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..............
