When Pat and Jim Hoyt moved to Ballard Landmark Senior and Assisted Living two years ago, Pat was bound to her wheelchair.

They moved to Ballard to be closer to their son and Pat needed constant assistance.

“She couldn’t shower or dress herself. She couldn’t do anything independently,” said her husband, Jim.

Pat has Parkinson’s Disease, a neurodegenerative brain disorder that impairs motor skills and cognitive processes. The most noticeable symptoms are motor-related, tremors, rigidity, slowness of movement, and postural instability. Other symptoms can include sensory and sleep difficulties and dementia.

“A pain in the butt is what it is,” Pat said.

The young Pat was an avid skier, hitting the slopes anywhere from Schweitzer in Idaho to the world-class ski areas of Austria.

Ten years ago, at age 71, Pat was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

“First, she’d fall occasionally. Then it got worse and she’d fall four to five times a day,” Jim said.

“Her arms are all banged up, she broke her ribs one time and also banged her head. She now wears a filter against blood cloths near her heart.”

As the disease progressed she became increasingly dependent on a wheelchair but when Jim and Pat came to Ballard Landmark they were told there are options.

“Parkinson's sucks. It really does,” said Marilyn Heussy, Pat’s trainer. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything. There’s always a way and Pat is very positive.”

“When she was put here in assistant living, the first thing she asked me was, ‘Can you help me walk? I want to walk,” Heussy recalls.

“My first response was, ‘We’ll have to pray’.”

Heussy did some research on strength training and Parkinson’s specific exercises and consulted the staff and Executive Director Peter Brooks.

“In the beginning she was scared to walk but the progress has been so fast,” Heussy said. “We all put our heart in it and we saw progress in two weeks.”

When the Ballard News-Tribune caught up with Pat, she was preparing for a pool session with Peter Brooks.

“Peter exercises with her even though that’s not his function, he’s an executive,” Jim said.

“Peter has spend his life with handicapped and he got her into water walking.”

Inside the pool room, Jim wheeled Pat over to the pool in her wheelchair. Next to the pool stands a chair lift to help residents in and out the pool but Pat stood up, undid her bath rope, and walked slowly down the steps into the pool.

“Pat was pretty much dependent on that chair but now she can walk into the pool herself,” Brooks said.

“Six month’s ago this would never have happened.”

Brooks guides Pat through various strength and cardio exercises including water jogging, squats and pull ups.

“I didn’t think this was possible,” Jim said as he watches his wife of 58 years exercise in the pool. “They’ve worked hard.”

Brooks said the first pool session consisted of just getting Pat to trust her own body again. Pat learned that she could use the walls and her strong arms as a safety net.

During the first time in the pool with Brooks she asked him if she’d ever walk again. Brooks told her, “Absolutely”.

“The answer had to be yes,” Brooks said. “And I think Pat has pretty much surpassed that goal.”

Slowly but surely, Pat started taking little steps around the pool and today she takes long, steady strides back and forth.

“What separates Pat is her can-do attitude,” Brooks said.

“If not for her attitude she would have never come this far.”

Heussy echoed Brooks’ sentiment.

“I think she’ll walk on her own again because she’s willing,” Heussy said. "Lots of people with Parkinson's get discouraged but Pat is very positive."

Outside of the pool, staff takes Pat on walks with a walker or simple an arm to hold onto. She also started using a motorized stationary bicycle for cardio training.

“Peter has been a gift to me. He has given me a lot of courage,” Pat said. “Walking again is like a miracle.”

Brooks said his short-term goal is to get Pat strong enough to pull herself out of the pool but the big goal is to get her independent again.

“I think we can take her scuba diving,” Brooks said, a big Scuba-fan himself.

“And we will ski again with some adapted gear.”