Morning Folks, this week’s update is a busy one, so grab a cuppa!

The past week began with my 3-monthly blood test. That afternoon, Sandra and I had our next physio sessions and for the first time in months, he used a couple of acupuncture needles, with the usual muscle manipulation. On Wednesday morning, I had the CT scan recently scheduled. That is the last of the 2 scans that Dr. Rahman asked for, but the results will not be shared with me until the 6th of March. On the way home from that, we stopped off the collect my tablets. The results of that blood test were given to me then, with the PSA now at 13.1. I expected it to continue to spike and anticipated a 12+ result. The rate of increase, plus the current level, are indicators that something is most certainly afoot. It is now a case of living through limbo land for another few weeks, whilst I try not to send myself insane with potential outcomes. I managed 3 walks with results of 13:17, 13:21 and 13:10; the first one and third ones felt slower, the latter felt quicker, but hey, the results show otherwise.

As you may appreciate, the current results and scan activity are not welcomed at all, but part of this journey through living with his inescapable disease. I am powerless to control it, or what comes next, but for the moment, am focusing on the fact that I remain upright and mostly capable (the groin discomfort remains and is increasing). The mental battle is very hard for me and my immediate family. I can see the visible and mental impact on Sandra, Alanna and Karl. The anger, frustration and concern are all palpable, all day, every day. That even extended to my grandson on Sunday, when he was visibly upset, but eventually worked up the courage (he does not like to think he is upsetting me) to tell me that he is happy to be spending time with me, but also sad as he thinks about the cancer. They were very hard words to hear coming out of a 7-year old’s mouth! He is at that age of awareness and just another impact of all of the family dealing with this nonsense.

Against this very challenging backdrop, I have to remind myself, daily, that whatever comes next, we know the overall AD world and the end game. I also have to remind myself that I am 3 years into this AD world and many, many people do not get anywhere near that length of time, when dealing with the many variants of this overall disease. I was also reminded this week, that things can very quickly change and be very different. I spent time with a good friend, whom I have known for decades. He had some shock health results this week, that could have meant the absolute end of his story, but thankfully, that was not the case and he remains upright. Every day, people’s stories come to an end for a myriad of reasons and causes, with most of those being out of the control of the individual affected. Today, I am upright, keeping busy and aiming to make the most of my time, I trust you are doing the same; few of us know when the ‘lights will go out’ on our story, but whilst they remain on - enjoy, indulge and spend time with people who matter the most to you.

On the non-medical aspects, the week was a busy one (around the various medical related appointments). On Tuesday night, I met up with my former colleagues from the holiday company. Jennie, Emma, Kim, Erin and Becky were all able to make the evening and it was a great catch up. Discussing our current lives and also reminiscing on some of our shared experiences made for a good catch up, which helped lift all of our souls.

This was the first week where I did not spend any worktime with Alanna, which was odd. That was as a result of the show catch up necessities from the previous weekend, alongside the time impact of the medical appointments, together with the other unmovable commitments; we both missed that time together. She made up for that by coming over and spending Saturday evening with Sandra and I, for some specific catch up time. I did get to spend time with Karl too and due to the continuous UK monsoon / pre-Ark weather, we were prevented from doing any of the many tasks we could do outdoors. We chillaxed at home, spent some time together and had some movies on in the background. On Wednesday night, we had a spot of childminding for our 2 grandkids, which was nice. Due to being at the farm on Saturday, we switched our usual day with the grandkids. They spent a few hours with us on Sunday, where we had some fun and caught up; a nice end to a very busy and mentally challenging week.

I had a hair cut on Friday and one where my hairdresser cut my hair shorter. That was due to him going into hospital for a knee operation, with an undetermined impact on his recovery abilities to conduct his normal activities. On Saturday, Sandra joined me at the farm where we store the various military vehicles. I was joined there by 2 good friends who helped to move and load one of the military vehicles that has been sold to a new UK owner. Sad to see that vehicle leave the collection, but a necessity of where the collective situation leaves us, with regards to that overall collection; we had a lot of fun with it over the years though.

On the book front, I clarified some final questions for the next book title to be done in the French language (as part of their final proof reading stages). Alongside that, chapter 5 corrections, photo caption corrections and map replacements all actioned in this past week (I also received chapter 6, but will start that this coming week).

In summary, another action-packed week, but one with increasing medical aspects.

Thanks to everyone who continues their support from the various parts of the world, very much appreciated by us all.

Regards, Peter.