October 2025 Update

October was a great month highlighted by the great news of an all-clear on the cancer front, which I celebrated by focusing on mindfulness and fitness while enjoying numerous concerts, movies, and a weekend trip to Brisbane away.

My Health

I was apprehensive heading into a month of significant health appointments, as this is the time of year cancer has reoccurred for the last few years. The month involved my quarterly PET scan, surgeon’s scope, and oncology review, but to my great relief, all the results came back CLEAR!

I was excited, but I’m trying not to count my chickens before they hatch, as I still have another scope to go before I hit the one-year cancer-free mark. I know I need to stay focused on improving my lifestyle to try and keep cancer at bay, so this month I have been focusing on what I am terming ‘becoming Zen’ and physical fitness.

The “becoming Zen” is about staying in a relaxed, mindful state as much as possible to minimise stress. It is progressing well, and I am learning a lot from a number of sources. This month, I focused on Epicureanism, a Greek philosophy from 341 BC that emphasizes minimalism and mindfulness. Of course, it’s no surprise that all great philosophical thought starts with the Greeks!

My physical fitness focus has been on lifting weights. There is evidence that weight training helps complement immunotherapy, so I am now regularly attending the gym and slowly (very slowly) building some muscle. The atmosphere of a gym these days can be frustrating, with kids taking up equipment while they sit on their phones scrolling Instagram, but I manage to endure it and get what I need done.

Personal Update

I had a really fun month, enjoying three performances from some pretty awesome singers: Missy Higgins, Sarah Blasko, and the brilliant Temper Trap, who were supported by a fantastic up-and-coming band, RageFlower.

For a change, I got to enjoy all of these concerts with my beautiful wife, which was great. We also managed to see The Book of Mormon and get away for a fun weekend in Brisbane.

The month also included a few daytime trips to the movies. I saw Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere with a close friend, which was fantastic, as well as Dourgouti Town at the Greek film festival and a trip to South by Southwest with the family to play with robots :-).

I am looking forward to November, which is set to involve a lot of regional travel and a number of concerts.