First, apologies for a bit of a hiatus. I wanted to let family know about the bone metastases mentioned in the previous post before I published it. I did let them know, then wrote the post, but forgot to press “Publish”. When I opened the blog tab just now, it was still sitting there. Anyway, it has been dispatched.

The other reason for the presence of an absence, as far as posts go, is that I am marking time until I see Pat Bowden on 6 February. Talking to my sister a couple of days ago, I was reminded of something I read about the film making process. The author, whoever it was, likened it to war. According to him, both were marked by long periods of waiting around separated by bursts of panicked activity (or something along those lines). I am definitely in the former state. (Actually, it is all very Magic Mountain, something that will be the subject of a future post when I get a bit further through it.)

Unpromising as it may appear, a lack of dramatic incident has been quite an interesting thing. The reading I have done around bone mets suggests that those whose cancer has taken this turn can help the treatment along by looking after their bone health. This includes flossing, maintaining bone density, and generally not being too much of a slob. Weight bearing exercise can help reduce the side effects of treatments such as radiation therapy. Sound familiar? Yes, we are back in New Year’s resolution territory; eat less, move more.

This has a slight weirdness about it. A cancer diagnosis redraws the time horizons. I was also told not to exercise following the surgery. Now I am back having to do stuff that, like most people, I find fairly tedious to do. Still, it gives one a very specific reason to do these things, not just because they are good in a vague way. I am still feeling fine, just having trouble concentrating. Again, I have to focus on the absence of something, in this case pain, and be thankful for that (which I certainly am).

As well as having to get off my backside more, I realise that I need some mental activity. It has been difficult to think of something interesting, and that I can take up and put down as treatments unfold. This precludes most courses taught in bricks and mortar institutions. So I am taking up German again, via a couple of Coursera online programs. These are self-paced; I have only just enrolled in them, so have nothing to report just yet here either. There will be! Soon!