Complete blog

31-Big balls are not aways desirable

1st December 2021

Well, it was always coming, but a bit of a shock just the same. I’ve had a nagging pain in my back for a good couple of months or so. Not a lower back muscular pain and certainly not a sports injury!

I flagged this up at my recent meeting with my Oncologist – the ever-professional Dr Warren Grant. He did say that secondary tumours in the lung sometimes show few symptoms and for those that do, a low ‘nagging’ pain is not uncommon.

So, definitely time for a new CT scan to see what’s developed since my previous scan back in May, when the tumours were still relatively small.

The results of the scan came back last week and yep, it was a bit of a shock – to me, at least.

Metastatic (secondary) tumour development in right lung
Jan 2021 May 2021 Nov 2021 About the size of…
Tom 17mm 20mm 55mm Snooker / Pool ball
Dick 14mm 15mm 36mm Ping Pong / Squash ball
Harry 7mm 11mm 29mm Lollypop candy

I say ‘to me’ because Dr Wozzer indicated that these sizes are not too bad, when considering the overall size of a lung.

“Oh really?” I thought.

Anyway, he decided that now is a good time to begin treatments. The plan is for some ‘palliative radiotherapy’ now and most likely to follow with some cycles of chemotherapy in the new year.

So a couple of days, ago I was back to the Oncology Centre in Cheltenham, for a pre-treatment scan and some body mark-up.

Felt a bit strange (and disappointing) to be walking back in there nearly 18 months after the throat radiotherapy.

In another respect, a feeling of familiarity: The same receptionist greeted me with a ‘Hi Warren’ - obviously remembering me (or at least remembering the tin of biscuits I left back then).

And the radiologist doing the prep work was the ever-friendly William – who is always bright and cheerful and became a good ‘mate’ during the hard weeks of treatment back in May / June 2020.

Will took me through the procedure which was a quick scan to see the tumour locations and then a tiny ink tattoo on my chest, which defines the ‘reference point’ that will be used when aiming the radiation treatment.

I’ve known all year this treatment was coming – and I’m ever so glad that Dr Grant held off until mow. It’s allowed me a good summer and autumn to get around and see family and friends.

Equally I’m now relieved that treatment is commencing. Larry the Lump was well beaten – and remains so.

I also know that Larry's sons - Tommy the Tumour, Dick and Harry have been gearing up all year for a fight and I’ll be taking them on next week, with the first bout of palliative radiotherapy.

I'm scheduled for five treatments (known as 'fractions') on w/c 6th December.
More from me soon after x

30-What’s best for cancer recovery – Bloody Mary’s or Morphine?

23 Sept 2021

I have to say that since my last blog post back in July – I’ve had a quite enjoyable summer!

I did receive my old-age pensioner bus pass and as if to prove I’m more than qualified for one, I promptly forgot and lost it somewhere – and never even used the dammed thing.

I think the gods are telling me that even though I’ve reached the ‘age’ – I really shouldn’t have one!

So I reckon I’ll remain bus pass-less for the time being.

My 66th birthday on July 22nd was spent in London, on a glorious sunny day.

It started as all great days should, with an amazingly good Bloody Mary for breakfast at Dishoom in Covent Garden. Dishoom is a very stylish Bombay-styled Indian restaurant, with a twist. It serves both fusion and traditional breakfasts - as well as all-day dining.

This was followed by some splendid wine and tapas with daughter Rachel at a riverside eatery by Battersea Power Station (what a change from my days when I lived in London in the 60’s and 70’s).

Finishing up with a night-time Thanes Clipper boat ride through the west end; city and docklands to my hotel that evening – it was a truly magnificent day.

Remembering back to last year’s birthday outing, when I fell off a bike during a family bicycle ride, being full of morphine at that time didn’t help, although to be fair, I didn’t feel much pain. This year’s dulling of pain by vodka and tomato juice was quite tasty, but sometimes I do miss morphine for the high 😉

Also remembering back to September of last year, I thoroughly enjoyed the all-day Zoom video calls from friends and family around the world in aid of the Macmillan Cancer charity and its ‘World’s Biggest Coffee morning’ fundraiser. It was in the middle of Covid lockdowns and restrictions, so having people for coffee and baking cakes was out of the question.

