Thursday 25 July 2019
Thursday 21 July 2016
The end...............or is it?
Two and a half weeks after the last blood test, the result finally arrived! Please forgive me if I do not let you into the secret just yet; my old NHS training seems to have kicked in, so I feel honour bound to prevaricate for a while before getting to the point.
There have been a lot of points on this journey, most of which have been at the end of a large needle (apologies to any needle phobics). If I hear the phrase "just a little prick" from one more little.......healthcare professional, I think I might scream and scream until I am sick (if you are not familiar with the Just William books, check out Violet Elizabeth Bott on Google; I am sure she will have an entry. Other search engines are, of course, available).
Given the lack of continuity, I am never quite sure whether I am writing for an audience that is familiar with the whole story, or just the odd random "hit". I am pleased to report, however, that pageviews have now passed the 3,000 mark; not bad for the tale of an old bloke in Kent afflicted with a pretty common health problem. I do, however, have the ability to "spy" on you all, so I can confirm that the vast majority of recent readership has come from Spain, with a few from France. Just when the UK is about to quit the EU..............!!!!!
If you have read this blog before, you will be familiar with the odd digression, or even the regular digressions (no access to emoticons on this site, damn!). For some of you, these may be the most entertaining part, although i suspect that it is the "what on earth is he going to dig up next?" element of the music links that is the real attraction.Be that as it may, a couple of quick thoughts:
Europe: the UK has managed to cram 50 years' worth of politics into a month and is still going! For some reason, there is confusion between the intention to leave the European Union and Europe. I will not reveal how I voted, or indeed whether I voted, but I hope that all those across the watery divide realise that this is no reflection on the people who live there. I won't go so far as to say that we love you all, or that all of us are loveable, but it was nothing personal.
The second thought it on bureaucracy: if you are fed up with bureaucracy and think that you are the only one, I would thoroughly recommend a book called "More Human" by Steve Hilton. I can only hope that politicians across the world read it and take note!
Sorry, those probably belonged in the other blog..............the one that no one reads on account of the fact that it was usually out of date within days of being written and I have essentially given up on.
OK, I have left you wondering long enough, you probably have better things to do. The "normal" PSA level is 4 ng per whatsit; my last test revealed a level of 5.4 (weren't you paying attention when reading the relevant post?). The latest came out at 3.4 Yippee!.......or perhaps not : ( Also contained in the letter was another test form and an invitation to present myself at the leech department in November. I am not normally one to count his fowl before they emerge from the shell, but I am going to take the latest result as the nominal end and assume that it has gone away...............
This could be the last ever post, or it might not. I am reluctant to engage in Frank Sinatra behaviour, but I have to say that writing here again has been rather good fun. For the sake of completeness, I will definitely put something up in November but you never know, the odd post might appear between now and then.
A potentially final act is to ask something of you the reader. I know that this has been unsuccessful in the past as you are a reticent crowd, but this might appeal. I would love your advice on what design of tattoo I should have to represent coming out the other side. The obvious is a phoenix as symbol of re-birth, but you may have much better ideas. If you interact with the blog in no other way, I really would appreciate your input on this one.
Enough of all that, you need a song or two as a reward. It has been very hot here (by UK standards) over the last few days, so the first was inspired by that. The second was one I re-discovered whilst browsing links associated with the first. The third (a bonus song!!) is just plain fun, but does have a good dig at intolerance
Sunny
Wonderful world
Thumbsucker
Sorry, could not resist a last link just for a laugh. One of the 20th and 21st centuries greatest diplomatic talents
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nULFMp4jKBo
There have been a lot of points on this journey, most of which have been at the end of a large needle (apologies to any needle phobics). If I hear the phrase "just a little prick" from one more little.......healthcare professional, I think I might scream and scream until I am sick (if you are not familiar with the Just William books, check out Violet Elizabeth Bott on Google; I am sure she will have an entry. Other search engines are, of course, available).
Given the lack of continuity, I am never quite sure whether I am writing for an audience that is familiar with the whole story, or just the odd random "hit". I am pleased to report, however, that pageviews have now passed the 3,000 mark; not bad for the tale of an old bloke in Kent afflicted with a pretty common health problem. I do, however, have the ability to "spy" on you all, so I can confirm that the vast majority of recent readership has come from Spain, with a few from France. Just when the UK is about to quit the EU..............!!!!!
