The start of another week with no medical appointments. I am planning to work all week, although this is my "tired" week, the 2nd week of the chemo-therapy cycle. Today I start the injections to recover my blood count so that the fourth dose of chemo can be administered on Thursday next week.

My primary focus this week will be on developing a modified set of training materials to reflect some upcoming changes to the TOGAF specification. These are still confidential, so I can't quote any details or launch date. For any readers who are TOGAF 9 Certified, I can reassure you that this will be another version of TOGAF 9 and will not render your existing certification obsolete.

Sue and I don't currently have any plans for a day trip this week. On Thursday evening, we have been invited to a reception for "volunteers" being organised by Basingstoke council.

The demands of swimming never stop. This week, I need to finalise arrangements for the Basingstoke Bluefins club championships. We have two days of competition over the weekend. I also need to start promoting the Bluefins New Year meet and propose a programme and entry times for next year's South East Region championships.

On Wednesday evening, we have our regular bible study house group.

Monday

Today I stopped taking steroids in the hope that the swelling in my feet would subside.

Good news. My son, Chris, has exchanged contracts on his house purchase. He will be moving in before the end of October.

I spent all of the day working.

Tuesday

A very good night's sleep. I paid for it with lots of aches when I got up. I have still have some problems stabilising my digestive system.

Another day spent working. Sue and I did go into town at lunchtime to get a birthday card for my grandson, Ben, and to get a panini for lunch.

Wednesday

Another day spent working.

The trip to Barcelona in November is not going to happen. I consulted one of the doctors treating me at the hospital. She looked at the dates and **strongly** recommended that I avoid the risk of travelling by plan when my immune system is compromised. I will of course take her advice.

The highlight of the day was Housegroup in the evening. Studying Ezekiel from the Old Testament we looked at the vengeance of God against people who turn against him, and that included the people of Israel. In four weeks time, we are going to move on to a more hopeful section of Ezekiel.

However, the most important part of the evening as far as I was concerned was the prayer session at the end, which forms an important part of the role of Housegroups.

I have mentioned the teenager with the infected wound several times in my blog. Her father was at the group. He is obviously discouraged by the length of time it has taken for her wound to heal, but is still "hanging in", faithful to God and looking for an answer to prayer. It is now six months since her accident and in that time, she has been housebound and effectively confined to one room. She cannot sit down properly.

She desperately needs to wound to close, so that she can get on with her physical rehabilitation. Sue and I strongly believe that there is no such thing as a coincidence. A few years ago, we had a cross-trainer in the house. Eventually we got bored with it. Always intending to offer it for sale on E-Bay we left it in our garage, but never getting round to it. Now the teenager needs a cross-trainer as soon as her wound is closed.

Two members of our Housegroup are facing redundancy in the new year. They both have families and mortgages, yet their faith that God has a plan for their lives is amazing.

In the face of these situations, I can only count my blessings and thank God that my treatment is going so well and that my quality of life is so good. In a very encouraging e-mail I received from Peter Warne, who I have mentioned before, he observed "In many respects your life is, by and large, normal. How extraordinary."