Incurable Optimists

Michael McDonald was born in Hawick in the UK in 1943. He was educated in Stoke-on-Trent and Liverpool University where he studied Botany. After teaching in Belfast, he joined IBM in 1967 as a systems engineer and salesman in the early computer industry. In 1980 he set up as an independent adviser, helping the largest companies and consultancies to solve and sell complex systems. He retired in 2003 and moved with his wife, Mary, to Kent. In 2013 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Since then, he has identified, and shared with other Parkinson’s sufferers, activities to slow down and even reverse specific symptoms.

• Foreword – Incurable Optimists7Prologue11The salesman’s tale13The accountant’s tale16The intrepid traveller’s tale22The physiotherapist’s tale27The specialist nurse's tale33A tribute to our best friends38The carer’s tale42The mountaineer’s tale46The headteacher’s tale49The wife’s tale54The writer’s tale62The beauty therapist’s tale66The systems analyst’s tale71The historian’s tale77The cartoonist’s tale86The public health inspector’s tale88Another carer’s tale 91The golfer’s tale93The nurse’s tale95The dance teacher’s tale102The finance manager’s tale105The librarian’s tale114The editor’s tale119The solicitor’s tale122The red sports car driver’s tale126The doctor’s tale130A daughter’s tale 132The friend’s tale134The tale of the person with Parkinson’s, or is it Lewy Body Dementia?138A tale of diagnostics141A tale of diagnosis150The constipator’s tale151Getting there in the end156The cruciverbalist’s tale158Diagnostic quiz163Epilogue169Incurable Optimists - compiled by those who know.171