As an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Rutgers, Don Gerecke of West Windsor developed a tremor in his right hand in March, 2004. “The students just thought I was nervous,” Gerecke recalls, noting that “the tremor does intensify in situations of adrenaline release or fatigue.” But as an actor in community theater for more than 25 years, Gerecke knew that this was not ordinary stage fright.##M:[more]##
In May of 2004 Gerecke, then 53, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Since then he has used his own case to help teach his students at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and he is participating along with some of his students in the Parkinson’s Unity Walk in New York City on Saturday, April 29, a two-mile circular walk starting and ending at the New York City Central Park band shell. The event opens at 10 a.m. and the walk begins at 1 p.m., rain or shine.
Born and raised in Saddle Brook, he graduated from Rutgers with a bachelor degree in animal science and a master’s degree in entomology and economic zoology, and a doctorate from Harvard University in anatomy and cellular biology. His wife, Marion “Emmy” Gordon, is a research associate professor, in the same department. Their daughter Rebecca, an eighth grade student at Princeton Friends School, will attend Princeton Day School next year.
For Gerecke, the early symptoms of Parkinson’s began with a loss of smell that proceeded slowly over three to five years. A second symptom was smaller and smaller handwriting as his fine motor skills became impaired. “The nature of the disease is such that there are not enough dopamine-producing cells to offset the firing of signals to the muscles and the muscles are constantly tight,” says Gerecke.
When he found his usual optimism giving way to depression, Gerecke rationalized that it corresponded to his family’s move from Boston to West Windsor in 1998 and an ailing family member who moved in with them. He was also starting up a new lab at Rutgers, seeking funding for research, and had teaching responsibilities.
He then developed the Parkinson’s gait that he describes as “a sort of slightly hunched forward very deliberate walk.” He was constantly fatigued and felt that his balance wasn’t “quite right”.
Since his diagnosis, the disease has been progressing steadily, but slowly. Still on low doses of the first medications usually prescribed, the drugs only slightly eliminated the hand tremor. “I’ve elected to deal with the tremor rather than move to stronger medications since a sort of tolerance to some of the drugs can occur and there are a limited number of pharmacologic agents to treat Parkinson’s,” he says.
“The tremor makes it a bit harder to type, since I can get double letters, as well as double clicks on the computer mouse,” he says. “It also worsens when the adrenaline is flowing as in teaching class, on stage, or fatigued.”
The prognosis is unclear since every individual progresses at a different rate and responds to the therapies differently. Gerecke feels that he has half a dozen drugs still available before he has to consider the most radical therapy which involving implanting electrodes in the brain to do a deep brain stimulation of the dopamine producing cells.
“I believe the true hope for a cure lies in stem cell research,” Gerecke says. “Stem cells have been used successfully in animal models to treat Parkinson’s.
“There is a common misconception that stem cells can only come from discarded fetuses,” says Gerecke. “Everyone has tens of thousands of their own stem cells — just look at hair growth, each hair comes from a stem cell in a cyclical fashion, with the hair eventually falling out and a replacement originating from a stem cell. The use of one’s own stem cells would also negate the possibility of the body rejecting the implant as happens in organ donations.”
“Well, I am very hopeful about the future, so you can see my depression is over,” says Gerecke.
And, says his wife, Emmy, he “loves using his spare time in community theater plays. “And don’t believe him when he says he can only play old, shaky wizards now that he has Parkinson’s.” This past year he was seen as the Wizard in “Once Upon A Mattress” at Open Air Theater and played several parts in “A Christmas Carol the Musical” at Kelsey last December.
— Lynn Miller
To help the Rutgers Pharmacy team and Gerecke, visit www.unitywalk.org, click on “2006 walk” and search for “Rutgers Pharmacy.” Donations can be made until the end of June.
Other area walks and runs for causes include:
Friday, April 28: Relay for Life, American Cancer Society. College of New Jersey, Ewing 800-227-2345, 6 p.m. Through Saturday, April 29, 9 a.m. Highlighting the event is the luminaria service to honor survivors and remember those lost to cancer. Register. $10.
Saturday, April 29: New Jersey Tournament of Champions, Third Base Sports Trophies. Mercer County Park, West Windsor 856-904-6455, 10 a.m. Tournament features 32 men’s softball teams competing to benefit Special Olympics. Raffles, shirts, and food available. Rain date Sunday, May 14.
Sunday, April 30: WalkAmerica, March of Dimes. Mercer County Park Skating Rink, 609-655-7400, 8 a.m. Food, music, clowns, face painting.
Sunday, May 7: Walk for Chalk, Kids-for-Kids. West Windsor Community Park, Princeton-Hightstown Road, West Windsor 609-897-0564, 1 p.m. Carnival with games, music, and rides, face painting, food, music, and walkathon to benefit needy children. $5 admission.
Also Great Strides, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Princeton Battlefield, 800-Fight-CF, 9 a.m. Nationwide walk-a-thon.
Also Lymphomathon, Lymphoma Research Foundation. Mercer County Park, West Windsor, 9:30 a.m. Non-competitive 5K walk for survivors, family, friends, community, and corporate teams. Free with gifts for participation at the $100 and $250 levels.
