After four years being clear of cancer it was a great blow to discover that traces of prostate cancer had started growing again – even though my prostate had been removed in 2008.

These cells feed off the hormone testosterone and can start to grow anywhere in the body; finding where they are is the challenge. If they lodge in the bones then its very hard to treat them and the patient endures a very painful slow death.

The immediate response of the doctors was to put me on a course of drugs to ‘switch off’ the production of testosterone, and to give implants to release the female hormone into my body. A mini world war broke out inside me! I now understand mood swings and hot and cold flushes!

The next part of the treatment is an intensive course of radiotherapy attending hospital every day five days a week throughout next February and March to be zapped. Everything is planned to gradually build up in intensity, peaking on Easter Sunday, when I really will need a dose of resurrection life, as the treatment leaves one in a very weak condition that needs six months to recover from!

Of concern is that at that exact moment of greatest weakness we have to move out of our home which belongs to the church. We have a lovely small flat at Walton on the Naze on the Essex coast  to move to where we’ve already been taking things to, but have been advised it would be better to undertake the upheaval of the final move when I’ve built up my strength a bit.

Could you hold our ladder for us as we trust God to guide the radiotherapy beams onto the target, and then to sort out the timing of our move from London? Hold it real tight , please!