Honestly this year, the thought of me baking cakes is equally out of the question!

But taking over the mantle for 2021 my is my lovely daughter Verity, who is opening her house tomorrow morning (24th September) and baking cakes to raise funds. This is her link – not sure if she can post cakes out, but feel free to ask!

As for me – progress continues with my throat and I’m eating much better now. Mouth isn’t so dry these days and that helps enormously.

Although to be fair, even stage 3 throat cancer was unlikely to stop me eating and talking for too long!

Right now though, there’s no new news on my secondary cancer, but I have a further CAT scan and meeting with the other, proper Dr Wozzer in a few weeks’ time, so I’ll update my blog following that.

In the meantime, wherever you are in the world – do take good care of yourselves in these uncertain times. x

29-No news from an old git

21 July 2021

Well, when I say 'no news' I really mean not so much new news...

On the cancer front, I had a further CT scan in May and a follow-up meeting with my Oncologist, the ever-cool Dr Grant. He's pleased so far, in that the original cancer site in my throat appears clear.

There is some tumour activity in my right lung, but not enough to warrant treatment - yet. I am however noticing more of a shortage of breath and this has slowed me considerably when out for a walk. I’ve been advised to flag this up if it worsens.

He's pretty sure I will commence most likely Chemotherapy in the coming months, and I'll be in for another scan and decision around September time. But until then I'll make the most of the summer - as far as I'm able.

For those that have / had similar head and neck cancer treatment to mine, I can report that some 13 months post radiotherapy, things are much improved, but still with collateral damage here and there. Eating many foods still presents swallowing problems because of a lack of saliva.

Nerve damage (from the radiotherapy) has left me with a numb right-ear, no pain – just an annoyance all the time. Mind you some would say my whole head has been numb for many years…

And my sense of taste isn’t really improving.

I’d say I have 20-40% sense of actual taste and this is mostly from my taste buds. These receptors give us the experience of sweet, salty, sour and bitter. And I can tell the difference in these.

But – and not many people know this – when we chew our food, the aromas are released and travel via the back of the throat, so it’s actually our nose that sends the ‘smell’ of food to our brain. And this is where I’m still struggling and not convinced that it’ll improve significantly.

But even with all of that – and I’m not really complaining, because in the big scheme of cancer diagnosis I keep positive thoughts and enjoy every day!

Which brings me on to the one thing I’m not enjoying… Getting old.
It’s been a while coming and this is my last day of middle-age, before I draw my state pension on 22nd July, when I’ll be 66 years old.

On the other hand, they do say ‘you’re only as old as the woman you feel’.

So on that basis  – I’ve a good while to go yet 😊

And on that happy thought, wherever in the world you are – enjoy the summer and I’ll be back with more news around late September xx

I like to think I don’t look it but I can’t escape the fact that I now qualify for a bus pass to get me around.

This picture isn't my real pass - I intend a much later expiry date!

28-Recollections of a first year with cancer – and more!

31 March 2021

Well, what a year it’s been for me since last March.

Actually, I guess the same can be said for everyone and there must be unthinkable grief for so many families who have lost loved ones through the pandemic.

It's a year to this day that I popped into my local hospital to ask if someone could have a look at my sore throat.

Sure, my year has been life-changing, but I’m still here. Over 120,000 went into hospital in the UK with maybe little more than a cough and never came out.

So yes, even with all my ills, I count myself as one of the lucky ones. I say that because the treatment and medications I’ve been on notwithstanding, I’m still here to tell the tale and enjoy life as it is.

Looking back over the past 12 months (and it’s hard to believe it’s just on a year), I can say I’ve had more than my fair share of ups and downs.

From the first examination of my throat and waiting for confirmation of cancer; through the prepping for and subsequent tough radiotherapy treatment; to the long recovery from that treatment (still ongoing) and of course the amazing support from not only family, but also friends and colleagues around the world, and especially so for all the teams that have taken care of me at Gloucester Royal Hospital and the Oncology unit in Cheltenham – again I thank you all and appreciate it - more than I can say.

Paradoxically, my throat cancer seems to be clear. Technically it's 5 years of clear scans required to make that statement - but it doesn't feel too bad right now. Speaking; eating and drinking is improving in small, but positive steps. Dry mouth will be an ongoing issue because of treatment damage to my saliva glands.

