Diagnosed with Parkinson’s aged 29..

This is a reminder to myself about never giving up.

31/08/2011

Aug 2011 — holiday in Northumberland — I had taken my first Levodopa medication only weeks before as part of the ‘suck it and see’ clinical diagnosis. I would return to my neurologist on the 31st of August and my life would change from that day.

A man I once knew once said that PD is kind of like a gift.. One that keeps.. on .. giving.
Because it’s most likely something that will stay with you as long as you are living..
Thats what PD has taught me.

It taught me not to waste too much time in the past, looking back. But instead to hold dear, to value more the things that are very much still here.

It’s taught me what fear really is, that regret isn’t really a thing, I’d rather focus on today, at this very moment, with my wife and children and to look forwards, to see what tomorrow might bring.
Thats what PD has taught me.

Its taught me that there’s no such thing as wealth, that the only real thing of any value in this life ones good health
Thats what PD has taught me.

Tomas Gisby — one of the good guys! One of my first trips out days after my brain surgery (April 2019).

Its taught me to see things more clearly,
To take stock of this life
Not to keep hanging on to what is long gone.
t’s taught me that the ‘bigger, the better, more finer things in life’, are not, in any way, what really.. really matters.
That’s what pd has taught me

George, Evelyn and Jane (London 2020)

Its taught me the meaning of frustration
To get over myself, …to crack on and not to spend too much time wallowing in my own self pity

‘Cracking on’ — London 2019 — with Mike, Mia Eros and Helen

Just because of my irreversible physical condition..
Doesn’t mean I should give up on life, myself or my mission

It’s taught me how to bide my time, to not always be so impatient
To rest when i’m down
But to fight when I rise
To face up to my reality, look it straight in eye

I have met many, many people ‘like me’ but some have stood out by a country mile. Emma and I looking Parkinson’s straight in the eye and saying ‘Fuck you PD!!’ (2020)

You see, the moment you’re diagnosed…
When the life you had then, lies in tatters, unravelled on the ground .. You begin a new journey, the one you hadn’t planned or could ever have imagined
On a road less travelled, but still… onwards and upwards
Some days It will steal away your thunder
It will knock you off your feet
Why us? why me? This curse, this god awful disease?

And then , of course , you’ll click and compare, see your struggle in others.
But dare to look beyond the shakes, hold your curious gaze for just a little longer
Behind the disco dancing and abundance of sad looking faces .. you’ll see how they cope and try to embrace it, make do — its life in slow motion
Some see it as one big challenge.. to carry on fighting ..keep moving, keep on living.
Thats what PD has taught me.

The morning after the longest night of my life — You can’t do this alone ( that is for certain) — accept help!! Gaynor Edwards, my wife Jane and Helen ‘Q’ Matthews being there for me — I know how lucky I am to have people in my life who care x (April 2019)

Its taught me that one day in the future, maybe months, but probably years
you will learn to accept it for what it really is — not a glass half empty or full

IT JUST IS
WHAT IT IS

Me, Jane and the boy — George x