Hi Folks,

Am writing this on the last day of 2023 and this is a year that changed the remainder of my life, as it has those of my family. Fair to say it is a year that will not go down as one of our best. However, strangely enough, the confirmation of my disease and the subsequent prognosis have produced a series of events and decisions that have left me and Sandra confident and focused on how we expect my remaining time to play out. A lot of those decisions have emerged in the last quarter of the year, as you will have read, and this has seen us at a ‘semi-buoyant’ stage, as you read this.

Regarding the current health aspects, my hands were getting stiffer and more painful, and as a result, Sandra and I concluded that the supplements were making the situation worse. They lasted one week, then I stopped taking them. Since then, things have gone back to how they were pre-supplement introduction. The pain got so bad, that each joint in each finger became very seized and painful and hard to unseize them. I have requested an x-ray for my thumb, which may show up issues with the phalanges? I also had a slight mis-step in work, which jarred my back, resulting in notably increased pain levels. An acute reminder that I am now registered disabled for a reason and need to be much more careful; the brain still has to catch up to my new reality sometimes, despite being 1 year into this, or maybe that is a smidge of denial going on? That increased back pain has been variable over the Christmas season and resulted in some nights of very dis-jointed sleep, which then impacts the following day.

I had my third haircut very recently and one that seems to be back at the 4-weekly regime that existed pre-chemo. I have been looking back at photos of myself at various stages of my treatment and the aftermath. I have combined them into a kind of montage, as I feel they are a very visual reminder of what this year has given me and my family; I have included that montage this week.

We had deliberately planned a quiet holiday period and both of us had the whole time off, which was nice. We had our usual Christmas Eve day with our children and grandkids, with food and present exchanging. That is a tradition that allows us all to catch up, but also gives each family / house Christmas Day with their own family; a precious day that we feel should be family orientated.

We managed a couple of short shopping trips after Xmas, but one had to be cut short, due to my back pain. It was causing me such issues that Sandra had to drive us back home - a rarity, but a necessity that day.

We had some good video call catch ups with my sister and her partner, plus my nephew the following evening, then a face to face catch up with Michelle and her husband Lee. Michelle was another of my key managers when we were all at the holiday company and we have known each other for around 20-years now. Great and funny catch ups.

We have never been big on New Year’s Eve and this year is no different, with a quiet evening for us. The daytime was spent delving further into my pension options, which are proving more and more insightful as I dig deeper, ahead of my 55th birthday.

Will wrap this up and the updates for 2023. Have begun to piece together a couple of different style updates for the coming new year.