If you have read this blog before, you will be familiar with the odd digression, or even the regular digressions (no access to emoticons on this site, damn!). For some of you, these may be the most entertaining part, although i suspect that it is the "what on earth is he going to dig up next?" element of the music links that is the real attraction.Be that as it may, a couple of quick thoughts:
Europe: the UK has managed to cram 50 years' worth of politics into a month and is still going! For some reason, there is confusion between the intention to leave the European Union and Europe. I will not reveal how I voted, or indeed whether I voted, but I hope that all those across the watery divide realise that this is no reflection on the people who live there. I won't go so far as to say that we love you all, or that all of us are loveable, but it was nothing personal.
The second thought it on bureaucracy: if you are fed up with bureaucracy and think that you are the only one, I would thoroughly recommend a book called "More Human" by Steve Hilton. I can only hope that politicians across the world read it and take note!
Sorry, those probably belonged in the other blog..............the one that no one reads on account of the fact that it was usually out of date within days of being written and I have essentially given up on.
OK, I have left you wondering long enough, you probably have better things to do. The "normal" PSA level is 4 ng per whatsit; my last test revealed a level of 5.4 (weren't you paying attention when reading the relevant post?). The latest came out at 3.4 Yippee!.......or perhaps not : ( Also contained in the letter was another test form and an invitation to present myself at the leech department in November. I am not normally one to count his fowl before they emerge from the shell, but I am going to take the latest result as the nominal end and assume that it has gone away...............
This could be the last ever post, or it might not. I am reluctant to engage in Frank Sinatra behaviour, but I have to say that writing here again has been rather good fun. For the sake of completeness, I will definitely put something up in November but you never know, the odd post might appear between now and then.
A potentially final act is to ask something of you the reader. I know that this has been unsuccessful in the past as you are a reticent crowd, but this might appeal. I would love your advice on what design of tattoo I should have to represent coming out the other side. The obvious is a phoenix as symbol of re-birth, but you may have much better ideas. If you interact with the blog in no other way, I really would appreciate your input on this one.
Enough of all that, you need a song or two as a reward. It has been very hot here (by UK standards) over the last few days, so the first was inspired by that. The second was one I re-discovered whilst browsing links associated with the first. The third (a bonus song!!) is just plain fun, but does have a good dig at intolerance
Sunny
Wonderful world
Thumbsucker
Sorry, could not resist a last link just for a laugh. One of the 20th and 21st centuries greatest diplomatic talents
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nULFMp4jKBo
Tuesday 12 July 2016
One more to go
Two years on, and the end is in sight...............at last!
This will be a very short entry..................I can be merciful!
Before I explain that one, just a note of thanks to the readers of this blog. A few of you have stuck with it through thick, thin and downright boring; some have dipped in never to be seen again; some have picked a topic and followed it and others have probably followed for a while before getting fed up. Whatever your reasons dear readers, thank you. People have come from the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Turkey India, Russia, the USA, Canada and more countries I cannot recall. Yesterday, the total page views went over 3,000. I have no idea what constitutes "success" in garnering page views, but over 3,000 seems a lot to me!
A little over a week ago, I had what I hope will be the final blood letting (it was at Medway Hospital, but fortunately they have given up using leeches in favour of needles these days). With good luck and a following wind, the result should be here in a few days and will represent the conclusion of the story. As and when it arrives, I shall bore you all one last time.
Until then, a song..........enjoy
SOB
Have a funny feeling I might have posted that one before. Just in case, here's another:
Don;t Look Back
Have a funny feeling I might have posted that one before. Just in case, here's another:
Don;t Look Back
Tuesday 19 April 2016
Still going............
It has been a very long time since my last post on here. I see that a few people are still finding their way to the blog, but probably mostly by accident! On the off-chance that one or two of my loyal readers happens to take a look, I thought that I would post the latest update in the long and weary saga.
On a global level, I see that the press regularly print that 11,000 men die in the UK every year from prostate cancer, but still there seems to be complete indifference to early detection and treatment. Can you imagine the outcry if breast or bowel cancer were treated in the same way? It remains a complete mystery to me as to why this country has such a laissez faire attitude to something which is curable and yet still kills enough people to fill the Albert Hall twice over every year. I suspect it is because PC is usually associated with older people and we live in an inherently ageist country............one for the Grauniad opinion columns perhaps?
