Week 22: w/e 28th June 2026

Morning Folks and hoping some of you have not melted away yet, due to the glorious heat wave we’re having - many memories of 1976 coming back - but now they refer to it as global warming. 

I will start with the usual health related aspects and this is an important one this week. 

The most significant update was the phone call with Dr. Rahman. In that, he first asked how I was and I told him that the discomfort has increased and I am of the opinion, based on what I can feel, that the growth at the top of my leg has continued to grow further in and up. He informed Sandra and I that the PSA has risen to 42. He is going to organise an urgent CT scan and a bone scan, so that he can see what is going on, then we will get together face to face to discuss potential treatment plans (depending on what the scans show). This is not news either of us want, but we fully expected him to say what he did. I can feel what is going on and if he had said anything different, we would both have pushed for a scan. I need to know what is going on, what may be possible, regarding treatment, then get on with that. 

Around that, the aforementioned discomfort continues and I try to work around it. I undertook a walk on Monday morning (13:38), a cycle Wednesday morning, then a second walk on Friday morning (all of those were done to avoid the extreme heat this week) - with a time of 13:52; I knew it would be slow and the heat was a factor. I will aim to keep the walks and cycling up, where possible. My back pain is on the increase, so I managed to get my physio appointment pulled forward one week and that will be getting done as some of you are reading this. 

Besides that, Monday was a post run to dispatch books, then a focus on the Münkemer book. Tuesday was an offsite consultancy day, then Wednesday was Sandra’s day off this week. She had an appointment and then we had the phone call with my Consultant, so they both dominated the day, in more ways than one. 

Thursday was another post run, which I did on my scooter, then carried on zooming around for a bit, making the most of the superb weather. After a little while, I could feel some pain in the bottom of my back, plus also the strain at the top of my leg, due to the need to keep my foot near the main back brake pedal (other road users and their lack of awareness!). After filling up with petrol, I went back home and focused on some other bits, including some writing. 

Friday was food shopping morning for me, then further key work on the Münkemer project. Saturday was a bit of a change, with Karl and Rachel joining us. Alanna and the kids were there too, but they were short on time and they had hair appointments to get to. Karl and I spent a good few hours on his scooter rebuild, focusing on more cable set ups and some bodywork items. Rachel joined us in the garden and got to relax in the sun, whilst Karl and I ‘debated’ the most effective ways to get each task done. A nice leap forwards and getting ever closer to his scooter being ready to use on the road again. 

Sunday was mostly a day of taking it easy, although we did nip to the shops and I also cut the grass; scorching weather together with some thunder storms is certainly doing wonders for the garden! 

In summary, a key week, with regards to the developing battle in my AD world, but what we anticipated. Around that, balancing time on the things that I enjoy. 

Thanks for all your interest in this journey. 

Regards

Peter