Up the Back Passage

28th July 2019 - Sunday Some side effects are becoming more pronounced, extreme and longer lasting. Most noticeable, is the sensitivity to temperature and change in taste. Washing my hands for 3 seconds in cold tap water on the hottest day of the year resulted in painful pins and needles for 45 minutes. But it … Continue reading 17. Not Slowing Me Down

19 July 2019 - Friday It's chemo cycle 2 + 8 days. Chemo happened last week for me, my blood results were good, my gum infection had actually disappeared the day after my aborted cycle 2 date. However, it is better to be safe, there are some extreme consequences to getting it wrong. My oncologist … Continue reading 16. Side Effects

4th July 2019 - Thursday The world has been drying, salting, curing, preserving meat for centuries. It is a high calorie, high protein, portable food source that has probably kept many a traveller alive. But is it really good for you? America has beef jerky - which I personally find lacks flavour. Italy has Prosciutto … Continue reading 15. Dried Meat

20th June 2019 - Thursday If those who take recreational drugs are seeking to enhance their experience of life, then I guess I'm taking drugs to prolong my experience of life. There's evidence of recreational and medical drug use dating back thousands of years. In base-ring juglets traded across the Mediterranean around 1500BC, opium residue … Continue reading 14. Drug Addiction

15 June 2019 - Saturday Unfortunately, my oncologist was wrong and Jeremy Hunt is opening the scanner next week, and in fact the unit is closed while he opens it. However, on Wednesday I was Radioactive Man. As some science readers will remember there are 3 types of radioactive particles - alpha, beta and gamma. … Continue reading 13. Radioactive Man

7th June 2109 - Friday Jeremy Hunt. Not everyone's favourite person. Maybe future prime minster? I wouldn't bet on it. But it seems I may be more important than Brexit and the Tory leadership, I may meet him next week. So I saw the oncologist yesterday. A good lady operating out of a private hospital … Continue reading 12. Meeting with the future PM?

31 May 2019 - Friday The northern forest circles the globe through Russia, Scandinavia, and North America, covering approximately 13.8 million km2 it is the largest forested area in the world. Nearly twice the size of, not just the Amazon, but all the forests of South America. Fortunately, the forests and land currently have little … Continue reading 11. A Forest

28th May 2019 - Tuesday Step 1 - Tick Got out of the hospital on Friday – finally. It felt like I was attached on elastic. Every time it seemed I was clear to go there was something else pulling me back. The final tug was waiting for the pharmacy to issue a bag full … Continue reading 10. Straight through exhaust

Thursday 23 May - (Surgery + 4 days) A quick update post operation - 4 days on. This is only a short summary as there are multiple potential spin off topics from here like - Private or NHS? Or What they don’t tell you. The Good St Mark's has some private facilities on the 10th … Continue reading 9. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Monday was Zara's first A level exam, I dropped her at the station and wished her well and let her know that Clare and I would be thinking of her. To which she replied "Well, that isn't going to do anything". Not long now for me. 0700 Sunday I arrive at St Mark's, 0930 into … Continue reading 8. Going Under