On a personal level, I had the latest blood test a few weeks ago. Those of you who are sufficiently briefed (forgive the pun, this time it was unintentional!), either from the real world or the curious nano world of this blog, may be aware that "normal" is a reading of 4.0 ng/mL or below. Mine started at 13.4 and reduced to 8.3 by January.
A note about units here, just to demonstrate how incredibly sensitive modern blood testing is. Please feel free to skip this bit as it could be seen either as geek intensive or patronising depending on your level of knowledge. A nano gram is a billionth of a gram, so we are actually talking about measuring 0.000000004 of a gram in one millilitre. For any American readers who might not get the peculiar European system of measurement, a gram is about 3.5 hundredths of an ounce and a millilitre is about 2 thousandths of a pint. Sorry, I did warn you before you read it!
There are two types of letter that I hate receiving: those from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and those marked "Private and Confidential" with a Maidstone postmark. Checked the post this afternoon (I do not live in a town, so the post arrives at lunchtime) and, guess what? Yep, I hit the jackpot and had one of each. Given that one is seriously scary and the other is just one of those things that has to be dealt with, I opted to open the scary one first............
It turned out to be nothing more than a letter advising me that I have 9 months to complete my tax return. Phew!
That left the other one. It was, as expected, from the Oncologist with the result of the latest blood test. I am please to say that the level is now down to 5.3.............very nearly there! With luck, the little blighter is on its last legs.............. Next blood test is due in July; hopefully that will be within a "normal" range and I can forget all about hospitals until something else goes wrong.
Not sure whether getting the celebratory tattoo done might be tempting fate though; will think about that one. Any thoughts on a design which represents renewal or rebirth apart from the phoenix would be welcomed.
In order not to break with tradition, a song or three. These are all by the same band, but can you tell whether these were real 1930s songs updated in the 1960s, or whether they were just the products of alcohol and drug addled madmen who wrote and performed them? They might even be a combination of the two.
By a waterfall
Hunting Tigers
Tubas in the moonlight
Until next time folks..............
On a global level, I see that the press regularly print that 11,000 men die in the UK every year from prostate cancer, but still there seems to be complete indifference to early detection and treatment. Can you imagine the outcry if breast or bowel cancer were treated in the same way? It remains a complete mystery to me as to why this country has such a laissez faire attitude to something which is curable and yet still kills enough people to fill the Albert Hall twice over every year. I suspect it is because PC is usually associated with older people and we live in an inherently ageist country............one for the Grauniad opinion columns perhaps?
On a personal level, I had the latest blood test a few weeks ago. Those of you who are sufficiently briefed (forgive the pun, this time it was unintentional!), either from the real world or the curious nano world of this blog, may be aware that "normal" is a reading of 4.0 ng/mL or below. Mine started at 13.4 and reduced to 8.3 by January.
A note about units here, just to demonstrate how incredibly sensitive modern blood testing is. Please feel free to skip this bit as it could be seen either as geek intensive or patronising depending on your level of knowledge. A nano gram is a billionth of a gram, so we are actually talking about measuring 0.000000004 of a gram in one millilitre. For any American readers who might not get the peculiar European system of measurement, a gram is about 3.5 hundredths of an ounce and a millilitre is about 2 thousandths of a pint. Sorry, I did warn you before you read it!
There are two types of letter that I hate receiving: those from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and those marked "Private and Confidential" with a Maidstone postmark. Checked the post this afternoon (I do not live in a town, so the post arrives at lunchtime) and, guess what? Yep, I hit the jackpot and had one of each. Given that one is seriously scary and the other is just one of those things that has to be dealt with, I opted to open the scary one first............
It turned out to be nothing more than a letter advising me that I have 9 months to complete my tax return. Phew!
That left the other one. It was, as expected, from the Oncologist with the result of the latest blood test. I am please to say that the level is now down to 5.3.............very nearly there! With luck, the little blighter is on its last legs.............. Next blood test is due in July; hopefully that will be within a "normal" range and I can forget all about hospitals until something else goes wrong.