And I have this horrible-looking lump under my chin, which is Lymphedema. I did have cancer in lymph nodes in my throat and these were also treated by radiotherapy. I think 'treated' in this case means irreparably damaged.

It’s more of a cosmetic issue than medically dangerous. Massaging the swelling does reduce it for a while, but the fluid build-up always returns. But believe me, at my age – I need all the cosmetic help possible 😉

This leaves me very much working through the mental side of coping with incurable tumours and preparing for the next cycles of chemo or immunotherapy or whatever. I’m trying to readjust to dealing with scan results in 3 months chunks.

So currently there's a further full scan due in May and then another discussion with Dr Grant to consider the treatment options and prognosis.

Mind you, I'm planning for quite a few 3 months chunks yet!

Although for me – the man who almost always has a plan – honestly, it’s a bit of a bummer.

But – there’s also been a bright side to always look at 😉

I got to thinking about being known as ‘a man always with a plan’. Sure, for the past 10 years I’ve been a travel consultant, planning trips and tours for visitors to Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. I’m so lucky really. Travel has been such a passion for me – and it was a dream to live in Cambodia while extensively traveling those countries - and get paid to do it.

But it started way before that – my very first time on a plane was a Laker Airways DC10 ‘Skytrain’ from London to New York, with my parents and brothers around 1974 or 1975. I was about 18 years old.

If ever there was one man to thank for introducing long-haul travel to the masses, it must be Sir Freddie Laker.

Since then, I’ve always been planning a trip somewhere for someone – family, friends, or workmates. Whether to Devon or Florida with family, Nice or Amsterdam with workmates and friends, or my own adventures in many countries.

So much so, some had given me the moniker ‘Woz Tours’.

I fondly remember in early 2008 planning a side-trip for a couple of Aussies – Wendy and Phil, who I hadn’t actually met – we did everything on Skype and email between Queensland (where they lived) and Spain, where I was living at the time.

But when we did meet at Malaga Airport – oh my, it was an unforgettable time – with a suitably crazy story, which I recounted from my first attempt at writing a blog back then and which amazingly is still live online.

https://woz.typepad.com/wozzer/2008/07/6-spanish-authorities-attempt-to-ground-woz-tours.html

In a nutshell, I was already booked to stay with Wendy and Phil in Proserpine, Queensland in late 2008.

I’d already joined the Couchsurfing community. It was like a forerunner of AirB&B, but with a much more social emphasis. No money changed hands – one could be hosted for free and indeed was expected to host others. It was fantastic back in the day.

Wendy and Phil were ‘Couchsurfing hosts’, who were traveling to Europe in mid-2008. So I invited them to stay with me for a few days on the Costa del Sol, which was prior to me staying with them.

What a blast we had. Among lots of beers, tapas and live music gigs, the UEFA Euro championships were on – Spain won the tournament, beating Germany 1-0 and the whole country – football mad at the best of times, went absolutely crazy! (that is NOT me in the picture!)

They, like so many other people that I’ve met over the years left part of their hearts in mine. Wendy unfortunately succumbed to cancer some years ago, but she and Phil still bring a wide smile to my face whenever I think of them.

Which is often.

But back to today – with it seems the world waiting to travel, I for sure am already planning my next trip to S E Asia. I'm just waiting for the politicians and scientists to let me fly again.

I’m ready for some Mee Cha (fried noodles) in Cambodia and a good many glasses of Bia 333 in Saigon.

Both are easy on the throat – strictly for medicinal purposes of course! 😊

27-Learning new words about Cancer

30th January 2021

As they say - 'you're never too old to learn'.

And it's true. I’ve learned a new word: Scanxiety - which describes ‘the apprehension felt by people with cancer as they wait for their next scan’.

This came about by doing too much of what I shouldn’t - which is hunting around the interweb trying to find information, about things of which only give me an incomplete picture as to what's likely to happen.

Let me back up a bit. My first full scan, post treatment was done last September – and that was a very anxious wait to find out the results.

Good and bad was the outcome of that scan. Good that the throat tumour has diminished – bad that metastatic (secondary cancer) tumours had been found in a couple of locations.

They weren’t deemed ready for treatment then, but another scan was scheduled for January 2021 to see if there’s any further development.

