Mon 28 Sept – Sun 4 Oct 2026

Some weeks are dominated by one thing and this was a week gone where medical matters were high on the agenda. Indeed, it was a week where stuff related to blood had a higher prominence than usual. So easy to forget how important blood is in terms of monitoring our health. One of those things that we simply stop realising is always there doing the job it’s designed to do.

Remember This

• Andy Burnham gives a big speech proposing the end of the Triple Lock, a National Care Service, Proportional Representation, and a rethink on Europe.

• The situation around the men arrested at RAF Fairford gets more mysterious as they are bailed and turns out that one of them dialled 999

• A fight in the cockpit between pilots on a FlyDubai plane with one using an axe on the other. Thankfully the attacker is over-powered and the passengers saved.

• Man City appeal against the finding by a Premier League commission that they are guilty of more than 100 financial rule breaches

• RIP: Esther Rantzen, campaigning journalist – shame there are not more of those rather than ones who just deal with tittle tattle

• Celebrity Traitors starts on the BBC (Dave is hooked) plus tickets go on sale for Glastonbury

1. Family and Friends

Mum: Two trips out for medical reasons

With mum to the hospital on Tuesday morning to both get our bloods done. Uber there and back but timed so that we didn’t have to wait too long (we’ve waited over an hour on previous visits). The hospital phlebotomists are the best. So many times I’ve had bloods done at the GP surgery or the sexual health clinic and ended up with terrible bruising. This time, very minimal bruising for both of us.

Then on Saturday morning to our GP to get the flu vaccination done (travelling by bus there and back) – see below. Apart from this it was a quiet week with mum though with me getting her shopping as usual as well as collecting her blister packs of meds for the month ahead on Friday.

Lunch with Patrick

The big thing with our friend Patrick was to go out for lunch and a drink on Saturday in place of our usual morning meeting. We met at his flat and then walked the short distance to his local pub. It was great to get him out using his stroller – he tries to go a bit further with it each time. He’s still a bit unsteady but he was so happy to get out for a non-medical social event. A very nice lunch and delightful that Patrick ate heartily.

“Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.” William Shakespeare

Meanwhile, during the week Patrick has had various visits including district nurses to take his blood. He’s still got carers coming in twice per day to help him with showering and cook his lunch. But there’s talk that will finish soon as he’s only allowed them for 6 weeks. This is the care service for older people that needs to be dramatically improved. Dave visited him on Tuesday taking over shopping and he also went to the pharmacy on Thursday to collect his new blister packs.

2. Health and Efficiency

Getting blood pumping at the gym

I felt sad not to be going anywhere as we did with our mini-break in Portsmouth the previous week – read about it here. But it did mean I could do my full exercise routine. Although going to the hospital for bloods on Tuesday morning did upset the ideal arrangement of exercise and rest days.

To the gym on the mornings of Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. All good workouts with more emphasis on my legs than I have been doing lately. One of the things I focus on with my gym workout is to try and get the feeling of blood pumping around my body. This is particularly true of my legs. It may only be in my head but that is one of my marks for a good workout.

109 London gym sessions divided by the annual membership = £5.05 per session

Swim: An unexpected number of lengths

A really good swim on Friday morning – a time I know is quiet at my pool. Indeed, I had intended only to do 20 lengths. But, at one stage, there were only 3 of us in the pool so I kept on with a nice, slow, easy stroke and ended up doing 30 lengths. Didn’t get my blood flowing as the gym does but I felt like I had a good workout.

I do particularly enjoy treading water in the deep end as a break from lengths. And I’m sure that must be good exercise as well as just doing dull up and down lengths. Usual alternation between front crawl and back stroke. Though with a higher number of front crawl lengths which always feels so relaxing yet like I’m working my body.

A good but nothing special jog-run

As per last week, I had to follow my non-normal route as this week we had a cycle event taking place on the course I normally run. Time was also pretty similar to the previous week at around 32 mins and 13 seconds. So perfectly decent but not a new record (20 seconds too slow). Quite an atmospheric run as it’s starting to get cooler and there was mist around.

