The past week has been a relatively quieter one, but one with a mix of activities.

Health-wise, the back pain is easing ever so slightly, but it makes a difference. That has been helped by the arrival of our third (and final) mattress. Thankfully, we went with a company that allows some changes and we were able to make the most of that. Coming up to the end of week one, we are both gaining more confidence that this choice is the right one to help both of our health situations.

The hand ‘rustiness’ continues and I would assess that it is worsening. I had a new development towards the end of the week, which was the feeling that my right thumb is popping out of its joint. Painful and odd, that has happened twice since Thursday. It is accompanied by a visual, where I can see the bone going back into place. I aim to follow this development up and request an x-ray, or at least seek advice from the cancer treatment team.

Sandra and I enjoyed a night out with Jennie and Emma, former work colleagues. The three of us created an award-winning customer service leadership team some years back, when we all worked for the holiday company. We experienced some epic nights out, helped along by our then Director, who knew how to ensure his team were looked after and got to abuse the company credit card. A great evening and we reminisced about some of those nights out and some of the ‘interesting’ colleagues we worked with. A lot of laughter took place and it was great for the soul, for all four of us.

Friday night seen us having our two youngest grandchildren for a sleepover, as our Daughter and Son-in-law were on an Xmas business night out. This was our granddaughter’s very first sleep over, so a real unknown for all, as she has not spent a night away from both of her parents up to then. For our grandson, he has had sleepovers, and has been patiently waiting on me being well enough to have him stay over again. Sadly, another impact of dealing with the cancer and having to repeatedly ask him to be patient and promise that we would indeed have him over again. Great that we were able to do that and equally pleased to say that it was a straight forward evening with no dramas. That allowed their parents to have an interrupted night out, but also allowed the four of us to have a memorable evening. For those of you reading this, that are parents, you will know that you never relax fully, once becoming a parent, and are always watchful for their well-being. This is the same for grandparents, in our opinion. We did get rest, but but for Sandra and I, it was broken, as well as an earlier than usual start to Saturday. All part of the fun and sharing breakfast with them, was nice. We have been able to catch up on some rest since, ready for the new week.

For those of you with good memories, you may recall that I decorated one of our bedrooms wayyyyy back when I had started my treatment. That was hard going, but since finishing it, our grandson has constantly referred to is at ‘his room’. It has been sad for me to repeatedly have to tell him that we could not ‘have a sleep over yet’. Sometimes, the smallest of things (with this disease) add up to more than they seem. Many months down the line, it has been nice to fulfil our promise and hopefully, we can have some more.

Following on from the major decision made last week, I delved further into the retirement plan and the practicalities of that, for Sandra and I. That including the creation of a more detailed spreadsheet to plot the options, as well as booking a meeting with a Government advice service next week, to talk through my situation, obtain the facts, then hopefully line myself up for the planned retirement plan from May 2024. Since making that decision, I have made Sandra happier. Alongside that, I have had two people comment this week, on how much happier I look and sound. An interesting observation and I am already making various plans for my time after conventional work comes to an end. A liberating mindset and it is helping me with other challenges, in regards to keeping a positive mental attitude. People often refer to that and the helpfulness of it, when battling severe illnesses like this and I can only echo their words.

Thanks for the continued interactive interest, superb and I am enjoying this weekly conversation that is developing; one that is expanding world-wide and one that is increasingly helpful to my community of family and friends who are engaging with this concept. I thank you all for that.

Regards
Peter