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POSTED: Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009

Despite deling with multiple sclerosis, exercise brings senior joy, purpose and health

Name: Kirk Bunnell

Age: 67

Residence: Bellingham for six years

Why work out?: His passion for physical activity brings Bunnell to the Whatcom Family YMCA on North State Street four or five mornings a week.

"God gave us a body to use, so use it means use it," he says. "I have no motivations for the Olympics; I just think God intended us to use them, so I want to be obedient. And I love it. I'm not obedient so much as I just love exercise."

Good days: "Thursday is a very blessed day because then I work out with the trainer, Dick Cardinal, an older gentleman who's in excellent condition," Bunnell says. "He knows everything there is to know about the different machines to exercise all your muscles."

Expert results: Bunnell has been working to build up certain muscle groups. "One of my legs is much weaker than the other because I broke it 45 years ago when I was overseas (serving in the Peace Corps) and no one there knew beans about fixing it," Bunnell says. "It just sat in a cast for six or eight months. Now both legs are the same diameter because of (the trainer's) exercises."

Fit for life: "I've exercised since I was a kid, at 10, 15 years old," Bunnell says. "It was more for sports back then, because you'd be a better basketball player if you were in better shape."

Dealing with illness: When he was 30, Bunnell was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. It stopped him from exercising at first because doctors told him that physical exertion could worsen the disease. That recommendation changed 15 years ago when he heard about a doctor in Colorado named Jimmie Heuga. "He specified an exercise regime for me that I was just thrilled with," Bunnell says. "He really changed my life."

A tough diagnosis: Bunnell's struggle with multiple sclerosis has had terrifying moments. "There was a time when my sons were two and four years old, little kids, and I slowly went blind," he recalls. "It scared me to death: how could I work and support my family?" He was able to work as a He worked as a physicist researching subatomic particles at Stanford University for 18 years.

Finding equilibrium: "Multiple sclerosis affects your balance. That's why I have a cane," Bunnell says. "I can't walk without it, or I can, but I can't go anywhere." His difficulties with balance don't get in the way of exercising He says most machines have rails to hang on to.

Moderation in all things: "Don't overdo," Bunnell advises. "You do curls, but don't do it until you're exhausted - do them until it feels good. When you're a kid, you do it until you really get hot, until you sweat." Heat can exacerbate MS, which is why some doctors discourage exercise in MS patients.

The right climate: Bunnell moved to Bellingham from California seeking a cooler climate for his health. The move also brought him closer to his son, Doug, who is the pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Bellingham. "It's an unbelievable thrill," Bunnell says. "I would no more have believed that when he was a kid than that he could fly, but he felt the call to be a pastor and he's very, very good at it."

Food philosophy: "I have the point of view that if it tastes good, it is good," Bunnell says. A Peace Corps tour in Malaya from 1964-66 changed his diet. "The food there is very spicy, to the tune of painfully spicy. I was the first American anyone had met and I very much wanted people to like me, so when people served me food I ate it. And I cried. I learned to love it."

In good hands: "My wife is a very good cook and I don't overeat," Bunnell says. He and Gini met while going to college at Stanford University. The couple were engaged just before Bunnell left for Malaya and married the week after he got back. They both exercise at the Whatcom Family YMCA.

How to stay positive: "I pray a lot," Bunnell says. "Never enough, nobody can pray enough, but I do pray and I really fell that among all the people I know, I am the most richly blessed. I have a wonderful wife and wonderful children."

Julia Waggoner is a Bellingham freelance writer.