Not sure whether getting the celebratory tattoo done might be tempting fate though; will think about that one. Any thoughts on a design which represents renewal or rebirth apart from the phoenix would be welcomed.
In order not to break with tradition, a song or three. These are all by the same band, but can you tell whether these were real 1930s songs updated in the 1960s, or whether they were just the products of alcohol and drug addled madmen who wrote and performed them? They might even be a combination of the two.
By a waterfall
Hunting Tigers
Tubas in the moonlight
Until next time folks..............
Sunday 17 January 2016
News from the hospital!
It has been a while, but I did promise not to post just for the sake of posting. After goodness knows how long, there is finally something new to talk about. If you have read virtually any of my other posts, you will realise that the word "hospital" and the phrase "good news" very rarely (if ever?) appear in close proximity.............The words "hospital" and the phrase "waste of space" (or similar) are seen together quite a lot. I won't spoil the end of the post by telling you which was round the might appear at the end; no point in writing a suspense story and giving the ending away, it would not be fair on you dear reader.
The last blood test in October was a bit of a washout. I had hoped that it might show a drop in the PSA level, but in fact it showed a slight increase. Not really what I wanted to hear, and it did seem to surprise the consultant who had also expected it to have gone down some 2 months post radiotherapy. But, hey ho, what can you do? I could hardly take the what remained of the offending gland out and give it a good talking to, so I just had to put that one down as another experience on the journey and wait three months for another blood test.
I had intended to play it cool and wait until at least the middle of January before having another stab (literally). Christmas came and went (I had 'flu so missed that one), a new year was ushered in very well thanks to the Jools Holland Hootenany and still I thought "leave it until later in the month".
As it turned out, my coolness lasted all of 4 days and on the 5th I duly toddled on down to the blood letting department of Medway Hospital, form in hand.
You may have read about Medway Hospital in this blog before. It is a sort of war zone, usually just visible through a miasma of cigarette smoke generated by the people who go there. Hospitals in the UK might be "non smoking areas", but the risks associated with asking the locals not to smoke in the grounds probably far outweigh the chances of success, so the staff tend to leave well alone.
I had expected to be there for at least half an hour after taking my ticket from the machine by the door, sitting in rather too close contact with a load of other people. Wrong! There was literally no-one waiting! 5 minutes later, I was out of there and heading back to the car minus a few millilitres of blood. By Medway standards, this was nothing short of miraculous; it actually took me longer to walk back to the car than I spent in the blood letting department.
The other day, the letter from the consultant arrived. Anyone who has been in a similar position will appreciate that opening one of these is done with a mixture of excitement and trepidation
The envelope contained two pieces of paper: a letter and another blood test form.............
The letter informed me that my PSA level had fallen by nearly half and that the consultant viewed this as satisfactory progress. Hooray, all that back and forth to KOC has finally yielded a positive result! If it falls by another half over the next few months, I will be within the "normal" zone..............phew! It also asked that I have another blood test in April, so hopefully that will be the end of the story. It has been a long and tortuous journey to get this far, but nearly there.
A song to end with. I don't think that I have posted this one before, apologies if it is a repeat. It will mean nothing to anyone under a certain age and will probably mystify anyone from outside the UK. It is very short, so those who don't like it will not suffer for long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2skW43HNpE
The last blood test in October was a bit of a washout. I had hoped that it might show a drop in the PSA level, but in fact it showed a slight increase. Not really what I wanted to hear, and it did seem to surprise the consultant who had also expected it to have gone down some 2 months post radiotherapy. But, hey ho, what can you do? I could hardly take the what remained of the offending gland out and give it a good talking to, so I just had to put that one down as another experience on the journey and wait three months for another blood test.
I had intended to play it cool and wait until at least the middle of January before having another stab (literally). Christmas came and went (I had 'flu so missed that one), a new year was ushered in very well thanks to the Jools Holland Hootenany and still I thought "leave it until later in the month".
As it turned out, my coolness lasted all of 4 days and on the 5th I duly toddled on down to the blood letting department of Medway Hospital, form in hand.
