Here we are again, with another Betham blog update. As you know, we started this publication with the intention of letting you know about my health and ongoing treatment for Prostate cancer. However, I do realise that this is now turning in to more of holiday travel blog. There is actually a good reason for this, which is that my health has remained pretty stable for quite some time now, so if all we talked about was my treatment, they would be very short updates.
We had our oncology appointment with the consultant this morning, which is the first time we have seen her in six months. The last time we met, she said that I will probably go onto an additional hormone treatment soon, depending on what level the PSA reaches and how quickly it is rising. Well, we discussed the results from the blood test today and, while the PSA has drifted up slightly to 4.02, all other results including for bone, liver and kidney function are completely normal. This was excellent news and so I will remain on the current treatment plan for the time being. We are both very pleased with this as I am likely to be more fatigued when the next drug, Enzalutamide is introduced.
It was interesting to talk to the consultant about what to expect when we move on to the next stage of treatment. The introduction of a new hormone medication will hopefully bring the PSA down, and extend the time that I am feeling well, however it may just halt the growth of the cancer. Unfortunately there is also the possibility that it may not be effective at all, in which case I would need to try something a bit more powerful, but this would have stronger side effects which I would like to avoid for as long as possible. She did explain that all these treatments only have a limited time that they remain effective, so it’s best not to use them until absolutely necessary.
We both feel relieved about today’s results, as it gives us reassurance that we can continue enjoying our lives and making the most of every opportunity that presents itself to us, while I am still feeling well. You have probably guessed from the photo at the top of the page, that our latest project is learning to Scuba dive. We have signed up with Diveline in Ipswich to take our PADI Open Water Diver certificate. So far we have had a trial dive in the training pool which was great fun and we have now just about completed our theory, which consists of a 250 page training manual including several tests. This will be followed by four confined training dives in Ipswich. The final stage to gain our certificates is to complete four more dives, this time in open water. The instructors offered us the opportunity to make these dives in a flooded quarry pit in Leicestershire. Alternatively we can finish the open water training in Hawaii, when we visit in October. Mmm, difficult choice! We will let you know how it goes.
And now the bit where I let you know what we have been up to since our last update. You may be surprised, that we have not been away on holiday, but we have had a few trips and outings which we have enjoyed. I won’t bore you with all the details, but a few of the highlights have been going to see Ed Sheeran in Ipswich Chantry Park. This was at the end of his record breaking world tour, and you could tell he was genuinely happy to be home. This was a great evening.
We also had a great family trip to see Ellie and Connor in Somerset over the August bank holiday weekend. Jeannette, Keith and Dan joined us and we had a lovely time on the farm where they are living. It was our 29th wedding anniversary and Bim’s mum and dad’s 57th. We took the opportunity to recreate a few wedding photos.
I think that’s all we have for the moment. We will let you have another bulletin when we have more news. Thanks for reading.
