Therefore, I think that it is about time for an update.

I have been really strict on my diet since my last bollocking from Trevor – I haven’t taken anymore D-Tests, so I can’t prove it – but I’m pretty sure that the D25 must be quite a bit lower.

I exhausted herx on my second time round of Z + M + B and changed to Z + M + C for the second time about three weeks ago – I don’t feel anything yet.

I reported last time that I was feeling pretty good – my only symptoms left were a little psoriasis, runny sinuses and a phlegmmy cough.

I can now report that I still feel really good, my phlegmmy cough has gone and my sinus flow has reduced from the tap being full on to an occasional drip. As a result, my tolerance to exercise has increased quite dramatically. I am now in full training for my 5^th Dan Black Belt in Karate which should happen in the first couple of months into next year (Helena is taking her 4^th Dan). My last grading was just over 7-years ago and I remember that it nearly killed me…the bugs must have been wearing me down then without me knowing – my lack of fitness at the time did surprise me given that I had been training so hard (little did I know!!).

So what does all this mean for me? Well, I came to the realisation the other day that I don’t really give my Sarc too much thought any more. I glance at the MP website occasionally just out of pure habit and it is interesting to note that most questions that are asked these days have been asked before – i.e. not many aha-feelings on my part any more.

Does this mean that I’m done? No, not really – I still have a couple of spots of Psoriasis left and I shall push on until these are completely gone. The Psoriasis is my gauge.

It is spring now in NZ and I am looking forward to having fun with my kids (who are teenagers now) at the beach with some swimming, surfing and barbecues...not that I will be sunbathing to get a tan or anything like that – those days are over for good. I don’t think that I could ever relax again lying in the sun knowing what is going on. If I find that I am reacting negatively to the exposure that I am contemplating then I’ll modify my behaviour again.

We went on a fantastic family holiday a couple of weeks back to the gold coast in Australia. We did all the theme parks and visited Australia Zoo less than a week after Steve Irwin died. The atmosphere there was incredibly sad and the staff there did a fantastic job making sure that it was business as usual. We spent as long looking at the big pile of tributes outside the zoo as we did looking around inside. The holiday was very successful and my energy levels are very high – my family have nearly forgotten my grumpy, sickly and lethargic cocooning days.

On a work front, things really turned to custard here a few months back. The Te Wai o Rona Diabetes Prevention Research study through which I was working toward my PhD had its funding pulled. We are now in the final 3-month close down phase of the study – luckily, I wasn’t more than a couple of months into my study.

I have a new job which I start in two weeks with another university as a Senior Business Analyst. PhD funding is written into my contract there – but I am going to have to find a new topic…maybe I’ll look into how vast quantities of beer increases bladder throughput, using myself as a research subject, of course…what a good idea!!

One last interesting thing that I have noticed recently is that my tastes seem to have changed. I have found that I am now able to eat foods that I have never liked previously (such as certain cooked vegetables and mushrooms etc). It is quite a delightful discovery and I have no idea if it has anything to do with my newer wellness.

That’s all I have to report – if anything changes I’ll keep you posted.

Cheers