Rog T's Cancer Blog - And the result of your biopsy is

For those of you who are regular readers and have read the previous posts on Cancer, you can skip this first paragraph.This is the latest installment in my occasional series about how I'm adjusting to living with a big C in my life.  For those of you who aren't, here's a quick summary. I'm 51 years old and in October 2011 I  had a prostate biopsy following two "slightly high" PSA tests - 2.8 & 4.1. The biopsy took ten tissue samples and one of these showed a "low grade cancer" which gives me a 3+3 on the Gleason scale. I'm now on a program of active monitoring.  In early February, I got the results of the a PSA test - down to 3.5 and an MRI scan which found absolutely nothing, two more tests in 2012 were at 3.5 and 3.9. My latest PSA test in August was not quite so promising,  back up to 4.0, in other words the downward trend has stopped. I've no symptoms and sadly for a few people, if I'm gonna die soon, it won't be from Prostate cancer. Got the picture? 

So last week I finally got the results of my latest biopsy. This was done back in the middle of September. Rather strangely, I hadn't heard back from the hospital. I eventually phoned urology and they were equally perplexed. They said "we've had a cancellation, so you can come in tomorrow." So off I went to Edgware hospital. My consultant read my notes and drew 2 pictures of my prostate and wrote various notes on each one. In effect this divided the prostate into 4. In each quadrant he wrote a score. This showed how the disease was progressing. He then read some more notes and explained that the biopsy results. Then he gave me the verdict. The MRI I'd had in January hadn't shown anything. The biopsy showed that there was a low grade (3+3 gleason score) in 2 of the four quadrants. This was small and "low grade". He then informed me that the results would be discussed at a "multi disciplinarian" meeting the following week and further action would be taken from there. He said his recommendation would be to continue the regime of active surveillance. He then told me that as MRI scans had improved, if I had an equivalent PSA today test for the first time today, I'd be given an MRI and as nothing had shown up, I would not be in the system. As it is, I am so things are different. In truth, odd as it may sound I am pleased. I have made lifestyle changes and I am far more aware of the implications of diet and exercise. 

So I ask myself are the diet and lifestyle changes working? Are they worth the effort? When I recently had an ECG test, my heart rate was as it should be. My blood pressure is low. I am still playing football and exercising regularly. I still drink too much and probably eat too many curries, but other than that I guess I do the right thing. In my diet, I don't really miss anything much apart from cheese ( I avoid dairy). We try and eat organic. This is expensive, but I do enjoy the challenge of making the fruit and veg boxes from Abel & Cole into tasty dishes. I largely drink green tea rather than black. I've got used to this. When I started, I flavoured this with ginger, manuka honey and lemon. Now I largely dont bother. I do try and eat as many tomatoes as possible, along with watercresss, tumeric, garlic, red fruit berrys etc. None of this is a hardship. I avoid sandwiches with butter and mayo.There isn't really anything I really hate in my diet or lifestyle. The pomegranite juice I drink, I've got used to. 

So I guess the answer is no. I probably feel better than I did three years ago. Anyway, I left the meeting feeling positive and reasonably happy with the outcome. This week I got the email from the multi disciplinary meeting. It says

Your case was discussed at the multidisciplinary meeing on 10th October 2013. Repeat biopsies show some low volume, low grade disease in the prostate. The plan is for us to continue active surveillence which will involve repeating biopsies in a years time. Next time we will carry out a template biopsy which is a more extensive biopsy of your prostate, carried out under general anaesthetic, and the needles pass into the prostate through the skin of the perinrum rather than going through the rectum. Enyoy!

Ok, I lied, I added the last word. It seems to me that this whole business in some ways is designed to fill me with dread, fear and horror. Now I know I have something to really look forward to as the summer dies in 2014. It used to be the start of the new football season. Now it's my annual biopsy. I'd sort of just got my head around the last form of biopsy. They've found a new way to torture and torment me.

When I was at St Vincents Catholic Primary School, we were told that when you died, before you went o heaven, you went to purgatory. This is like "hell light" and you atone for your sins. You don't get the full on version of hell, but you get some "cleansing by way of painful temporal punishment" somehow, this reminds me of the version of cancer I seem to have. Whilst friends and family get the disease, dropping dead around me, I have this strange version where nothing much happens, no symptoms present themselves but once every year or so I have to undergo some deeply unpleasant and disturbing procedures which tell me nothing is happening. Of course this is far better than the alternative, don't get me wrong. I just find the whole situation to be challenging.

Set a date for your diary, in about a years time I'll be able to tell you just how much fun this new type of biopsy really is. If anyone has had one, please either leave a comment or send me an email. I am intrigued to know if it is a more or less pleasant experience. That is the one thing they never tell you.

