My health perspectives this week come with some self-inflicted increases in pain and discomfort. As I was writing last week’s update, Alanna and I had just put the finishing touches to a very last minute trip decision (more details below). The impact of that trip was notable, but to be expected. After fitting in what we did, including a 3.5 hour one-way car journey, then visiting some historic sites, sleeping in strange beds and just generally moving around, the impact on my lower back was evident. By our last location visit on Wednesday morning, I was struggling to walk properly and was very conscious of it, as was Alanna, who could see my body trying to regulate the pain increase and impact.

You may read this and ask, why put yourself through this, knowing your situation? The answer is simple; I expect my final end phase to be challenging and come with a lack of mobility element. You will have read over the past number of weeks, of my efforts to increase my stamina and build up my walking / leg muscles, etc. I believe in doing as much as I can, whilst I can and this trip was a conscious choice to fight the fight. It would be easy for me to self-restrict what I do (I do make a lot of sensible decisions, in consultation with Sandra), sit at home and fade away. I choose not to do that, I choose to push myself and I plan to continue to do so; as the saying goes, we’ll be a long time dead. Each exertion like this is part of the ongoing assessment and tests, to see what I can do, without causing myself unnecessary issues. I will see what unfolds……

Returning from that trip, I developed a cold, which has made me very tired for the remainder of the week. Normal cold-like symptoms and managing those with off the shelf medication, as usual. Hopefully the impact will subside by Monday, as I am off on my next short trip; details of that  to follow.

Directly connected to my health situation, doing something like that is food for the soul and mind. Seizing the opportunity to do something like that, whilst my abilities allow me to do so, was great and I am glad that I done it. The decision to retire also allowed me to make such a snap decision and is a not-oft considered benefit of that.

A short personal history trip now, so bear with. Since the age of 10, my son Karl and I have a long list of shared interests, which have ranged from historical reenactment, classic Vespa scooters and  cars, alongside music genres. That resulted in the two of us spending a lot of time together indulging in those hobbies. Being aware of that, I made a conscious effort to spend time with my daughter Alanna, just the two of us taking trips to various places. As her married life and family came along, plus the likes of the global shut down, we have not had a daddy / daughter weekend since 2019. My retirement opens up more opportunities, alongside me  discussing how I could offer my help in entertaining the grandkids during the summer, due to Dan having less opportunity to do so, as his work commitments increased. One aspect was a potential short trip to the Isle of Wight and a stop of at Winchester Cathedral.

We compared diaries last weekend and realised that the chance did not seem possible this summer. However, Alanna called me on Saturday night and offered the chance to go at the start of the week. A quick look and some small changes resulted in us booking hotels and the ferry 24-hours prior to travelling. Both of us are pre-planners and map things out in advance, by nature. Doing something spontaneous, like this trip, was outside of our comfort zones, but we went ahead. The result was a very enjoyable three-day trip, where we crammed in key locations for Alanna (Sandra and I were there two years ago), time for the kids to enjoy traditional seaside activities, but more importantly, to create memories for both us, and also the grandkids. A nice resurgence of the daddy / daughter trips, this time with two (very welcomed) tag alongs…..

As of Sunday, I have given the final sign off for the book covers for both Volume 6 and the Volume 5 reprints, with the hope that they can be printed in time for the large show in Kent, on the bank holiday weekend, but we will see how things pan out. Due to the trip, no other activities on the book / history front in the past week.

Thank you all for your interest in my unfolding story, against the backdrop of terminal cancer.

Regards
Peter