This is just a brief update to let you know that we have had our regular three monthly oncology appointment today.

We did things slightly differently this time in that the nurse rang me to let me have the blood test results a couple of days before we saw the doctor. I am not sure if we will do that again as it meant we had to decide what the results meant on our own. Unfortunately, the PSA level, which is the main marker for the cancer has risen. It had gone up very slightly last time to 0.53 but today it has now almost doubled to 0.98. We had hoped that it would stay at the lower level for quite a bit longer.

We had an emotional day on Monday coming to terms with the increase and trying to decide what it means. Plenty of tears and hugs were the order of the day. It took us back to the time that I was originally diagnosed, a sort of empty, lost feeling.

Despite the emotional impact of receiving these results by phone, it did give us the opportunity to think about questions to ask the consultant and, not for the first time, I called the Prostate Cancer UK support line to discuss my situation and ask about possible future treatments. The specialist nurse was able to tell me about several options that my consultant might consider for my next stage and it was reassuring to hear this information. Today our consultant, Dr Woodward, talked us through the results. Whilst she agreed that it was disappointing that the PSA has gone up, she did reassure us that it is still low and that we don’t need to change the treatment regime at this stage. We were interested to hear that she plans to put me on a new hormone treatment called Enzalutamide when she thinks I need another drug to manage the cancer. This may be at the next appointment depending on how I do over the next three months.

So we have completed another treatment cycle and now we can relax and try to get on with normal life for a while longer. One interesting result from the blood test was that my vitamin D level was low. Apparently this is a bit of a national epidemic. Vitamin D is made in the skin from exposure to sunlight and as we don’t see much sun over the winter and with high factor sun creams in use over the summer, a lot of people are deficient in this particular vitamin. In fact the NHS advice is that most of the population should consider taking a vitamin D supplement over the winter. Low levels can cause a long list of side effects including tiredness, bone pain, depression and lowered immune system. Dr Woodward suggested that I start taking a Vitamin D supplement and try and get out in the sun a bit more……..

…….Which brings me nicely on to our plans for next week!

Having enjoyed our very necessary break in the Maldives last October we decided to look for somewhere to take another sun, sea and cocktails break. We felt that the Maldives is a very long way away so we started our search looking for somewhere similar, maybe a bit closer to home. We spent quite some time looking, and found that the only place that is like the Maldives is, in fact, the Maldives!

We have booked ten nights at the Coco Collection island of Bodu Hithi. We are very excited to say the least. I hope you can bear it if we bore you with lots of photos on Facebook (unless you have all deleted your Facebook accounts by now). This time we are hoping to see turtles and dolphins as well as all the countless varieties of colourful fish. Hopefully this trip should sort out my vitamin D!

Here’s a little taster….