We must thus take the medications that help us. Personally, they did a lot for me! Just like consulting a psychologist, a neuropsychologist, a kinesitherapist (boxing classes), friends…
I try to find people who are going through the same thing as me and encouraging them, but often they aren’t at the same stage as me. My view is that we can help each other. We have the same disease, even though we’re all different.
Grieving the illness is also different from one person to another. I haven’t accepted it yet, but I’ve decided to keep moving forward and do the best I can! What matters most to me is being a good father, a good colleague, and not making my loved ones pay too dearly, because it isn’t their fault.
Sometimes we’re disconnected from reality because we have memory problems, and it’s frustrating. I can’t always follow a conversation: I lose track of it and try to recover the beginning of it, but it takes too long. It’s in these kinds of situations that we isolate ourselves. I sometimes try to recover the conversation but it’s often too late; others don’t want to go back, since my comments become unrelated…
Another thing that I experience is demoralization.
Sometimes you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel… I try to remain positive, to keep my focus, to get better; to follow the treatments, to call specialists-– they’re there for us!
I know that at the moment we are not the first people on the hospital system’s list, but we have the right to express ourselves and to say that we’re suffering!
I try to get involved as best as I can.
I met a wonderful person, Romain Rigal, director of programs and services at Parkinson Québec. I thank him for the help he has brought me.
Know that I have faith in the future, but one day at a time.
Don’t give up, we are trying to prove to the government of Quebec that we are suffering and that we are victims of pesticide exposure (VPQ: Victimes des pesticides du Québec). Insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and more, all are dangerous products! Be careful, companies are there to make money…
It’s up to us to unite to make a difference and bring about change!
Serge
Want to know more about pesticides?
Discover our fight: Pesticides et Parkinson