Finally a few people have asked me if I'm growing a Mo for Movember as this is for prostate cancer. I can't say that a tash is something I've ever wanted. I guess if enough people try and make me feel guilty I may

The Friday Joke - 19/10/2013 - Why senior citizens don't get jobs

Job Interview:

 

 Human Resources Manager: "What is your greatest weakness?"

 

 Senior Citizen: "Honesty."

 

 Human Resources Manager: "I don't think honesty is a weakness."

 

Senior Citizen: “I don't really give a shit what you think."

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Capita and the National Audit Office

Earlier this week I had a private, off the record briefing by a member of the National Audit Office, who has been investigating the practices of outsourcing companies such as Capita. They were keen to assist the Barnet Eye in our research for the film Capita - The Movie. Their input was made under agreement of anonymity and it was a condition that the Barnet Eye explicitly stated that the views expressed were those of a private individual, not of the NAO. The purpose of the meeting was to ensure that the film concentrated on areas of public concern and didn't get bogged down in the details and specifics of the One Barnet project.

The conclusions that my contact has draw are stark and disturbing.

1. Great Britian would be seriously damaged by the failure of a major outsourcing company such as Capita. In effect Capita have us all over a barrel. If the company went bust, the country would cease to function. They have their fingers in so many pies and all of these are vital to the wellbeing of the UK economy. Courts, local government, the borders, central government and many others of the UK PLC are run by Capita. If they got into serious financial trouble, they could simply turn around to the taxpayer and say "Bale us out or else". In the US they recently had a shutdown because the politicians couldn't agree. The failure of Capita would have a far more devastating effect.

2. Capita deliberately decapitate organisations when they are outsourced. When Capita sign a contract such as One Barnet, they deliberately set up the new organisation in such a way that it would be extremely difficult to "inhouse" the services in the event of failure. Different functions are spread around diverse geographic locations and expertise is shipped out. If the contract goes wrong, there is no easy way of putting humpty dumpty together again.

3. Capita view democracy as bad for business. When Capita take on a new outsourcing contract, one of the considerations is the political fallout of the project. Many of their contracts were signed under a Labour government. They realised that in most cases this was an extremely safe bet as the Tories would be even more pro outsourcing than Labour. Organisations such as BAPS are classified as "business risks". Transparency is avoided as this is likely to be used against the company. Capita always consider democratic change as a risk to business and something to be mitigated.This usually means making sure that the opposition is on side as well. It is likely that Capita consider the Labour party in Barnet to be "Tame". It must be stated that Capita are responsible to their shareholders, not the electorate, so there is no reason why they should feel accountable.

4. The outsourcing companies have no interest in transparency and accountability. When they sign a contract, they are not interested in being answerable to the community they serve. They are merely interested in fulfilling the contract as profitably as possible. Any transparency built into the contract is only there because the commissioning organisation has demanded it. The extraordinary secrecy surrounding the One Barnet contract is the norm not the exception.

5. Capita don't lose money on contracts. In effect outsourcing contracts are a license to print money. The risks are all with the taxpayer and the profits are all with Capita. This is very good business for them, but does it provide a good deal for the taxpayer. The NAO employee I spoke to had concluded that case is far from convincing. Whilst some contracts are clearly good for all concerned, as Capita can leverage economies of scale and bring in expertise not available previously, there are many other cases where they have not delivered value for money or good quality services. The fact is that whether the contract is good or bad for the taxpayer, it is great for Capita shareholders.

As I said, these are the private opinions of a member of the NAO. We'd welcome a response to these points from Capita. One assumes that if the comments about democracy are incorrect, we will get a response?

The sad truth about our local politicians

The purpose of local politicians to ensure that our local area gets the best deal possible. Does anyone ever stand on a platform of "we'll make the locality worse". Whatever they do, they should be fighting as hard as possible to get the best deal for local people and do as much as possible to protect local jobs. Barnet Council signed a contract with Capita in September that will see up to 300 jobs move from Barnet to other areas of the country and possibly abroad. Each one of these jobs will take money out of the local economy. Each one of these jobs will mean less money spent on the High St and less money collected locally in taxation. Each one of these redundancies will put a strain on a local family.

The sad truth is that our local politicians have failed to do their job. At present Capita are in the process of telling staff when they will be sacked. Other local authorities who signed such deals put clauses in the contract to protect the local economy. Barnet Council have failed us. Times are hard economically and the last thing we need is a bunch of politicians running the show who don't care. Sadly that is what we've got. 

Barnet Council pull a disasterous PR stunt whilst pretending to consult

Last night, myself and millions of other people watched the England team qualify for the finals of the world cup. Football is our national sport and last nights match was the most important fixture since the last world cup. For many of us, football is a massive part of our lives. It was also the night when Barnet Council chose to stage a "Leaders Event" where Richard Cornelius, Leader of Barnet Council chose to meet the public in a PR event.

