Will start this latest update with a positive aspect that took place the week before, missed due to the other detailed shared then. That aspect was my second post-chemo hair cut. May sound one of the most mundane / routine things, but I can assure you that, having cancer, it is most certainly not! You may recall the anguish felt when my hair initially fell out. The first hair cut 6 weeks ago was a notable stage to reach, post-chemo, seeing that my hair was starting to come back. The main concern is how it will grow back, different colour, maybe curly, less of it, etc. The fact that I needed to have it cut 6 weeks after that initial tidy up, is great. My former schedule was every 4 weeks, so we will monitor the required frequency to determine how ‘normal’ things end up, with regard to my hair. My hairdresser has been cutting my hair for more than 20 years and he was pleasantly surprised at how much it had thickened up and the partial colour return. We’ll see what unfolds there.

The main health update revolves around my now-monthly blood test and renewal of my oral hormone medication. That blood test was Tuesday, with the added request to get a PSA update. The results were obtained on Thursday, when I went to collect my medication. The nurse confirmed that it is now less than 0.1 (not quite zero, but the next best thing!). The significance of that, if you recall last week, is that it is now the key measure for monitoring what is going on with my body. On the back of the consultant’s ‘routine’ phone call last week, this is a great additional update and the best position we can hope for, currently.

Besides the above updates, the health situation remains pretty much unchanged with the slight aches and pains, plus varying tiredness. Our conversations have begun to turn to what I can do to facilitate an improvement in my overall physical abilities, stamina and general abilities. That was slightly complicated in the second half of the week with the arrival of a head cold, which has an added symptom of tiredness. My work colleague had the same thing at the start of the week, with the same symptoms.

Thankfully, the impact was manageable and did not prevent me from taking part in a two-part meet up with two very good friends. One is Colin, my close militaria friend who I stall out with at various shows. We had discussed having a pre-Xmas catch up and we managed to combine that both of us meeting up with Kevin, a good friend and well-known military collector, someone I have known for more than 20-years and whom I visited back in August, almost immediately post-chemo. This trip was the second half of that and we joined him at a different location. That dual meet up took place over Friday (journey to the general location, where Colin and I had a great catch up and a hotel stop off). Saturday was the visit with Kevin, where all 3 of us spent many hours catching up about our shared history passion and chatting in general.

All in all, a week with some great outcomes and catch ups and one that has helped in the overall physical and psychological fight.

Thank you for the ongoing and vital support to these weekly updates. Some of your comments during the past week have been in depth, heartfelt and very helpful.

Regards
Peter