Gluten-Free Parkinson’s

The other day I got another one of those comments where the person thinks they’re being nice. “You’re too young and don’t look like you have Parkinson’s.“ First of all, thanks for thinking I look young. Second of all, please tell that to my Parkinson’s, maybe it’ll go away and leave me alone. As most of you know, Parkinson’s looks different in everyone, but every person who has Parkinson’s has some signs and symptoms, seen or unseen, that define their Parkinson’s. It’s kind of like looking for gluten-free oats. Oats, when they are born, are naturally gluten-free. It is common, though, for oats to be contaminated with gluten in the process of growing, storing or transporting them.

I recently purchased oats that I found out were not gluten-free. I pulled out one of the oats and looked at it, and thought, “you don’t look like you have gluten.” But I knew from the label that the oat had come in contact with wheat, barley, and rye during processing. That oat was contaminated just like I am contaminated with Parkinson’s. The only difference is you cannot sweeten me up with brown sugar and cinnamon.