Leo Sarmiento View in Spanish
Erie, Colorado
I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in May 2022 at the age of 46. Being active from a young age, it was in 2019 when I started noticing some changes and discomfort in my left leg while cycling. I had started to feel my left leg getting tired faster than my right, but I dismissed it as lack of fitness and kept training. When that feeling continued for many months with no improvement, I finally went to seek medical advice. Over the next 18 months, I saw physical therapists, had muscle and nerve tests, and had MRIs taken in multiple areas of my body, including my brain. At this point, still without a clear cause for my leg symptoms, I began to slowly lose coordination in my left hand as well. Shortly thereafter, I visited a neurologist, and with a positive DaTscan, the result was my Parkinson’s diagnosis.
In my life, I have been blessed to be helped and supported by several mentors who have cared about my well-being. Parkinson’s has now given me the opportunity to do the same for others. When I first learned of my diagnosis, I was anxious and scared, and one of the first conversations I had was with Rich Wildau, a DPF Lead Ambassador. I look back on that time period just two years ago and am still amazed at how important that connection was to me. Spending time with someone who understands what you are experiencing and feeling and is willing to listen can be incredibly comforting and healing. DPF does fantastic work supporting the Parkinson’s community, and I feel so grateful to be a part of the Lead Ambassadors.
Living well with Parkinson’s means for me to wake up each day and be deliberate in appreciating the things that perhaps before diagnosis, I had forgotten because ignorantly, I expected them to always be there. Although Parkinson’s is not a death sentence, I remember feeling and thinking exactly that at first. Now, I accept it as a life sentence (with the hope of a cure someday!) that has surprisingly given me an unexpected presence of humility and patience with myself and others. I like how that feels. Living well with Parkinson’s means to me that I am living “slower,” enough to finally start to catch on to things I had been missing in the past. Ironic, isn’t it? I have the gift of seeing life from a new perspective and trying new things that I didn’t have the courage to do before, and it’s largely because I have PD. That to me is living well, Parkinson’s or not.
What excites me most about being a Lead Ambassador is meeting and learning from others, teaming up with other Lead Ambassadors and being part of a community that wants to live well with Parkinson’s.
I love spending time with my three children, my wife, and our goldendoodle, Rico. I am a business owner and a student. Currently, I am working to obtain my master’s in Mental Health Counseling, and I am a real estate investor and owner of a car wash. I have a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from the University of Florida, and I want to use my experience to live well with Parkinson’s and help others do the same.