Personal stories

For ten years I had a bunch of subtle and seemingly unrelated symptoms. It was only after I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease three years ago that I was able, in hindsight, to put my symptoms together, to know where/why they were coming from. One of the first things I had noticed was that I had been losing, then lost, my sense of smell. I noticed this in particular because my father was a leading food photographer so that in our household tuning into our food, thoroughly tasting it – which requires the sense of smell above all else – was always very important in my life. Next I noticed lack of coordination and dexterity on my left side, when I was cooking. And eventually during many other tasks.  Elizabeth Wynn, 57.