I’ve written articles for this website for several years and every now and then an old piece is pushed out on social media for another day in the sun. I’m always slightly nervous about reading the old stuff, particularly when the writing is not quite as good as it should be.

The last piece that popped up on my social media feeds was one published in January 2020 just before the pandemic upended our lives. It has a snappy title: Four Rules for a Happy Life. Cancer and a happy life, really, how does that work?

My tone when talking about cancer

At the risk of sounding overly pleased with myself, I thought it read quite well. I reposted the link to my social media sites, and it got some traction. One writer even shared a poem, though the majority of people who interacted posted pictures of their dogs, which is something I am by no means against. This flurry of pooches was triggered by me posting a photo of my mutt Rusty, my excellent cancer companion.

All of which spurred me to read a few more of my pieces. The one thing that really struck me is how the tone of my articles is pretty constant, even if the content is quite different. I always strive to be humorous and upbeat and attempt to accentuate the positive wherever I can.

Read on…

I have prostate cancer and I’ve had PTSD, but in my case, the two aren’t linked, but they can be. Although my cancer diagnosis petrified me, and I get stats angst every time I have a PSA check I’d never considered that cancer might cause PTSD. My brush with post traumatic stress disorder happened more than twenty years ago, long before I’d heard of radiotherapy, hormone therapy, prostatectomy and the other ugly words associated with our condition.

My brush with post traumatic stress disorder

I was fit and healthy, in my forties, and working for ABC News who had a habit of sending us to places where guns, bombs, and bullets were in plentiful supply. If you worked for American TV, particularly in the 90s, then more than likely you’d be chasing the Marines all over the globe. I did time in Sarajevo during the Bosnian conflict, was in Mogadishu when Bush senior sent in the troops and did a stint in DR Congo and Rwanda during the genocide, all places guaranteed to set your nerves on edge. Read on.

With Prostate Cancer, you need to think like a reporter. Being in and around the news business for most of my career it comes naturally for me to ask questions and with prostate cancer, questions are your friends.

I take a degree of comfort in knowing as much about the nature of my cancer, the treatment involved, and the possibility of a cure (always nervous of using that word) or getting to a place where there is no evidence of disease. I’m a firm believer that knowledge is power and while knowledge won’t cure your cancer it at least puts you in the driving seat.

Not everyone feels comfortable asking questions of doctors about a subject they probably have little knowledge and there are others who just want to leave decisions and actions in the hands of the medics and not probe too deeply. That’s not how I operate.

Read on.

Because of the corona I wasn’t able to see the Onco yesterday, so she gave me the good news over the phone. PSA 0.03, which means after six months still a member of the NED squad. Take that unwelcome guest.

When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer just over two years ago, I remember taking the dog for a walk in our local park. Truth to tell I was feeling pretty down and not a little sorry for myself. Anyone reading this who is unlucky enough to be part of the cancer crew will know the early weeks after diagnosis are a tricky time. Suddenly your life is not only upended, but there seems a very real prospect of it being actually ended.

Coming to terms with stage IV cancer

Over the years we’ve all inevitably accrued inaccurate or just plain false facts about cancer. Different cancers respond in very different ways to treatment, some really are a death sentence while others can be treated very successfully. I soon learnt my cancer was stage four and as everybody knows there’s no stage five. Did this mean I was already in the departure lounge on journey I had no interest in taking? Read on…

Perhaps the doctor with the worst bedside manner ever was also thankfully fictional. Step forward Dr. Gregory House star of the long-running TV drama House. He was played by actor Hugh Laurie as a brilliant diagnostician with the bedside manner of Atilla the Hun. A drug addict, liar, and cheat, he cared nothing for the feelings of his patients or friends. No wonder the show was so fantastically popular. Read on…

A few years back, long before I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, I wrote a jokey post on social media titled: Four rules for a happy life, and here they are:

1. Spend time with your friends (and your pets)
2. Set achievable goals
3. Enjoy athletic sex with supermodels (Warning: Rule 2 may apply here in some cases)
4. Don’t become a professional musician

Read on…

The expectations are high on the part of everyone to have a good time. Friends are gathered, food is shared, and presents unwrapped. Then of course there are the songs: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas or my particular favourite Ella Fitzgerald singing The Christmas Song. And how can you fail with Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra? They all celebrate the holidays, but often with a sense of yearning. Click here to read on.

I’ve just had some pretty good news and that’s what all the cheering is about, but it needs a little context, so bear with me.

I celebrated my 65th birthday a couple of weeks back. My wife and I threw quite a party and whooped it up with as many old and new friends as we could muster.

I was lucky enough to assemble a magnificent band mostly made up of friends from my days in the music business. I still play guitar and sing when the mood takes me, and it certainly took me that night. Even though most of the band were my friends I firmly believe that musicians should get paid for playing so I gave all of them a small sum of money to say thank you. They tried to refuse but I said take it and why not give it to a prostate cancer charity. Read on…

Celebrities talking about prostate cancer can only help boost awareness.

They became close friends in the early seventies just as fame beckoned and bonded over a love of music, football, and partying. It’s sometimes been a fractious friendship, but it remains one to this day. It’s a fifty-year story of two music legends who share many milestones. If you haven’t guessed, I’m talking about Rod Stewart and Elton John. Read on…