…Remember when I mentioned the other week that Pete was feeling a bit under the weather? Well, it turns out he has an enlarged prostate and, after a few initial tests / examinations this week, it has been confirmed that it is cancer… I know, what a shock…

Fortunately, things have moved pretty quickly in the last few weeks; from a same day appointment as soon as we completed the online appointment form for our GP surgery on Friday 13th June, to the initial diagnosis on Thursday 26th. At the moment, Pete has been given some medication to “put a lid on it” until further tests are completed and, once these results are back, they will agree the best treatment / course of action.

An MRI scan was done yesterday (28th), and he is booked in for biopsies next Thursday (3rd July) which he is really not looking forward to… and finally, he should also have a bone scan at the BRI (the infirmary in Bradford) in the next few weeks. When you list it like that, it sounds really scary but we both accept these tests are all necessary to find out what’s what… once all this is done, we will know what treatment will look like and, I assume, have some kind of formal prognosis… we are literally at the start of this journey (putting that word in specially for Pete as being on a “journey” is one saying we both find particularly annoying! 🤣)…

Although, without doubt, the very word “cancer” feels me with dread, the hope is that this has been caught early and, as the quacks have indicated thus far, completely treatable – we should know more in the next few weeks – so, if you are reading this, keep everything crossed, pray if it’s your thing or just send us as many good vibes & as much positive energy as you can!

One thing I thought a bit strange, when Pete went off for his examinations and I sat waiting for him in the hospital corridor, his favourite song, the one that Niamh (granddaughter) often insists on putting on an Alexa loop when she visits as she likes to sing-a-long with her granddad, “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers came on the radio – I am hoping this is a good omen although, if I am honest, I would clutch at any straw at the moment!

Although this cancerous curve ball is naturally all consuming at the moment, life continues much the same as eve & we are both feeling positive… well, if I am honest, I am probably more worried about it all than Pete who remains as stoic as ever! It’s definitely been a week or mixed emotions… 😊

I had a nice morning with Mum on her birthday last Sunday (22nd June) and it was good to hear from my brothers via WhatsApp and share their birthday messages with her.

I have been to see the chiropractor a couple of times and feel a bit up & down pain-wise following these visits… sometimes I feel great and think it’s money well spent; the next time I feel sore and in pain and wonder why I am bothering…

After my trip to see the Chiropractor on Tuesday (25th) I thought I would be brave and do something I have always wanted to do… I went on a lone trip to the final day of the England Vs India Test Match at Headingley! Pete didn’t want to come as he finds test match cricket boring (he’s more a fan of the quick game like T20 or “The Hundred” when you know there is limited time) but I really enjoy it…

I haven’t been to a Test Match since “Cricket Fortnight” which we used to run at Skylarks (run by the Winged Fellowship Trust / Vitalise) in Nottingham back in the day – so around 27 years ago!

After my torture session, I jumped in the car and headed a further 3 miles down the road to Headingley, parked the car up and walked to the Yorkshire County Cricket ground… the weather was windy and a bit drizzly but I loved it! I must have sat there, luckily in a sheltered spot out of the wind, for over 7 hours and it seemed to fly by – great value for only £20!

My day out was of course made extra special as England won! I was sat amongst a nice crowd of people – Indian and England supporters, young & old, male & female – and had a stunning view of the ground – far enough away from the Fanzone where the Barmy Army sit but near enough to hear them! Well, you couldn’t really miss them! I particularly enjoyed the chants of “ Bumrah, Bumrah” from the Indian fans, watching Duckett first reach 50 runs, then 100 and the shock that he got caught out just 1 run off his 150! And of course the chant of “Rooooot” every time Joe Root hit the ball! Great fun 😊

I also enjoyed a WhatsApp message exchange with Kumar, our little Indian friend that we met when we were in Goa – it really was, as Wallace would say “A grand day out”!

Also on Tuesday, I noticed a message from my ex-Sister-in-Law, Sally, saying my brother Chris was on his way to hospital again with a suspected blood clot in his leg… I thought I might need to head down to Kent and miss the cricket but decided there wouldn’t be much I could do and that it was probably better to wait until the Docs had decided what was going on… as it turned out, they decided it’s not a blood clot (even though his leg is badly bruised from toes to thigh and looks like it might be DVT) and he’s now having more tests… he was having an MRI scan on Friday (27th) so we will wait to see what they say after that. I am eternally grateful to my ex-sister-in-law Sally who has been visiting Chris everyday and went with him to the hospital when he was admitted… It cannot be easy and I appreciate everything she is doing for my brother!

We also had a walk over at Ogden Reservoir in the week (25th) so Pete could pick up some veg plants at a nearby nursery… we were also interested to see how low the water levels are is at the moment now Yorkshire is officially in drought! See the pic below:

Of course, we have also been to the allotment – I think I have picked most of the strawberries now and Pete has been turning a load into Jam this morning… I also picked about two ton (well, pounds…) of Red Currants so Pete can make some some of that up to. Having just been to the hospital and received the news about Pete, it was nice to spend a bit of time down the allotment as it really helps to clear the head, focussing on the best that nature has to offer for a few hours…

Lastly, we had news through of another viewing of our house (that’s 2 in 2 weeks…) that was due to take place on Friday (27th June) at 5.30pm… our agent is on holiday which means the messages from prospective buyers are coming straight to us this week so, when it got to 6pm and the person had not turned up, I was able to message them directly to ask if they were still coming? They messaged back almost straightaway that they hadn’t had confirmation of the viewing from our agent – grrr! Fortunately, they are still interested and so we have rearranged the viewing to take place on Monday (30th). As it turned out, when I was on the website, I noticed two other requests for viewings for next week had also come through… typical! Now that the immediate future is a little unclear for us (e.g. with Pete’s treatment) we get a bucket load of viewing requests! We have agreed that until we know more about Pete’s likely treatment, it is business as usual and, if we get an offer, we will go ahead with the move. If we get no offers, once we find out what’s what with Pete, we will make a decision about whether we keep the house on the market or not… we shall see what happens in the coming weeks.

So, I think you will agree, it’s been a pretty eventful week for us! Hope everyone out there is doing ok! Don’t forget to send us your positive thoughts! Toodles ❤️😘