Dancing On The Mountain Tops

Instead of succumbing to the bleak prognosis, Robin chose the path of radical acceptance by embracing his life to the full. Immersing himself in a Taoist perspective his path took him from Trinidad to Ireland to Germany via a challenging time back in the UK, confronting long standing difficulties with his father.
Interspersed with accounts of his life in each of these countries, Robin shares his struggles with his personal life and deteriorating health.
This book contains elements of applied personal philosophy, travelogue along with the impact of Parkinson’s disease and subsequent medical interventions.
The underlying thread is in standing against adversity and ability to be flexible. An inspiration for everyone. Highly recommended.

What a brave, and inspirational journey Robin has had. Through his hard work, and positive thinking He has turned adversity into one of life’s adventures making the most of every day.
A must read for people newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Also for anyone wanting to understand this debilitating condition better.

This title tells only part of the storylines of this very well written and readable book. The title certainly lets the reader know that this is a book that features Parkinson’s disease. It does not, however, give away the incredible adventures and trials that the author has experienced throughout his life and the way he has managed to accommodate the diagnosis of Parkinson’s since the year 2000.
The complexity of the story comes from the interweaving of the events created simply by the fact of him living in England, the Caribbean rainforest, various parts of rural Ireland and in Germany and those brought about by dint of his diagnosis. You might like to guess before reading which was the more dangerous. Jungle life with its poisonous insects, occasional dangerous animal and too often unsafe people. Or Parkinson’s with its ability to stop you in your tracks, the side-effects of the heavyweight neurological drugs that have to be taken day in day out, the risks of surgery made necessary when you’ve fallen and smashed your face, or the chances of something going wrong when you have deep brain stimulation equipment fitted inside your head.
Simons’ early life was not particularly happy but he survived it as many do. His relationship with his sister was particularly close, probably from an unconscious recognition that they were each in the same setting and only had each other to turn to. Her early death from cancer was a catalyst to him making some key decisions which in turn led him into unimagined adventures. His rapport with his father however was extremely negative and ultimately led to a complete breakdown in their relationship. The author writes about this with powerful feeling. Robin Simons is clearly a man with principles by which he lives his life.
After a serving for three years in the army, he worked for some time some in the probation service and in the voluntary sector helping people with drug addictions. This work became harder to do as his Parkinson’s evolved. Following some chance meetings with friends and acquaintances he had the opportunity to move out to live in the Caribbean. Here he learnt to live a different sort of life and to operate at a very different pace. Although initially there was a holiday aspect to this new arrangement it wasn’t long before he became an experienced jungle dweller. However, having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s shortly before moving out to the rainforest, it started, after a few years, to cause significant difficulty for him, not least because it was hard for him to obtain the necessary drugs.
It is true to say that Robin’s experience with Parkinson’s has been chequered by periods of great concern and risk and long periods where symptoms were less disabling than they might have been. I recall reading through the section which is about living in the rainforest, wondering where Parkinson’s was for those years. The reality was that it was having little impact because of the lifestyle the author had developed for himself. There are several lengthy pieces where Parkinson’s hardly appears. However these are rich in detail about some key aspect of the author’s life. His relationship with his father, and his walks around the mountains of Ireland are examples. These sections help to give a three-dimensional picture of one man’s life with Parkinson’s.
When writing about the impact of Parkinson’s, Simons is honest in recounting his experiences, some of which are potentially quite frightening for readers earlier on in their Parkinson’s career. He tells of occasions when he has met poor medical practice (or perhaps that should be poor human practice by medics). But these are more than offset by the many experiences he has had of compassion, care and concern and first-class medical work being carried out for and to his benefit.
Robin Simons decided at the time of his diagnosis that he would not be defined simply by having Parkinson’s disease. This book, giving as it does a clear and detailed account of his life demonstrates very well that he has been successful in not limiting his life to one of Parkinson’s disease. He is an adventurer, a husband, a writer, a walker, a Doberman lover, indeed a well-rounded man who just happens to have Parkinson’s.
Simons is very clever with his keyboard. His description of his Parkinson’s is as straightforward as making tea. He doesn’t avoid the difficulties that it creates but nor does he collapse under the impact of them. He simply recognises that he has to make a change and sets about identifying what that needs to be. I found this approach refreshing. He avoids the trap of trying to tell people how to manage or trying to produce a handbook for Parkinson’s.
This is a book about his life, warts and all, and is a better read for that.