Hello to each and every one of you, some of which will have been reading this from the very start. This post is a significant milestone, but I will return to that shortly.

To follow the established format, the health updates first and this week is a quiet one, thankfully. The back pain has receded, ahead of the next physio session, which is this coming Monday evening. The main thing to contend with this week has been neck pain, some headaches and general tiredness. To counter the neck pain, I have changed my pillow, which appears to be helping that. However, that change is impacting some other aspects, which I think is part of the adjustment, but time will tell. General tiredness was evident at the end of the week and over the weekend. That is probably the same for many of you and I will monitor mine. The end of the year, being able to temporarily relax, after a busy summer and continual focus on writing throughout this year, with no respite between Volume 6 and the Fritz Witt books, the weather, who knows. I have maintained the walking regime, but also managed to begin to push that further, with the first extended walk taking place in this past week, alongside two ‘normal’ walks. The plan is to continue that extension and shift the ratio of longer walks to shorter walks, as I move into early 2025.

As we enter this Christmas week, I will take this opportunity to wish all of you a very happy Christmas season and I hope you have an enjoyable one, with those that mean the most to you.

As this pre-Xmas week closes, it marks a notable milestone, which is Week No. 100. In theory, that brings us to the halfway mark, or thereabouts, of my original prognosis. The fact is that no-one, including the medical professionals, can accurately tell me what remains. Due to some recent occurrences, I have been contemplating this upcoming halfway mark, plus the overall situation. The fragility of life is there for all of us to see and when and how that comes to an end, is rarely of our choosing. We can contemplate how in control we are of our lives, but the reality is, we are not the deciders of that final act. Over the past two years, since we first knew something was wrong, I have tried to be philosophical about the whole situation and for the majority of those two years, it has helped me greatly. You will have read of the times where I struggled and those periods were helped by many of you getting in touch, or adding your comments; thanks.

Whilst I am of the opinion that we are rarely in control of that end act of our own lives, I am certain that the thing we are in control of, is what we do with the time we have left - however long that may be. Who we choose to spend time with, how we spend that time, how we conduct ourselves. Then there are the aspects of our lives that we identify as unhelpful, unrewarding, toxic in nature, not aligned to our vision or a drain of our happiness. I know I have done a lot of that and consider that my current focus is devoid of many former negative aspects. I most definitely have less patience for those types of aspects and consciously choose not to waste time on them; I sincerely hope that you too may have had the chance to do something similar.

When talking to those close to me, those I trust, I have frequently remarked on the inescapable impact of this disease; many of you will have read the details of that in this first 100 weeks. Having your mortality confirmed, with a rough timeline, is a very strange situation to deal with and it is front and centre every day. The only thing that differs is the depth of the daily impact and for the majority of the days that have passed, I retain my thoughts to myself, as it would be very boring and repetitive to verbalise those every day. I have also commented on the ‘liberating’ nature of the disease, how it has presented a different thought process and mindset and how that has improved my situation during those same 100 weeks. I have, with the help of some very close people to me, been able to make significant changes to the quality of life that I now have, which brings some of the remaining time more under my control. Some of the most significant aspects would never have been contemplated before this disease arrived.

It is always around the end of each year that many of us contemplate the year that is ending and also the new, coming year. That is no different for me, albeit with the knowledge that each new year could be the last - as it could be for each of us. I hope this ending year allows you to reflect on your successes and the positive things that have been part of your 2024. I also hope that you have time to pause, relax and enjoy life over this festive week.

Many of you have commented on these posts and contacted me from time to time, during this year and I thank you for those comments and contacts, each one of them has added positive (at times, much needed) aspects to my 2024; you also have the thanks of my family. I have been rambling on now for almost two years and interest in my personal health Blog does not appear to be diminishing; thank you.

With my best seasonal greetings and thanks

Peter