And there is.

No matter that I try and not worry about what I can’t influence, but waiting for that next scan and the outcome, is never ever far from my thoughts. Every day.

That is definitely Scanxiety.

And so I was ever so glad to have my January PET/CT scan and the subsequent appointment to discuss the results. The scan indicates a third tumour showing in my right lung and the original two in the same lung are still developing.

It wasn’t a great shock and I’m now back under the care of my oncologist – the excellent Dr Warren Grant. He phoned me the other day to get my thoughts and to update me on his thinking.

As ever with me, it’s not yet clear-cut. I will be starting treatment again, but right now it’s not definite when, or with what. By this I mean the choice will be either Chemotherapy or the much newer Immunotherapy treatment.

This is another new word for me. Immunotherapy ' which uses substances to stimulate my own body immune system to fight the cancer'. I suppose it's too much to wish these will be ganja-type substances, but one can hope - eh?

The decision depends partly on whether my cancer would be receptive to Immunotherapy and also on the overall effect of how my body will respond to either of the drugs.

That – and the schedule for treatment will become clearer on my next appointment with Dr Grant in mid-February.

But for now, I’ll end on a lighter note because I just received my first Covid vaccination jab. I’m in ‘group 4’ because of my condition and treatments.

No surprise that Gloucestershire NHS have it well sorted. Very quick and slick at the vaccination centre and no pain either.

Although I’m sure I heard the nurse whisper under her breath that I’d just feel a little prick.

Not a new experience for Wozzer… 😊

26-What a year that was

Friday 11th December 2020

Today is exactly 6 months since I finished radiotherapy on Friday 12th June and ‘rang that bell’. So I thought a good day to reflect back over this mad year, which is both forgettable and definitely unforgettable…

And what a year indeed.

It started for me quite normally – as with most of us I guess. January started good for bookings in the travel business and then later that month, news of the coronavirus was starting to appear. I spent most of February cancelling the majority of our guest’s bookings. And then from March on – along with everyone else in the world, trying to make sense of things.

Reading back through my blog, it was the last day of March – while the UK was in ‘Lockdown 1’ that I strolled into Gloucester Royal Hospital A&E with my (now infamous) niggling sore throat.

And here I am now.

Larry the Lump has gone – beaten and K O'd in the final round by Radical Radiotherapy, although he gave me quite a hammering along the way. But I had an amazing team in my corner - so I was more than confident all along 🙂

My recovery from the radiotherapy is still going in the right direction. But fatigue; lacking a sense of taste and issues swallowing food are constant reminders of the effects of the cancer and treatment. As is the slightly numb left ear which has some nerve damage, also as a result of the radiotherapy.

But all in all – I’m told by the medics I’m in better shape than many after just six months post-treatment. Of course, the secondary tumors that were identified, are a constant reminder that there’s still a way to go. I’ll deal with them next year and of course, it will all be dependent on what further scans show.

It's not all bad though...

I’ve lost a lot of weight – some 35kg / 77lb or 5.5 stones. In fairness it was needed because I did need to shed some blubber, but I’ve gotta say – it’s a tough diet and is not recommended at all as an aid for weight-loss 😉

Still, I’m down a good three dress sizes and getting into clothes I’ve had (literally) hanging around since 2005. They’re almost back in fashion too!

Also in September was the ‘worldwide coffee morning’ that I held on Zoom, raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Charity. I have such fond memories of that day – meeting up on video with family and friends all around the globe.

Also – avid readers of this blog may remember there was a prize winner drawn from all the people that were on zoom with me that day – and the winner is a good mate of mine - Phil Butterworth, who I’ve known since my early days in Siem Reap, Cambodia, around 10 years ago.

I had comissioned a commemorative mug from Macmillan - specially printed and then shipped to the USA, where Phil now resides. Here’s a lovely selfie as sent to me from Phil.

Enjoy it mate!

So that nicely wraps up this chapter and the final one for 2020. I’m scheduled a further PET/CT scan sometime during January 2021 and I’ll update this blog with information, when I have the results from that.

But for now on behalf of Samros, Nisa and me, we extend our sincere thanks for all your messages of support and to wish you peaceful holidays and a healthy and happy New Year, wherever you are in the world.

