Health Update – 12 March 2026

Picture: Neil & Sue at The Grand Torii Gate on Miyajima Island, Hiroshima Bay, Japan – October 2025

Treatment Update

It’s been a few months since my last health update in September and I have a few events to share with you. On a positive note, before the monthly Lanreotide injections in October, we had a fantastic half-term break in Japan. Over Christmas, we had a fun family time together with all our family, as Amy was back from Australia for a month.

After starting Lanreotide injections, I was due after 4 rounds of injections to have a PET scan in February. However, when I arrived for the scan, they found that my blood sugar levels were too high so they wouldn’t go ahead with the scan. It also turned out that a side effect of the injections can be increased blood sugar levels. As a result, I’m now on daily insulin injections to bring my sugar levels back under control and fortunately, this has worked well and my levels are now back to normal.

All of this happened over a few days, and once my blood sugars were stable, I was able to have the PET scan, which was needed to assess how the treatment was progressing. A few days later, at an oncology appointment, we were told that the PET scan showed the cancer had slowly increased since October and because of this, the team recommended starting a course of chemotherapy tablets. This was confirmed two weeks later and I started the tablets this week.

The treatment will involve 13 cycles, each lasting 28 days. During each cycle, I will take two types of tablets for 15 days followed by 9 days off treatment and then repeat the cycle. These tablets should hopefully shrink the cancer or at least keep it under control for a while. This could lead to some side effects and the team can give me other medications if needed to help. They’ve reassured us that this cancer is slow-growing and this is simply the next tool in their arsenal of treatment options, so overall we are both feeling positive.

We also asked about planning holidays and they were very encouraging, saying that after 6-8 months of treatment, we should hopefully be able to take a break from treatment and go away.

After the previous appointment two weeks earlier, both me and Sue came away feeling fairly shell-shocked by the news, however, this time we left with a much clearer idea of what to expect and they were able to answer all of our questions.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support, both now and as we face the months ahead together.

Thanks,
Neil & Sue