2024 Came and Went

So what happened? Long story short I changed my view on life and the way I live it.

We returned to the UK from Cyprus in March after spending ten years on and off enjoying the island and it’s great people. in 2022 both my partner and myself caught Covid as did everybody, and honestly it was a couple of bad days of flu like symptoms and then all was fine. However in my case the Covid virus released Rhumatoid Arthritis which had been dormant, although apparently any virus could have done it.

It took about a year to get it under control, a cocktail of steroids, immune suppressants and sensible eating habits seemed to do the trick and apart from the odd flare up it was manageable, but as it turned out at a cost.

I started to notice weight loss sometime in 2023, which I put down to age, men generally loose muscle as they get older and I spent a lot of time on the computer sitting, or trying not to walk too far in the heat so I was no too surprised.

On returning to the UK I registered at my local GP to get prescriptions to continue my meds, as part of the registration process they asked for a routine blood test, and within 24 hours was called back into the surgery and advised prostate cancer had been detected. Numerous tests, scans, poking and prodding later the results showed the cancer was early stages and confined to one small spot on the prostate, it had not seemed to spread.

I was given a couple of choices, a course of radiotherapy which had a good success rate but left you tired, nauseous and generally feeling yuck for the weeks the treatment took. Alternatively I could opt to have the prostate removed which to me anyway seemed the better solution, just cut it out of me and let me carry on until something else gets me, as my GP so kindly put it.

So after discussions with my other half I opted for the operation, however it did require me to come off half of my Rhumatoid Arthritis meds as they basically are immune suppressants and the immune system needs to be as strong as possible after an operation. Party time for the Arthritis!!

It had a field day, previously being pretty much confined to elbows, wrists and hand joints, it moved into my back, shoulders and neck making almost any movement or even not moving painful. On top of this the weight loss had accelerated with the cancer and high steroid usage, eating a lot of muscle mass in my back and shoulders, nearly three stone in 2 years overall.

The prostate operation in August seems to have gone well, the medication for the Arthritis has restarted although it can take up to 6 months to kick back in fully and they are still searching for the right dosage, but I am still here and life feels sweet. Yes I get bad days, constant pain grinds you down but having swapped any social life I had for hospital waiting rooms I know there are a lot of people far worse off than me. When it comes down to it I have had my three score years and ten and I count myself lucky for any extra.

So how has it changed me? Firstly I realised how unimportant work was and is, yes I need to keep busy and earn some money but it no longer consumes me.

Secondly, while I always new my partner loved me, I came to understand how much, she had to become the man of the house, I could not carry anything, go shopping, drive or move around much, pretty damn useless really. The constant pain and frustration often made me snap at her and she put up with most of it without complaint, although she’s a Geordie so tough love was the order of the day sometimes, something honestly I needed.

The world is full of wonder, mine shrunk to at most 15 minutes slow walk in any direction and I would look at the fabulous countryside and woods from our window and it might as well have been on Mars as far as the likelihood of me getting there again. Luckily this has improved and hopefully will continue to do so.

After a lot of thought (actually a pretty easy decision really) I decided to take time off, which at my age is called retiring. I still do a little work for existing clients, I still spend time fiddling on the computer, but it’s for clients I know and like, and my fiddling on the laptop is doing things I want to do not what I need to do. After years of working for myself, and even moving to the sun, sea and sand of Cyprus I now feel truly free. Free to enjoy my wonderful partner, our cat, trips to the coffee shop (without working in it) and free to just live in the moment.

Life is amazing, it has to end yes, but hopefully not just yet.