Severe health problems

What a month it’s been – almost certainly the most demanding of my life. It started when my haematologist sprang a bolt from the blue by telling me that I almost certainly had bowel cancer on top of my myeloma. A sigmoidoscopy, then full colonoscopy, happily showed that I’m clear of this, but there are unexplained growths in the abdomen – almost certainly myeloma related – that are causing considerable pain and that urgently need biopsies to see what, if anything can be done about them. Meanwhile, I’ve spent much of the last fortnight in hospital, needing a stent inserted into a blocked bile duct, and subsequently developing acute pancreatitis.

Happily I’m home now, and strong pain relief is enabling me to function again reasonably well, but this is obviously a hugely testing time, not least for my wife Deborah, and for my two children, Samuel and Kate. Thank you for your continued prayerful support and concern.