Take care
Woz x

25-A Quickie Divorce

18 November 2020

Well, I suppose I did know this day was coming – but didn’t know exactly when. But I can now reveal that Miss Peggy the PEG and Big Wozzer were today divorced at Cheltenham General Hospital. The separation ceremony was performed brilliantly by the ever lovely and professional Vicky, my Macmillan Specialist Nurse.

It was an emotional morning. Miss Peggy has been with me since mid-April, some 7 months and we’ve been very attached – quite literally. She always knew the way to my heart was through my stomach.

During my darkest days post-radiotherapy during June and July, she kept me alive as this was the only way I could take any water, drugs, or nutrition.

Sure, in more recent weeks my dependence on tube-feeding has diminished, while I attempt to improve eating and drinking by mouth. That’s not perfect by any means and I still have to be quite careful in my choice of food and drinks.

When I say choice of food I, along with most that are recovering from throat cancers, find moist and soft foods are easier to swallow. Saying that, almost every bit of food must be accompanied by a sip of water or whatever, because the lack of saliva makes things difficult -to say the least. It is improving by fractions each week, but could be many months or years, or never - to be back as before. A small price to pay in the big picture – but also a constant reminder of my condition.

Anyway, I don’t have Miss Peggy to fall back on anymore, so it has to be onward and upwards with solids now!

And just for completeness – for those that want to know, the PEG removal was fortunately very quick and painless – except for a couple of seconds as the extraction through my stomach wall and skin, caused me to wince.

The PEG tube has been held in place by a ‘balloon’ or ‘mushroom catheter’ and an internal ‘retaining disc’ which stops it being pulled through.

There’s a very thin wire inside the feeding tube and for the removal procedure, the wire is pushed into the balloon, which deflates it and then it just requires a sharp tug to pull the tube to the outside – the flexible retaining disc being the bit that causes the sharp, but momentary pain.

Here’s a diagram which roughly illustrates my description.

And CLICK HERE if you really want to see the real Miss Peggy as just removed.

So that’s about all to report for the moment. My secondary tumors are not causing me any pain or distress – except for knowing they are there, so to speak.

As written previously, I’ll know more hopefully sometime in January when I expect to have another scan and results. In between of that, I’ll have a meeting with my care team in December and will write a quick update post in around a month from now.

Until then, thanks for following me on here or Facebook and for your kind notes and comments. I do really appreciate it

 

Woz xx

24-One down…

Looking back through this blog, I’ve started a few by saying ‘it’s been a funny old …’

This month, I should start by writing ‘it hasn’t been funny at all…’

Well, at least even I’m struggling to find anything funny about the latest news following last month's scan. To cut a short story even shorter, I’m not out of the woods yet.

And unlikely to be.

This upshot is that so far the treatment for my throat cancer has worked well - and in fairness, physically I’m doing quite good right now. Even my sense of taste is improving marginally. And my swallowing of food is also going the right way - so to speak.

So it was pretty devastating to learn some more cancer terms, which I was aware of - but hoped wouldn’t apply to me. Because I now have secondary (or metastatic) cancer.

The scan shows two tumours developing on my right lung and one on my sternum (breastbone). Secondary cancers are named from the primary site (in my case throat) and in my case are officially metastatic throat cancer of the lung and breastbone.

It’s early days yet in terms of any proper prognosis but generally, secondaries are not normally curable. They’re treated as they develop, with chemotherapy or radiotherapy (or both), or not at all, depending on how things go.

Dr Warren Grant was of course open to all the questions I could think of and I know there’s no bullshit in his answers. So I know right now no treatment is planned - at least if nothing changes, until my next PET/CT scan in January 2021. I don’t have any pain and the tumors are not particularly large (approximately 7mm to 13mm).

So the judgement is to monitor me over the next few months and then make a further decision in January.

I was shown the last scan and talked through it. I have to say, it was pretty amazing to see a 3D computer image of my insides, traveling virtually from my feet up, as though I was laying down on my back. A number of my organs were seen (thank goodness) and the tumors are also highlighted by the ‘contrast fluid’ that I described previously. The PET bit of the scan.

I should also say that this isn’t an exact science like say, mathematics. The doctors have to make the best interpretation and judgements of the computer images that they see. But the tumors are there and even if small with no pain, it’s a huge disappointment mentally right now.

