Funny how this always happens in waves but over the last 24 hours I've had several messages via Linkedin and Facebook asking why I haven't provided an update since July. I always wonder if people think I've died :)
It still astounds me that around 10,000 folk a month now read this blog and it's a great feeling to receive messages about how it's helping them navigate their own diagnosis, or to help a loved one or friend who is struggling with Stage 4 cancer. However it's also dawning on me that I have some responsibility to keep the content coming ! Like I said to one person who emailed asking for an update….sadly I’m a pretty boring person to 'follow', hence the lack of updates!
Here is just a quick summary of where I'm at:
Still working full-time, and struggling like crazy to balance my natural inclination to want to do more at work with the ever present fear that a recurrence is right around the corner.
I have another 3 monthly scan next week and the nerves are already starting to build. It's a CT scan. Just yesterday I was in contact with my oncologist about this. I don't really trust CT scans because CT failed to pick up my liver tumours when I was initially diagnosed. Only a PET scan picked them up. However my oncologist is really worried about exposing me to too much radiation. He reckons even this many CT scans is a risk. So, we're alternating PET / CT and this round is a CT scan. Fingers crossed.
I've been talking to some state politicians about their position on assisted dying legislation in New South Wales. I've become really passionate about this and horrified by how the issue has become a politicised. Thinking of ways I can use my own story to help the cause.
We've been busy working on the garden. You can see some spring pics here. The arrival of spring is really so much more exciting when you have a garden full of fruit trees etc etc. And our chickens finally started laying again!
We've been selling some honey, and giving a lot away, but we - my wife and I and my parents - have decided to take the whole thing a little more seriously. I’ve been blown away by how many people are asking us for raw honey. So we're jazzing up the website, figuring out how to scale our honey processing a little more, and finding other local beekeepers willing to augment our own supply. Soon we'll be able to deliver raw honey to most places in Australia and we have a few other ideas in the works (honey christmas gift hampers etc). I see this as a great way of building a small second income for the family in case I do kick the bucket soon and they need to get by without my income, especially while our kids are all young (so hard for my wife to work full-time).
Anyway, that's about it. I guess the scan next week will largely determine what happen's next !