You may have read about Medway Hospital in this blog before. It is a sort of war zone, usually just visible through a miasma of cigarette smoke generated by the people who go there. Hospitals in the UK might be "non smoking areas", but the risks associated with asking the locals not to smoke in the grounds probably far outweigh the chances of success, so the staff tend to leave well alone.
I had expected to be there for at least half an hour after taking my ticket from the machine by the door, sitting in rather too close contact with a load of other people. Wrong! There was literally no-one waiting! 5 minutes later, I was out of there and heading back to the car minus a few millilitres of blood. By Medway standards, this was nothing short of miraculous; it actually took me longer to walk back to the car than I spent in the blood letting department.
The other day, the letter from the consultant arrived. Anyone who has been in a similar position will appreciate that opening one of these is done with a mixture of excitement and trepidation
The envelope contained two pieces of paper: a letter and another blood test form.............
The letter informed me that my PSA level had fallen by nearly half and that the consultant viewed this as satisfactory progress. Hooray, all that back and forth to KOC has finally yielded a positive result! If it falls by another half over the next few months, I will be within the "normal" zone..............phew! It also asked that I have another blood test in April, so hopefully that will be the end of the story. It has been a long and tortuous journey to get this far, but nearly there.
A song to end with. I don't think that I have posted this one before, apologies if it is a repeat. It will mean nothing to anyone under a certain age and will probably mystify anyone from outside the UK. It is very short, so those who don't like it will not suffer for long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2skW43HNpE
Sunday 15 November 2015
3 Months on
Firstly, an apology: I have been neglecting the blog. Probably because nothing much has happened and I am sure that you don't want me to prattle on about irrelevant stuff...............mind you, not many people have been looking at it recently, so perhaps I am just talking to myself (no change there then!).
3 months have now passed since I finished being zapped. Did it work? Am I free of the cancer? The short answer is that I have absolutely no idea! 6 weeks ago, blood was taken to establish whether my PSA level had gone down. 4 weeks after the blood test I received a letter from the consultant saying that the level had not gone down. Ho hum. He did, however, enclose another form for a blood test with the suggestion that I have another go in January.
I would imagine that for most people this might come as a bit of a disappointment, but I have to say that I am not at all surprised. As usual, I had done some research before seeing the consultant and discovered that PSA levels do not usually go down for several months after radiotherapy and may even go up in the short term. The result therefore came as absolutely no surprise. Indeed, it made me think that the NHS was wasting time (theirs and mine) again.
By now, you are probably used to me griping about the inefficiency of the British National Religion that is the NHS, so I will pass no further comment other than that it might reduce the number of useless appointments if they pointed people to internet references.
Not a lot more to say really. Still a bit tired every now and again, which I take to be a side effect, but otherwise nothing much seems to have changed (thank goodness!).
In the almost complete absence of any feedback and the falling "hits" I am not sure whether it is worth continuing with this blog. If anyone shows interest I am happy to continue, but otherwise I will probably only update it a few times more and then let it slide gracefully into internet oblivion......... if you have strong views either way, please do leave a comment or get in touch.
Today's song is not a song, it is an entire album! It is the first album I ever bought (so you can guess my age pretty easily from this one) and I was reminded of it the other day. Like the other links, best listened to through headphones to catch the effect. Have fun with it!
Electric Warrior
I would imagine that for most people this might come as a bit of a disappointment, but I have to say that I am not at all surprised. As usual, I had done some research before seeing the consultant and discovered that PSA levels do not usually go down for several months after radiotherapy and may even go up in the short term. The result therefore came as absolutely no surprise. Indeed, it made me think that the NHS was wasting time (theirs and mine) again.
By now, you are probably used to me griping about the inefficiency of the British National Religion that is the NHS, so I will pass no further comment other than that it might reduce the number of useless appointments if they pointed people to internet references.
Not a lot more to say really. Still a bit tired every now and again, which I take to be a side effect, but otherwise nothing much seems to have changed (thank goodness!).
In the almost complete absence of any feedback and the falling "hits" I am not sure whether it is worth continuing with this blog. If anyone shows interest I am happy to continue, but otherwise I will probably only update it a few times more and then let it slide gracefully into internet oblivion......... if you have strong views either way, please do leave a comment or get in touch.
Today's song is not a song, it is an entire album! It is the first album I ever bought (so you can guess my age pretty easily from this one) and I was reminded of it the other day. Like the other links, best listened to through headphones to catch the effect. Have fun with it!
