😉We have only gone and done it!

There are a few things that a prostate cancer diagnosis can do to a person...

For anyone that is new around here, or for those like me that have a shocking memory recall, back in 2021 a very nice Doctor told me that I had prostate cancer and it went something like this:

Dr Akhtar: “Mr Stevenson, following the biopsy and scans that we have been doing…blah blah blah blah, you have Stage 3 prostate cancer”

My Brain: “ Nope, not registering that thank you Dr. Not today, not tomorrow, not fucking ever. I am 46 years old and this is an older mans issue. You can keep whatever Stage 3 prostate cancer is and I am out of here”

Me: “Oh, OK. What does that mean?”

Dr Akhtar: “The cancer has gone outside of the prostate wall and we recommend that you have a prostatectomy for the best chances of longevity”

My Brain: “Shit, shit, shit. I know what that is, I have come across this conversation before with Mr Chair (check this post out) when he got diagnosed with prostate cancer. This is not good, not good. Longevity? What does that fucking mean!”

Me: “OK”

So following the process of getting what dodgy prostate cells they could out of me as quickly as possible and allowing for my brain, emotions and body to catch up with all that had happened, something hit Louise (the good lady wife) and me like a great big whopping sledgehammer!

We are not finite! At some point in the future these bodies are going to give up on us and we are going to meet our maker (I am adamant that my maker just used the same mould as he used for my Dad…nobly knees, farmer Giles, dimple in the chin and ‘get away with anything’ blue eyes) and that will be it. Gone!

So, with our newly found knowledge of our finite existence on this planet we started to hatch a plan of saying ‘stuff that’ and start doing the things that really mean something to us and add value to our existence. And more importantly, to start it without hesitation.

Get us, we put wheels (pardon the pun) into motion and I am writing this post from our new full time home, a 1994 motorhome. We completed on our house sale a couple of days ago and headed on down to the beautiful coastline of Cornwall, and with the stunning British sun in the sky. We have found our happy place.

No more mortgage payments, no more council tax bills (5% year on year, they are taking the piss), no more cleaning a three bedroom house and no more hefty maintenance bills. Now I appreciate that this is not for everyone, but travel is something that Louise and I yearn for everyday, so we have made that decision to change up what we call home. Our motorhome, Lilibet, is going to be home for the foreseeable future.

We are not rich, we do not have a trust fund sitting in the background and we did not buy Bitcoin back in the day (d’oh!)…what we do have is a passion to try a new way of life to support what really matters due to something that we had never expected to happen to us. But hey, here we are and we are so grateful for everything that we have been through. Strange thing to say; yes maybe, however, until you have had something that comes along and tells you to really grab life by the pigtails and go for it, we would have still been in life-cruise-control mode.

This is why writing these posts help me get that reminder, that gentle nudge to make sure that I do not forget what has happened in the past, and to use it to live the fullest life that I possibly can. It is so easy to get easily wrapped up in others expectations of us that pushes our own desires to the back of the queue and before you know it…💥. I want to lead a life of quality…quality for me…quality for those around me…quality for past and future of my existence.

I am now going to head off and have a dip in the Celtic Sea (currently reported as being 15.7c) as a replacement to my cold shower routine and I look forward to catching up with you next week.

If you fancy keeping abreast of what we are actually up to we share our post prostate cancer journeys on our other channel…come and join us.

Till next week!

If you need more support then there are some great charities ready to help:

United Kingdom: https://prostatecanceruk.org

United States: https://www.pcf.org