Week 23: w/e 21st June 2026

Hello to you all and I hope you had a good Father’s Day. I will open this week’s update with the usual health aspects. The main issue at the moment is the right side groin / hip bone pain and discomfort, with some slight pins and needles. That peaked on Tuesday night causing me to lose sleep, no matter which side I lay on.  

On Monday, Sandra and I had our first physio session since the end of March - and we both felt it. My whole left side of my back, top to bottom, was tight and the physio also noticed that the muscles were raised, which is a new development; maybe as a partial result of laying around for those few weeks after radiotherapy and Zometa infusion side effects. He went to work on me and managed to get the lower back sorted somewhat, but the top was still raised; he will see me again in 3 weeks to assess things and do more work. 

My next chat with Dr. Rahman was brought forward on Tuesday, to this coming Wednesday. That meant that I had to switch things around to ensure that I could get a blood test done during the week, so he has the results for the chat this coming week. I am not expecting those results to be good, based on how I am feeling at the moment, but I will find out soon enough. 

The thoughts of what may be coming from the blood test are very dominant in mine and Sandra’s daily thoughts at the moment, which impacts our ability to relax, our sleep patterns and just about everything else. The impact of this disease can feel relentless at times and it is all apparent at the moment; hard times, whilst we await what may come next. 

I did not do any walks this week, due to a mix of hot weather vs murky weather. I did however, focus on 2 bike rides, which were aimed at helping my top back muscles, and it appears to have worked and helped ease the tightness. I pushed myself during those, working the leg muscles, and both were done at the start of the day, which helped with less people being around / lower temperature. 

Sandra had Wednesday and Thursday off this week, and due to the changed need for the blood test, we had to go via Canterbury in the morning. Whilst that way, we went on over to Faversham to have a look around and have some lunch. The lunch turned out to be a bust, with the cafe completely forgetting to bring our food. 25 minutes later, after our drinks were cold, we discovered that, but decided to get a refund on the food order, drive home and sort our own lunch - far from ideal, but just shows that incompetence is alive and well in some places. We made the most of the weather and went to Deal on Thursday, where we walked along the pier , then had some lunch. Thankfully, that establishment got everything right and the food was very nice. We even managed to time everything nicely and dodged the heavy rain that arrived in the mid-afternoon. 

I did 2 sessions of consultancy work this week, analysing some key data, in readiness to present back, discuss and agree next steps. The second of those was Friday, then in the afternoon, I had a hair cut booked in. When I returned, Karl was at mine, which was a nice surprise. He had taken his scooter out of the garage and both of us did some more work on it, with an emphasis on connecting up some of the cables, whilst adding some odds and sods to the frame. Great to get this moved on some more and hoping for more sessions in the coming weeks, as there is not too much to be done. 

The weather in the southeast of the UK was getting very hot as the second half of the week unfolded, so we planned to make the most of the weekend (a changed routine for us, so we found ourselves with some free time). Despite planning on going to visit a castle on Saturday, both of us woke up with fuzzy heads and neither of us feeling up for a 80-90 minutes each way car journey - see above for the psychological impact of disease. However, Sunday morning saw us replan and go ahead and take the trip. Just over half the journey was along the motorway, but the second phase was through the rolling west Kent countryside, which was very pleasant. We visited Chiddingstone Castle, close to Hever Castle, and not somewhere we had come across up to now. It is a privately owned castle and grounds and hats off to the whole team there, who were very welcoming and another enjoyable lunch was had. The grounds are very nice too and less than 5 minutes of a stroll through some woods and over a lake, there is the very small Tudor-era Chiddingstone village. If you have not been there yet, we can definitely recommend it. 

Sunday evening was when the whole family got together at one of the local establishments. Alanna, Karl, Dan, Rachel, the Grandkids and Rachel’s mum came along (Grace was due to be with us, but had a work commitment change). For me, these sorts of get-togethers have a much higher degree of importance than before and I enjoy having the chance to do things like this, whilst I am able to. Fair to say that we all had a very nice 3-course meal and lots of craic along the way. As we were busy talking, I forgot to get the photos I wanted (all of us together, photos with the family on Father’s Day, etc.), so a quick phone call to everyone, as we drove home, rectified that, through an impromptu stop on the road. Again, capturing the special moments, to help create the memories, and allow everyone to look back in years to come, is very, very important; a nice end to a great overall day.   (despite taking some very nice photos, I am unable to upload them, due to tech issue with the platform - hopefully next week, normal viewing will resume).

On the book front, the Münkemer project was a key focus this past week, but I also pulled together another ‘117’ biography and it turned out to be a very fascinating one that revealed some very interesting aspects. Besides the Fritz Witt book, this ‘117’ project is the one I have been working on the longest (2 decades now), gathering material, working with fellow authors and researchers and I have to say, it is a very enjoyable project to be working on, now that I am ‘in it’. A variable week, but one where we are trying to stay focused and not let the thought processes get the better of us; not an easy task, but content that we fitted a few nice things in. 

Thanks for your support. 

Regards

Peter