Good afternoon, evening or morning. Depending on where you are in the world, or what time of day you’re reading this.

It’s late afternoon for me. A winters afternoon on the Gold Coast, where I don’t live anymore. Well, I say winter but it’s about 16°c (61ºf). Not too cold really, and it’s sunny. It is dropping to 2ºc (36f) tonight though, apparently. That’s cold. We’ve been having cold nights for awhile now, but warmish days. That’s winter for you, and it is slightly colder where I live now than on the Gold Coast.

I’m on the Gold Coast this afternoon as I had to drop Danielle and Kael off at an appointment (wife and daughter for those that don’t know). So while I’m waiting I thought I’d grab a coffee and start on a well over due blog post. And, yes, I know, I should be drinking green tea. Which I do most of the time, but it is nice to have a black coffee sometimes. Most days I’ll only have one coffee, and sometimes none, but occasionally two. But green tea is what I drink mainly because I like it and the health benefits that come with it. I wrote about the wonders of green tea in a post ages ago, which you’ll find if you take the time to scroll through previous posts I’ve written, on the home page of the website.

Speaking of posts, I haven’t written one for awhile. The last one being on April 23rd, this year. Yeah, I’ve been slack, I know. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about you, but… No! There is no ‘but’, I’ve just been slack at writing in the last couple of months. Including not working on my novel, you slack bastard Jon. That’s just changed as I sit here now writing this, and it feels good to be back at the keyboard.

The photo that comes with this post was taken by me at my last chemotherapy appointment at the hospital. Gold Coast University Hospital to be precise, if you feel the need to look it up. I really like what it says. I found it very uplifting to read that on my cancer journey as I was about to start another round of chemo. I guess maybe not everybody will like it, or be uplifted by it, but I did. Feel free to share the photo if you think it will help somebody else. Better still share my blog posts with other people. Share the love as someone, somewhere, once said.

My blog post writing seems to be fairly irregular, which was not the plan when I first started. The plan was to write regular posts so I’ve come to a conclusion on how to achieve that. Write shorter posts more often. Rather than some of the longer, rambling ones that I’ve written previously. Will this work? I don’t know, but I’m going to try. Starting with this one, which is kind of rambling already ha ha.

So I will limit this one to a short update on everything, then expand on some things individually in future posts. That way I can focus on a specific subject per post, keep them shorter and publish them more often and regularly. That keeps you, and everyone else, in the loop about how I’m progressing, or my thoughts on certain subjects.

Therefore, back to the story so far. I mentioned in my last post that I was going to start chemotherapy, which I have now done. I’ve completed three rounds, with potentially three to go. I think it’s working. No, correction, I know it’s working. I’ve put on weight since I started. About 10kg (1.5st., 22lb.) My oncology haematologist is also cautiously optimistic. I recently had a CT scan to see how well it is working and I should get the result in a weeks time when I have my next medical appointment. It’s nerve wracking waiting, but what can you do?

I’ll expand on the chemo process in my next post. How it effects me physically and mentally, and probably emotionally too.

We closed our crystal shop, which I mentioned in the previous post too. A sad decision to make but it had to be done. Danielle has taken time out to figure out how she wants to move the business forwards. It’s also meant she’s now crashed and burned, coming down with a nasty flu bug. It’s funny how we can all keep going on adrenaline while busy and focused, and then when we stop and slow down we collapse in a heap. Danielle is amazing and I’m surprised it’s taken until now for the crash to happen. But she’ll eventually bounce back. Watch out world!

What else? I’ve caught up with friends and family. Had a flu bug myself. Explored our new surroundings in the outer suburbs of Brisbane including discovering new cafes, places to eat, and new places to walk. Played video games and read books. Oh, and my daughter, Kael, got her L plates and learners driving license. Now that’s a whole new world to enter into. In fact I’ve probably done a whole load of stuff except writing. Until now that is. Writing again. Yay!

I’m going to leave it there otherwise this will become a long rambling post. I’m trying to keep it shorter. Kind of. Suffice to say I’m happy and, cancer aside, healthy.

In my next post I’ll explain my whole chemo process, and how it effects me. It will come out soon. I promise.

Till then I hope you get on and enjoy life. As much as you possibly can anyway.

Cheerio, Jon