Health perspectives first and this week remained fairly normal, which I am not complaining about. The back pain remains and is a bit variable, with the physio adjusting his treatments accordingly. I had my latest session on Monday evening, with more acupuncture and massaging of the muscles, but he avoided the higher pain point at the bottom left of my back. That point remains variable, but is not too inhibiting, in comparison to before. I managed two full walks this week, only impacted by weather, not health. I feel I am at the point of extending those walks further, but will see what the coming week brings. I had my latest blood tests on Monday morning, with the follow up medication renewal on Wednesday; all straightforward there.

Whilst my health situation has settled somewhat, we are all still very conscious of the potential impact and not wanting to risk things, all the time that we are making positive progress. During this past week there were two instances that affected my choices. The first was a planned trip to Belgium, to attend one of the museum events there, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge). Some of us had planned to go, with one of our party being the driver / taking their car. They had a change of plans and Sandra and I did discuss whether I drive and still attend, with the rest of the party. In the end (like the previous week and the potential need to go back to Northern Ireland) we decided that it was not the right time yet to undertake a journey like that, with me driving. The second situation was some winter illness developments with the grandkids. We all made the combined decision to not meet up on our usual Saturday rendezvous and minimise the risks to me. Both relatively small aspects, but reminders that we are navigating a life-defining health situation and one that shapes our thought processes to varying degrees, regularly.

During a random conversation with my daughter Alanna, this week, she mentioned that she does not like using the word cancer. It came up during our conversation and I used the word frequently, but it was clear that she was uncomfortable with it. A quick thought process and adjustment was made, with the decision to refer to myself as either BC (before cancer) or AD (after diagnosis) was made; hopefully that will ease conversations around the most difficult of conversation topics. We’re almost 2 years into this AD journey and the impact on my family is there every day, even if not discussed constantly. A reminder of where we are and another chance to adjust something, to allow us to navigate the journey a little easier. We ended up with a light-hearted outcome, but it was an unexpected aspect to crop up.

The final Fritz Witt files (one for the internals, one for the cover) have been sent to the printers. It is now a case of waiting on any required adjustments, then how long they will take and how they may impact the final delivery date - watch this space.

The car situation has moved on slightly, with me arranging for a combined test drive for the coming week, which is aimed at allowing the techs to listen to the car, whilst I drive, but without me leaving the car with them for weeks at a time; will see how that unfolds.

One last small, but funny / significant development this week, revolves around my mod / scooter culture interests. You will have seen from previous updates, that both my daughter and son have acquired the Hot Wheels Vespa SS90 model for me, one in each of the colours that they have released. Finding one of these small, inexpensive model scooters ‘in the wild’ has turned into a personal quest for many of us on the scooter scene. Forums and social media sites have regular mentions of them and people finding one for themselves. My son was lucky to find 3 in one day, one of which came to me. However, those of you who are collectors, of anything, will know the thrill of the chase and the personal quests we all undertake, to add to our various collections. My quest, like many others, has been to find one ‘in the wild’ for myself. That quest was completed this week, during my normal weekly food shop. Whilst waiting in the queue at the till, I was looking through the Hot Wheels selection and spotted a blue SS90! That was quickly added to the basket with excitement and it has now joined the other 2 that both of my children obtained for me. When Sandra came home, I excitedly showed her the ‘find’ and told her that my life was now complete and I can die happy……………The small things can make all of the difference and in this case, all for the princely sum of £1.49. A small, light-hearted aspect of my life this week, but things like these help us all along. Happy hunting, fellow collectors, for whatever your interests are!