Electric Warrior
Monday 19 October 2015
Waiting again
Before I start, a big welcome and thank you to whoever is reading this in Russia. I am constantly amazed at the range of countries that people reading this blog, whether just a mistaken page search or a more in-depth following. At the risk of boring everyone, the countries so far (in order of number of "hits") are:
UK
USA
France
Australia
Russia
Ireland
Turkey
Switzerland
Ukraine
Germany
I have a good idea who the Australians and people from Turkey are, but everyone else is a mystery........and you all seem to be so shy! I have only had a couple of comments and an email since I started over a year ago. Go on, take the plunge and risk getting in touch. I can guarantee that I will not bite.
If you read the last post, you might recall that the vampire service at Medway Hospital relieved me of another few millilitres of blood to find out how my PSA level was getting on. Still no result back, or at least no result that anyone has bothered to tell me about. Even when I do find out thee result, I do not expect it to be a dramatic change as it can take 5 months or so post treatment to find out whether it was successful through the relatively crude method of PSA level. Unfortunately, it can also be 5 or 6 months before any lasting side effects come to the fore.........
So here I am, 2 months after the radiotherapy course finished, still not knowing whether I am "cured" or whether I will have any lifelong effects. This will sound a bit strange, but I am still not sure whether that is stressful or not. I can hear you asking yourself how can someone not know whether they are stressed by the waiting and not knowing? the answer is not quite as simple as it sounds since it relies on what I might call a compartmentalised mind.
One part of my mind is very focussed on the next challenge; this has effectively come to an end, so no stress there.
The other part would worry about the future if I let it...............stress
Answer? I keep one of the parts in front and concentrate what is left on the "real world". A fun balancing act, but it seems to work.
On a really positive note, I found a pen that I lost ages ago. It sounds like a trivial thing, but it is a fantastic pen and was given to me years ago by a team of people I worked with; it means a lot to me and I was very upset when I lost it
I will be back as soon as I hear anything from the hospital. In the meantime, a couple of songs, one of which is quintessentially English and brought a new word to the language (check out "Jobsworth" in wikipedia). When you listen to the second song, it will not surprise you to hear that he was thrown out of South Africa in the 1960s.............
Jobsworth
Republic Day
UK
USA
France
Australia
Russia
Ireland
Turkey
Switzerland
Ukraine
Germany
I have a good idea who the Australians and people from Turkey are, but everyone else is a mystery........and you all seem to be so shy! I have only had a couple of comments and an email since I started over a year ago. Go on, take the plunge and risk getting in touch. I can guarantee that I will not bite.
If you read the last post, you might recall that the vampire service at Medway Hospital relieved me of another few millilitres of blood to find out how my PSA level was getting on. Still no result back, or at least no result that anyone has bothered to tell me about. Even when I do find out thee result, I do not expect it to be a dramatic change as it can take 5 months or so post treatment to find out whether it was successful through the relatively crude method of PSA level. Unfortunately, it can also be 5 or 6 months before any lasting side effects come to the fore.........
So here I am, 2 months after the radiotherapy course finished, still not knowing whether I am "cured" or whether I will have any lifelong effects. This will sound a bit strange, but I am still not sure whether that is stressful or not. I can hear you asking yourself how can someone not know whether they are stressed by the waiting and not knowing? the answer is not quite as simple as it sounds since it relies on what I might call a compartmentalised mind.
One part of my mind is very focussed on the next challenge; this has effectively come to an end, so no stress there.
The other part would worry about the future if I let it...............stress
Answer? I keep one of the parts in front and concentrate what is left on the "real world". A fun balancing act, but it seems to work.
On a really positive note, I found a pen that I lost ages ago. It sounds like a trivial thing, but it is a fantastic pen and was given to me years ago by a team of people I worked with; it means a lot to me and I was very upset when I lost it
I will be back as soon as I hear anything from the hospital. In the meantime, a couple of songs, one of which is quintessentially English and brought a new word to the language (check out "Jobsworth" in wikipedia). When you listen to the second song, it will not surprise you to hear that he was thrown out of South Africa in the 1960s.............
Jobsworth
Republic Day
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