Me and mum: Hospital bloods and flu jabs

It’s been a big week in medical matters. As said, I went to the hospital on Tuesday to have blood taken. This is linked to me being on a new blood-thinner making sure it isn’t having a negative impact on any other aspect of my body. I was not expecting any bad news but who knows.

Another bit of health stuff was going with mum for our flu vaccinations on Saturday morning. Mum doesn’t like early starts but I needed to get us there early so I could go on to see Patrick afterwards. A really easy ‘in and out job’ at the GP’s though the doctor insisted on checking mum’s heart rhythm and her blood pressure (all OK).

A useful reminder chat with the dietitian

On Thursday it was time for a phone check-in with the dietitian. This was related to my previous blood tests at the HIV clinic which suggested I was borderline diabetic again. I was not expecting anything major from the conversation but it went really well. Indeed, the dietitian was really good at framing information that we all know in our hearts and making me think about how I can eat better.

The actual good news at the start of the phonecall was that the results of my blood tests from when I went to the hospital on Tuesday were already available. And I am back out of the diabetic zone (again). However, the dietitian is pretty sure that my exercise routine is keeping the diabetes at bay rather than my eating habits.

We agreed that I do have an appetite for carbohydrates but I am trying to make that more healthy through eating wholemeal bread and pasta as well as brown rice. But I do need to eat more vegetables and protein. There’s no magic answer to my bad eating habits but I know what is wrong and it is only me who can make the incremental changes necessary to keep the health problems at bay.

Dental check-up

To the dentist on Wednesday afternoon for my 6 month check-up. I’ve always argued that avoiding going to the dentist to save money is a huge false economy. And my advice to young people is always to look after your teeth. No particular problems but it’s always good to have them checked. The dentist did find a small filling that needed doing, not sure how important it was but I agreed she could do it anyway although it pushed the price of the visit up by £50.

3. Books and Reading

Just one book completed but more books bought

Only one book completed in the week gone: ‘The Queer Bookshelf’ by Layla McCay. It’s an interesting review of key LGBTQ+ books published across history but with the emphasis obviously being on the 20th century. A fun book but with limitations as outlined in my review here.

I’ve also been buying books – one of my big weaknesses in life particularly as I don’t know if I will ever have time to read them all. Friday morning, I took advantage of the local Oxfam bookshop’s 3 for 2 offer on fiction books by buying 6 of them. Then on Friday afternoon I took the latest load of books I had read up to the Notting Hill Exchange. And exchanged them for tokens which I used to buy more books. It’s quite funny really but I think there are worse addictions.

4. Art and Culture

Antique Sunday

No great cultural events to talk about. I’m still watching the new series of Antiques Road Trip which overall seems to show how easy it is to lose money on buying and selling antiques. Sunday was interesting in that after my jog-run, me and Dave went to a local antiques fair with Dave paying my £6 entry fee. It was really busy and quite expensive.

Then we went onto the nearby car boot sale. That was equally busy (good weather by then) with many more people selling than last time we went. I’m keen that we don’t buy things we don’t really need. So we left the car boot with only a new plant, a couple of books, a t-shirt, and 4 wooden coat hangers.

Looking Ahead

• A big medical day on Wednesday for me: 2 hospital visits on the same day. Morning, it’s to discuss the problem of me getting blood clots in my lungs. Afternoon, my six month meeting with the consultant to discuss matters related to being HIV+. There will be more blood tests which is the only real way to diagnose if there are any medical problems that need dealing with.

• Dental hygienist on Tuesday afternoon. Another £75 but I haven’t been in years (literally) and my teeth do have stains that need cleaning off.

• My exercise days will be different to normal with Wed’s hospital visits. But I’m still hopeful of 3 gym visits, a swim, and my 5K jog-run. The latter may take place on Saturday as it’s the Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday again taking place on my normal course.

• Plenty of time with mum and Patrick. For the former, we are going together to get Covid vaccinations done on Friday lunchtime.

• I will definitely finish 2 of the 3 current books I have on the go (for details see last week’s blog here). And then it’s the excitement of starting new books. I’ve read a number of ‘big’ (i.e. many page) books recently so perhaps I should go with some shorter ones.

And Finally…