If there is some upside - and I have been digging deep to find any, at least I have some more material for my blog going forward 😉

On a lighter note...

I received a number of emails about my anecdotal story of the Haloween fancy dress sketch in 2010 and it’s given me the idea to recount some further notable (or forgettable) episodes that only Wozzer could get up to mischief in.

So here’s a quick story about Wozzer on the frontline, doing his best to destroy a temporary ceasefire between warring Cambodian and Thai troops, back in September 2010.

For a bit of background, there’s a piece of land on the Thai / Cambodia border, near the magnificent Khmer temple of Preah Vihear in northern Cambodia. The two countries have been arguing about the land nearby for a hundred years or so. Fighting flared up in 2008 and lasted on and off around three and a half years.
There's more detail here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian%E2%80%93Thai_border_dispute

 

Preah Vihear Temple, on the Cambodia / Thai border. Perched on top of a cliff, over 500m up in the Dangrek Mountains

It wouldn’t have been a big issue in world affairs, except that the fighting coincided with Wozzers arrival in Cambodia. My having diplomacy skills lower than say Idi Amin didn’t help matters when I went up to the battle zone during a lull in the fighting.

Actually that’s not totally accurate. I was quite happy being 100 miles or so from the fighting.

But when the author of ‘Rough Guides for Cambodia’ made contact with the tour company I was working for, and requested logistics to visit so she could research first-hand how safe (or not) for the latest revision of the book, it did seem an opportunity not to be missed by yours truly.

So off we set with Beverly, Luna, Ta (our chief guide) and myself as driver for the day in the company Landcriuser.

 I remember the vehicle well, it was a beast of a car - ex United Nations from the UNTAC days when the UN were peacekeeping in Cambodia.

We took some essential supplies with us for the troops. Ta knew what they’d  appreciate and so, we loaded up with cases of beer - always good for fighting on.

Well it was a helluva day up there - an amazing temple and super friendly troops. Well, certainly more friendly when we cracked open the beers.

I so much wanted to fire one RPG (Rocket-propelled Grenade) across to the Thai side, just to see what would happen.

Alas, the peacekeepers wouldn't let me - no sense of adventure!

What I didn't know - and couldn't believe, was that many of the troops had their families with them on the front line - wives and kids. The army didn't get fed much by the government.

It was heartbreaking to see kids running around and playing amongst the stockpiles of munitions. This is one of the most emotive pictures I've ever taken.

A fitting way to end this little story.

23-What a day!

My Macmillan Coffee Morning 25th September 2020

It was astonishing, astounding, surprising, breathtaking (literally), awesome, phenomenal, extraordinary, incredible, unbelievable, wonderful, marvellous...

Yep - it was a pretty good day!!

My thanks to everyone that joined-in on Zoom video throughout the almost 13 hours that I was online. And to all of you that kindly donated... Well, you contributed towards a total donation of 1300 GBP / 1675 USD.

To put this in perspective, this would pay for a Macmillan Support Worker, helping people with cancer for almost 2 weeks. I've been a direct beneficiary of this support, so I'm humbled at the response from you all.

On the day, I started at 7am here in the UK and soon enough has some past work colleagues (also great friends) now living in New Zealand. Soon enough Australian friends were on line - followed by Asia, Europe and finally the USA. There were 28 people (well more including couples) from 10 countries. Some I hadn't seen since perhaps 2010, when in Cambodia. Some were more recent friends, including some of my Macmillan team - thanks Sarah and Olly for dropping by!

It was truly heart-warming to not only catch up again, but to know everyone took the time and trouble to join me and reminisce.

I must make a special mention to Dally in the Philippines, who had the unknowing misfortune to buy a ticket on the Mekong Express overland coach from Saigon to Siem Reap. A journey that takes around 14 hours. That in itself is bad enough, but finding that Wozzer was in the next seat for the whole trip...

And so the day went on and I loved it all. I really can’t thank everyone enough.

Draw for the Macmillan Coffee Mug

I screen recorded the draw, using a list of unique participants (as reported by Zoom), each with a number and an online random number generator. You can see how I did it (for transparency and fairness) in this short video.

