JOHN COLEMAN: "By August 1995,John Coleman had lost his power of speech and was wondering how he could go on living. Suffering symptoms of stage IV Parkinson‘s disease and early stage Multi-system Atrophy, diagnosed by five medical and complementary practitioners, he was unable to walk more than 5 metres without assistance and took up to an hour and a half to dress himself. Severely dissatisfied with the treatment and prognosis he received from western medical practitioners, John decided to pursue other pathways to health. With the aid of Homeopathy, Aqua Hydration Formulas, Bowen Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Flower Essences, Counselling, Meditation and Spiritual Development, John was completely symptom-free by April 1998 and remains symtpom free today."

Today John is completely symptom free and enjoys great health. After winning his own battle against Parkinson’s Disease, John has gone on to help hundreds of other sufferers of this cruel disease improve their health, reverse their symptoms and reduce medication usage, using the natural regimen he devised. In fact, many have completely recovered their health.

Why did John recover when so many had tried and failed before him? Was it the Aquas that took a little while before their full benefit became apparent? Was it the accumulation of many therapies that just happened to coincide at that time? John is certain that the whole of his journey is important and it is almost impossible to separate the effect of each therapy/experience from the whole.

This has been a remarkable journey. My reward is that now I can say "I used to have Parkinson’s disease".

Qualifications

• Advanced Diploma in Naturopathy (Australian College of Natural Medicine)
• Certificate Bowen Therapy
• Certificate Neurostructural Integration Technique (advanced Bowen Therapy)

Awards

• Tattersall’s Award for founding Very Special Kids – 1984
• ANPA Professional Excellence Award for Community Education – 2005
• Herald Sun Pride of Australia Medal – Finalist, Courage Section – 2007

Community Activities

• Returning To Wellness (a support group for those diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, Multi-system Atrophy and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy)
  • Facilitator
  • Provide rooms, etc for gold coin donation.
• neuro recovery foundation inc. (a support organisation for those seeking recovery from neurodegenerative and autoimmune disorders using all available resources)
  • Founder, 30th January 2002
  • Committee member
• Very Special Kids Inc. (a support group for the families of children suffering from life- threatening illness)
  • Co-founder, 1984.
  • Chairperson, 1984/1985.
• House of Saint Francis (a support group for families with intellectually impaired children)
  • Foundation committee member, 1979.
  • Casual assistant at Family Support Centre.
  • Chairperson 1982.

Presentations

• Guest speaker, 6th Multidisciplinary Conference on Parkinson’s disease, Melbourne 2001
• Workshop speaker – 5 Bowen Therapy conferences over 6 years
• Facilitator, 16 Neuro Recovery Pathways Programs – (residential programs for those diagnosed with neurodegenerative or autoimmune disorders)
• Facilitator, Practitioner Training on neurodegenerative disorders, Tacoma, WA, USA – 2006
• Facilitator, Practitioner Training on neurodegenerative disorders, Germany, Austria and UK - 2007
• Numerous presentations at Parkinson’s support groups, cancer support groups, Natural Health groups
• He has also conducted practitioner training and public lectures on recovery from challenging disorders in many states of Australia, USA, Germany, Austria and UK.

John's symptoms at early August 1995

• Muscular rigidity in neck, shoulders, back - bilateral but predominantly right side.
• Pain in neck shoulders and back - bilateral but worse on right side.
• Tremor at rest in head and hands with "pill rolling" - bilateral but worse right side.
• Right shoulder largely immobile - my arm did not swing when I walked and I was unable to use the arm properly even for simple tasks.
• Right leg dragged when walking.
• Right side of face "frozen" - it did not respond when I smiled or changed expression; I tended to speak from the left side of my mouth.
• Incoherent and/or stammering speech at a low level. However I could sing quite coherently.
• Ataxia.
• Great fatigue which fluctuated to a small degree with blood sugar levels.
• I felt as if I was constantly trying to walk against the current in chest high water.
• Weakness in most muscles.
• Intermittent and fluctuating tachycardia/bradycardia/arrhythmia.
• Great difficulty in turning over in bed. I had to roll out of bed in the morning, then pull myself upright using the bed or chair.
• Simple tasks such as dressing became very slow, uncoordinated and confusing.
• Drowsiness.
• My writing had become smaller and less legible, often degenerating to an almost illegible scrawl running off the line.
• Festinating walk with a widened gait.
• Difficulty in initiating actions, e.g. rising from a chair, starting to walk, opening a cupboard.
• Elevated large toes.
• Clawed small toes.
• Poor coordination - e.g. couldn’t catch.
• Inability to carry out two simple tasks at once - e.g. walk and open bottle.
• "Freezing" - I used tricks to turn corners, walk through doorways, etc.
• Clumsiness and tendency to drop things.
• Dizzy spells, disorientation and "absences".
• My judgement of speed and distance was poor so I had difficulty crossing roads.
• Driving was risky but the only feasible means of transport.
• Twitching and spasms when relaxed - e.g. in bed.
• Intermittent back spasm.
• Reduced visual acuity - I had great difficulty reading newspapers for instance.
• Dyspnea, especially when speaking or at rest.
• Appetite fluctuations without apparent cause.
• Dysphagia - especially with cold drinks.
• Gastric reflux.
• Loss of libido and/or impotence.
• Enuresis.
• Lowered core temperature - I felt the cold much more than I used to.
• Tinnitus.