Week 12: w/e 6th September 2026

Hi Folks and thank you for giving up your time to read this. Health aspect first, and the week opened as the previous one closed, still no chuffin’ idea as to whether the previously planned chemo was taking place on Tuesday afternoon. I tried further calls to the chemo unit emergency number, still no reply. I left a message and eventually a call came back that only told me not to take the pre-chemo anti-sickness meds, as the chemo drug itself had not yet been prescribed! In total, since Friday, through to Tuesday morning, I conducted a total of 30 calls to the various chemo unit phone lines, the majority of those to the emergency line. Whilst I understand that it was the Bank Holiday weekend, myself and everyone else suffering from this disease, and under the care of that unit, do not have the luxury of our situations “taking the long weekend off’. The inability to get through to them, greatly increased my stress levels and anxiety over what was coming next. As you may imagine, they are already very high, as I can feel the growth of the disease daily and need the chemo to start to see if it can slightly hold back the growth. I am certainly not relishing the idea of chemo and all that it does to my body, but it is a necessity. To be faced with a lack of answers, hours prior to supposedly starting that chemo treatment, was a completely unavoidable situation and an unwelcome mental addition that we had to contend with. 

On Tuesday morning, I received a text notification that my treatment had been moved back to the following Wednesday and Friday. Then 2-hours prior to the original time of my treatment (Tuesday @ 2pm), I received a call from the unit to confirm that the treatment was to take place the following Friday, with the pre-chemo bloods on the Wednesday; further delayed treatment! That was followed by another call, as I continuously raised the question of, “why has the chemo drug not been prescribed yet”, for the caller to inform me that the treatment would now take place on Monday (the day most of you will be reading this), but there is no need for a new blood test. In my various question asking, I have determined that the consultant has been on holiday. Did he forget to authorise the prescription to the pharmacist before he left? Not one person has sufficiently answered my question, but I will continue to ask it, until someone does, no matter how long that takes. When you are in contact with the unit / receive treatment of any type, they send an email survey to complete. I took the time to fill this one in and have left the question for them,’what has happened in 3 years, as the quality of treatment has notably declined’, together with, ‘why did I have to call your unit 30 times in 5 days, before an effective resolution took place’; we’ll see if that garners an acceptable answer. 

I cannot accurately convey to you (but I will try) just how frustrating this has been, which has been placed on top of the excessive stress levels this very recent situation has generated. They have added to the already peaked stress levels, not only for me, but for Sandra, who is watching me daily and can see just how rapidly things have declined - and I have not started chemo yet! That is the same for my children, who are hoping that the chemo will buy me more time. Four weeks ago, I was still doing my walks, 3 weeks ago, I was cycling; now I am struggling to walk normal distances and my leg muscle is playing up almost daily now. These past weeks have been increasingly difficult for us all and this past week has presented a whole new level of (unnecessary) challenges. The situation I am in is unsustainable and something needs to change. Either the chemo (deep joy!) does its job, or part of it, or it does not and I enter the final stage of this battle - let’s see what the autumn brings…………..

In advance of that, Sandra re-read the first handful of Blogs and she reminded both of us of what may be coming and how quickly the chemo may impact. Not the easiest read for her, nor the easiest reminder for both of us, but it was a good thing to do, as we are semi-prepared, mentally. 

Monday was the final day of the Military Odyssey show and unfortunately Sandra took ill; she was not right on the Sunday, but she came along anyway. Alanna stepped up and took her place for Monday, at short notice - having to alter her plans for her family. That gave Sandra some solace that I was being monitored, but also gave me and Colin some much welcomed additional eyes, to keep an eye on the extensive stock that he has on the display. I undertook my final talk and all in all, the weekend was a very enjoyable one indeed, as mentioned last week. Dan and the kids arrived later in the afternoon and Dan got straight to work, helping break down the display and get things loaded. Due to his unrelenting work and focus, we had everything loaded and all of us were offsite before the ‘main traffic jam’ got underway - a first for us, and much welcomed. It was a nice end to the show season, with many, many friends caught up with. I really needed this and it delivered in mental abundance. It has put me in a better place to meet whatever is coming next and we hope that the autumn allows the chemo sessions to run, for them to do what is intended, and then for me to return in time for Stoneleigh at the end of January. 

The remainder of the week was dominated by 3 things, for us. 1 = the post-Odyssey show clear up and administration. 2 = Sandra remaining ill with her flu and being knocked for six (she stayed off work all week). 3. Sandra’s birthday weekend, which began on Friday (her actual birthday). I will not bore you with the first 2, but for the final one, that was impacted by Sandra’s illness, with a very subdued Friday. Karl was with us during the day, then Alanna, Dan and the kids came over, briefly, after school. Nice to see everyone and we even managed a small sliver of cake with a single candle. We did manage a meal out on Saturday evening, just Sandra and I, with a revisit to the Nepalese nearby - that was very enjoyable the last time, so we both agreed it would be a good choice - it did not disappoint! Sunday was another quiet day, with some chores fitted in around us trying to relax, ahead of the week that is to come. On Thursday, I received a nice parcel from my friend of 40+ years, Bob, who very kindly collected our Vespa Days 80th goodie bags, plus a t-shirt that I paid for, but could only be picked up on site. Whilst we were unable to attend, those items will be constant reminders of some of the impact of battling this disease; i am very grateful for Bob, for taking the time to sort those items for us. I rounded off the week with the (hopefully last) grass cut of the season, whilst firing the scoot up during that. 

In summary, the week started by rounding off a good previous week’s show and we got to mark Sandra’s birthday. That was alongside the challenges we could have all done without, but at least we have confirmation that chemo is about to get underway.

Thanks to all of you for your support.