I wish you could have all won – all are equally deserving. But one winner only for the jackpot, which goes to Phil Butterworth, now living in the USA. As it happens, Phil was (is) a great mate from our Cambodia days. He’s a helicopter pilot, used to do sightseeing flights and also some pretty cool commercial stuff too. I distinctly remember him flying with university professors to discover (and map) a completely hidden ancient city.

There’s an excellent article and video here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29245289

I had many nights out with Phil, including one outstanding Haloween / fancy dress pub-crawl around the Old Market (Psar Chaa) area in 2010.

We knocked ideas around on one of our many man-dates, over beers and a curry. He thought I’d make a pretty good Shrek and I thought he’d make a very good policeman – and so it came to pass…

Man oh man, what a night. I had literally hundreds of tourists wanting to pose with me – mostly Korean as I remember. This allowed me to get into full character – complete with a dodgy Mike Myers Scots accent… “What’s up with you? Have ye never seen an fookin ogre on a Saturday nite in Siem Reap’??

They had no idea what I was on about 🙂

Phil also really went to the limit. Well, past it really. He obtained a full, real police uniform and stuffed all the pockets with banknotes - imitating in real-life the local corruption that goes on.

It was a real hoot - until the real police carted him off. I was terrified that they'd lock him up and forget about him (as they were prone to do in those days). As it was they relieved him of his uniform - and all his money, and he was back with us within an hour or so. Scary though !!

Back to reality...

Next week (6th October), I have my appointment to discuss the results of the PET/CT scan that was done a couple of weeks ago. Watch out for my next blog update a few days after.

Until then - take care.

Woz x

 

22-Macmillan Coffee Morning (and Beer)

Let me start with an apology!

24 September 2020

When I started planning for the Macmillan Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning, they also set up a donations page which I could use to raise funds for the charity. Alas, for such a large and well-known charity - it appears their fundraising platorm isn't as good as it could be.

It appears it was very difficult for donors (friends / relatives) to leave their name and any note for me. Also, they could only accept payment by a card registered in the UK. Of course, that's not so easy for many of my friends / family around the world.

So it's impossible for me to personally thank anyone that has donated. And for that I sincerely apologise.

The image below shows kind donations from the last week or so. Please feel free to comment if you donated - or send me a private message on facebook or email to wozzer (at) warrengarber (dot) com

Recently received...

Justgiving for Macmillan

I have a new fundraiser page on Justgiving (the funds also go direct to Macmillan) and there are links below -or just click the image. It's ever so easy and you can leave your name and/or a message.

If you haven't already, donating even the cost of a coffee (or two), makes a difference!

So, with this post I'm ready for the ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support tomorrow.

I’m hoping to chit chat with friends, colleagues and family around the world – so I’ll be hosting the video ‘meetings’ for 12 hours (7am to 7pm UK time). Please, please join at any time that suits you.

This should allow coffee mornings in the US, coffee afternoons in the UK and Europe and Beer O’Clock for those in the Far East and down under. Hopefully you’ll all fine some time to get online with me – even if only for a few minutes.

Take care and chat soon 🙂

Wozzer

 

WIN THIS UNQUE COFFEE MUG

With a thank you note and spersonally signed by Wozzer!

This Macmillan Coffee Morning mug will be posted to the winner anywhere in the world - subject of course to delivery being available. I might even put a stamp on!

All zoom visitors get one entry, and the winner will be picked by an online random generator thingy.

I’m using Zoom Video Meetings for the all-day fundraiser.

It will work on all devices (Windows, Apple, Android etc), it's FREE to use and can be downloaded in advance by clicking here

If you don't download in advance, clicking this MEETING link, should start the download automatically:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/73794084522?pwd=TER5amVWN3FVbUdJbVZRNVhyaHBJZz09

Just say yes to the permissions it requests (use audio, video etc) and you’ll be good to go in just a few minutes. If it asks for meeting ID or Passcode they are shown here:
Meeting ID: 737 9408 4522
Passcode: 8cmAGM

Also my Macmillan donations page can be viewed by clicking this text

or this link: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/warren-garber

If you have any problems on the day, please SMS or WhatsApp to me on +44 770 82 92 274

Finally (for now), please feel free to share this post with anyone you might think would like to join-in.

Hopefully see you some time on the 25th xx