It occurred to us earlier that we started this blog eight years ago today. As you will know if you have read any of the posts, it was initially written to keep family and friends up to date with news about my health after my prostate cancer diagnosis. It was a very bleak time for us and we struggled even to talk to anyone about what was happening and what the future held, so a way of giving a general update seemed like a good idea at the time.

The news was all about chemotherapy to start with, and I have found it interesting to read some of the earlier posts as a reminder of what that time was like.

As you know, the subject matter changed after I left my full time job at Framlingham and we discovered that we really enjoyed holidays! Since then I have always tried to give open and honest information about the treatment, some of which has been difficult to write, but also a run down of some of our activities along the way. 

Prostate cancer is different to many cancers in that it can often be quite slow growing, so I was given a prognosis of four to five years to live. As we have now celebrated our eight year anniversary, it does show that life can go on after diagnosis. In many ways, and this might sound odd, it is almost a privilege to find out that you have a life limiting illness as it does focus the mind on the things you want to do with the rest of your life. Even more bizarre is that the last years, since I gave up full time work, have been the happiest of my life! All very odd.

So, a few statistics about the blog. 

Our first post was on 31st December 2016, which Bim wrote to give her point of view on things. Since then we have published 64 Blogs and had 121 comments.

Some of the highlights over the last eight years have been

  • Meeting up with friends and family.
  • Several trips abroad including the Maldives, Dubai, Maui, Madeira, Iceland, France, La Gomera, (Scotland and Wales, not sure if they count!)
  • Attending the Royal Garden Party to celebrate the King’s Coronation.
  • Learning to Scuba dive.
  • Many other great experiences – Lunch at the Savoy, watching the Planets being performed at the Royal Albert Hall, riding on a quad bike for the first time (thank you Ruth & Russell), being driven around Brands Hatch at terrifying speed, thank you again Russell! The list goes on, but I will not bore you with any more.

Full Circle

I had my three monthly blood test just before Christmas and we had a telephone chat with the oncology consultant yesterday. The PSA is starting to rise more quickly now, which shows the current treatment is beginning to fail, so we discussed the next step which will be ten rounds of Docetaxel chemotherapy. I started my treatment with this same drug so I know what to expect. It won’t be pleasant, but we will have to see how we get on. We also discussed the possibility of finding other drug trials, as I am running out of the regular treatments now. The Chemo won’t start until the end of March at the earliest, so we still have time for another holiday before then, so we are off to Madeira again to celebrate my birthday in January.

Thank you, as ever, for reading this blog. We will raise a glass tonight to celebrate our eight year anniversary and look forward to what 2025 might hold.

Happy New Year to you all.