Mayor Kramer: I Have Parkinson’s

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Mayor Philip Kramer has been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease since the middle of 2019, he said on June 24.

Kramer, 68, said the disease has not affected his mobility and that he has no plans to resign the seat that he’s held since 2016. Kramer made the revelation in an exclusive interview with the Franklin Reporter & Advocate.

Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive disorder of the body’s central nervous system.

Kramer, who is a neurologist by profession, said he first suspected that he might develop Parkinson’s about 10 years ago.

“I suspected that I might get it for a decade because I lost my sense of smell, and that’s a big warning,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get Parkinson’s; head trauma messes up the nerves in your nose, which I have had, so I wasn’t sure.”

Another warning factor that pointed toward Parkinson’s is the fact that Kramer is an Ashkenazi Jew, he said. Studies have shown that gene mutations among Ashkenazi Jews may lead to Parkinson’s.

Kramer said he did not begin having symptoms until about six months before the Covid-19 pandemic, when he “noticed a little bit of a tremor.”

“My father had a benign or essential, tremor, so I wasn’t sure if it wasn’t that,” he said.

Kramer, who is a physician at JFK University Medical Center in Edison, said that one day in March of 2020 he “walked across the hallway (to a colleague’s office), and I said all right, do I have Parkinson’s. And I got a diagnosis in about 15 minutes.”

Kramer said his treatment includes medication and exercise.

“The interesting thing about Parkinson’s is, it’s a resting tremor,” he said. “As I sit here, my hand may shake. But as I try to do something, it stops to shake. I’m able to do delicate things. Something that’s actually really cool, all I have to do is think about moving it and it will stop.”

Kramer said that he has no plans to resign his seat. He has 3.5 years left in his current term.

“There’s no reason I should,” he said.

Semi-retired, Kramer works one day a week at the hospital, he said.

“I don’t see this as affecting when I’m going to retire,” he said.

“I’ll have quite a bit of time that I will be mobile and able to function,” he said. “I may have that for the rest of my life. Parkinson’s only shortens life span by one year, on average. I expect to have many years of mobility left.”

“It’s not limiting me now, but if it does ever limit me, I would either not run again, or I would resign,” Kramer said. “I’m under constant surveillance at work, and I’m aware of the limitations of it and so far, there are none.”

The Mayor said he initially did not tell anyone of his condition except for his wife, Laurie, and “very few” others.

“Now it’s come to the point where I’m spending too much mental energy worrying if when I’m talking to somebody, if my hand shakes, do they notice,” he said. “I’m spending too much time thinking about that rather than answering someone’s question. I’m not broadcasting, it, but now I won’t have to worry about it.”

Kramer said he does not want sympathy over his condition.

“I don’t need your sympathy,” he said. “If you feel compelled to say something, it will probably be I’m sorry you have Parkinson’s and I will probably reply, so am I.”

“Don’t throw me any softballs,” he said. “I’m here and I’m ready for the job.”

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