Mon 5 – Sun 11 Oct 2026

Some weeks are more memorable than others and this was one of those. Largely because of bad news about my dad. And to do with issues about my own health. Wednesday was particularly intense. And blood was prominent again as I wrote about in my previous blog here.

Remember This

• Trump does a deal to buy Russian diesel in order to reduce prices in America and, by doing so, shits on Ukraine

• America proposes to televise the execution of a man by firing squad

• Labour holds Sir Kier Starmer’s old seat and Zack Polanski is damaged

• 3 year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel

• Students riot in France

• RIP Jeffrey Archer – an interesting character but far from honourable

• Human rights lawyer Navi Pillay wins the Nobel Peace Prize while America tries to shut down the International Criminal Court

• Dave stays gripped to Celebrity Traitors

1. Family and Friends

My dad’s decline

This has been an intense week of news about my dad. I was phoned midweek as he was in hospital and his condition was deteriorating. I know the hospital staff are doing their best and he is by far not an easy person to care for due to his dementia. Indeed, I was told to prepare for a conversation about end of life care. I’ve known this will happen for a while now but it’s still upsetting.

Me and my dad have always had a difficult relationship. And any possibility of trying to resolve that ended when his dementia set in. He is the person he is and now can’t change. I would have loved him to be a nicer dad but he is of his generation and circumstances.

But then, on Friday, there was a sudden turn for the better with him calming down, recovering from his infection, and starting to eat again. It’s like a roller coaster of emotions. Though, ultimately, I know there is not going to have a happy ending and where we are may only be a temporary reprieve.

Mum: Covid jabs

Thankfully the other people I support needed less intense emotional attention than dad. As per usual, it was primarily just about spending time with mum and getting her shopping. Though I did also do the hoovering this week for her. We went together to have our Covid jabs on Friday at the local pharmacy. All good though mum thinks she got hurt more than I did.

Patrick doing OK

A week that I didn’t actually get to see Patrick but I spoke with him and sorted out some of his financial matters. Dave saw him twice including on Saturday when I would have gone but I had to do my jog-run that morning rather than on Sunday as normal – see below for more details. Good to see Patrick is gradually recovering from his operation though he now has lost his carers.

2. Health and Efficiency

3 good gym sessions

I aim for my gym workouts to be a mixture of intense effort combined with a sense of calmness. There’s definitely always that thing about never regretting a workout once you’ve done it. Three good workouts though not perfectly spaced out: mornings of Mon, Tues, Thurs.

112 London gym sessions divided by the annual membership = £4.91 per session

A relaxing swim

26 lengths done. Had intended to do just 20. But as the pool emptied out, it seemed silly not to take advantage of being able to swim in a much less empty pool. I tried not to get too intense – I don’t want to be one of those awful people who just charges up and down the lanes regardless of otherse. Rather I want to relax and stretch when I swim even if it means I am slow.

A good jog-run though on a non-ordinary day

I’ve written before how it’s important to stay flexible and that is what I had to do with my jog-run. Usually done on Sunday mornings but not this week due to the Royal Parks Half Marathon. So I went out on Saturday morning (I actually felt strange on Sunday morning with my routine so altered). Bit busier on the streets than on my normal day. But still a good jog-run.

Always intense in that I need to just run and get into the ‘running space’ in my head. Turned out to be a perfectly decent time of 32 mins. And no painful feelings in any parts of my body – just feelings of being pushed. Again, you never regret a run once you’ve done it. One of the best things was pushing the last kilometre and getting it done in 6 mins and 17 seconds.

“The most effective way to do it is to do it.” Amelia Earhart

One day with two hospital visits

Wednesday was a very intense day because by a strange coincidence I had two hospital visits on the same day. Although at two different hospitals. The first was to investigate further why I have a problem with my blood clotting. There was also a decision to change my blood thinner from one that is taken twice per day to one that needs just a single daily dose. This will mean less likelihood of these important meds not being taken.

Then in the afternoon it was my regular six month HIV check-in. This went well though my ARV meds have also been changed. This is largely linked to me suffering night cramps and so needing to take magnesium supplements. In order to find the cause of these cramps, we are also going to experiment with temporarily stopping some other non-HIV meds I take in order to see if that makes a difference.

I wrote in my previous blog about the importance of blood and I ended up having a lot of blood taken to both try to identify the cause of my blood clotting as well as check on all things related to my HIV status. For the latter, pleased to say that the results are very satisfactory.

Teeth again

Following on from the previous week’s dental check-up and new filling, it was off to the hygienist in the week gone. Slightly told off for not having been to see her since 2022. However, she reported my teeth were generally in a pretty good state. I do regularly brush as well as use floss and inter-dental brushes.

Still seeing the hygienist is an intense session of having your teeth scraped from all directions before the more pleasant polishing. Only a masochist could enjoy it. Although I was left with teeth feeling cleaner than normal and I was able to feel gaps between my teeth that I didn’t know existed. I was advised I should go every 6 months though £75 a session.

3. Books and Reading

Three very different books completed

• ‘Traitor’s Legacy’ by S J Parris. A fun romp in the final years of Elizabeth I’s reign where a body turns up with a coded message causing a retired female spy to come out of retirement.

• ‘Queer as Folklore’ by Sacha Coward. A rather quixotic collection of reflections about how stuff in historic and modern mythology, folklore and legend links into current ideas of what ‘queer’ means.

• ‘Makers’ by Cory Doctorow. Sci-fi in the near future about using new technology to make things, how this challenges the big business establishment, and the impact of all this on human relationships.

Full reviews can be read here.

4. Art and Culture

QPR’s cracking draw

No big cultural events though an intense match on Friday evening. Up against West Ham at their place, London rivals freshly relegated with that newly relegated sense of superiority that they should go straight back up. In the end it was a 1-1 draw which was a fair (and good for us) result. We got our goal through a contentious penalty but then saved a penalty they had.

Looking Ahead

• Another intense week around dad seeing whether his condition improves or deteriorates

• A couple of things to do with mum. First, just to be around on Monday afternoon when the contractor comes to do the annual check on the boiler. Second, we are both going to the chiropodist on Tuesday morning to get our feet seen to.

• There were problems with some of the blood taken for checking about my blood clotting (not enough was taken!) so I need to go back to the hospital again on Tuesday for those to be redone

• Target is my normal exercise routine: 3 gym workouts, a swim, and my normal 5K jog-run on Sunday morning

• Meeting my old mate Brian on Wed for coffee

• Still reading the fantasy classic ‘The Dragon Waiting’ by John M Ford on my kindle. And I’ve started a fascinating 1970s book picked up in the Oxfam bookshop: ‘They Saw Tomorrow. Seers and Sorcerers from Delphi till Today’ by Charles Neilson Gattey.

• With Dave to see the Lesbian and Gay Symphony Orchestra perform on Sunday night

• Two QPR games: Against Derby on Wednesday night and Birmingham on Saturday

And Finally…