It is well known that local Tories despise football. They drove the last major team, Barnet FC from the Borough, having already seen to Hendon FC. The number of playing fields has dramatically diminished since they came to power in 2002. In 2010, they made opposition to Kentish Town FC (ave crowds 30) playing at Chase Lodge playing fields in Mill Hill, whilst planning a 10,000 seat stadium for Saracens Rugby club.

When planning PR events, it is a given that you check the calendar. If you want as many people as possible to turn up, you avoid clashes with major events. Barnet broke this rule for the Leaders event. Whilst not everyone cares about football, excluding a whole swathe of people from such an event shows either a deliberate attempt to show that there is a low level of interest in local politics or an attempt to exlude the predominantly working class audience that take football seriously. It also ensured that only a highly committed political audience would attend. I followed from afar via Mrs Angrys twitter feed and my opinions were confirmed by the car crash that ensued

https://twitter.com/BrokenBarnet

It is clear to me that Barnet hate consultation. They will pull any trick in the book to ensure that they avoid any serious engagement. This latest event is only the latest in a long list of attempts to manipulate the agenda. They always fail Shame on Leader, Richard Cornelius for such a stupid and obvious gambit.

England are off to the World Cup finals !

So England have made it through the qualifying stages and are off to the finals of the World Cup in Brazil. As a football fan, I cannot help but be chuffed at this prospect. Had England failed, then the whole tournament would have seemed rather like a damp squib to me. The qualifying group has been at times painful to watch. There is no doubt that players such as Hart, Gerrard, Rooney, Lampard and Cole are world class and that on their day England are a match for anyone. It's just that until last Friday, they really haven't been "on their day" at all. What is more surprising is where the spark seems to have come from. Andros Townsend, a player virtually unknown outside of White Hart Lane until Friday seems to have lit the blue touchpaper that  set Englands campaign on fire. Although Rooney was deservedly man of the match tonight, Townsends fearless attitude seemed infectious. His shot that rattled the bar in the first half seemed to be the turning point for England, after an at times shaky start.

It was great that Rooney and Gerrard should score the goals that wrapped up the group. They are both proven big game players and both had outstanding games. I am not a fan of the Gerrard/Lampard midfield pairing and I think it was noticable that with Carrick and Gerrard, England looked far more balanced. I am not a fan of Chris Smalling as England right back, although he had a solid game. I'd like to see Micah Richards given another opportunity once he's fully match fit. I think he gives a manager other options and is also capable of playing as a centre half in an emergency. I was pleased with the contribution of Baines as left back. I believe he is the man to take England forward, even though Ashley Cole is proven at the international level. Baines also brings a wider dimension with his talents at dead ball situations.

In the centre of defence, Jagielka looked solid and assured and worthy of his selection. Up front, Sturridge looked lively, if at times his first touch let him down. I am not so much a fan of Welbeck. He looks a tad lightweight.

Having said all of that, it is one thing to beat Poland, who were out of the tournament anyway, at Wembley. When we get to the finals, we're talking about a different league of player. I can't see England coming close to Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Spain or Portugal. Assuming England get out of the qualifying stage and with a lucky draw and the rub of the green, I could see us scraping into the Semi's although the quarter finals is more realistic. I can't see too many England players who will set the teams mentioned above quaking in their boots. As Steven Gerrard said, England have a good mix of youth and experience and our best hope is if Townsend continues his stellar rise and if another player comes from nowhere to set the tournament alight. However unlikely it may seem, I didn't think I'd be writing a blog mentioning Andros Townsend last Thursday, so who knows. I am firm believer in players of genuine pace. They unsettle opponents and if they are fearless can change games. At international level games can be tight and turn on a single moment of brilliance. I was four when England last won the World Cup. I met Roy Hodgson when I was in Sweden in the early 1980's. At the time he was an unknown (in England) coach. He told me that he thought England were twenty years behind nations such as Holland in their approach to coaching. He said that we were falling steadily further behind in our main rivals. Roy was the first person I had an intelligent conversation about football with. He asked me about my experiences of football coaching at school. I hadn't actually had any and had no appreciation at all of the game. He said this was typical and was the root of the problem.

33 odd years later, those two expats having a conversation are both celebrating in our own different ways. I doubt Roy thought he'd be England manager then. I certainly never thought I'd be writing things which anyone would bother to read about England. Roy is a genuinely decent bloke and I sincerely hope that he proves us all wrong and brings the World Cup home. It is true to say that I've never been more sceptical of our chances, but in truth, is that such a bad thing. I will sleep happily tonight.

Guest Blog - Welcome to the legal block! If we stick together, we can't be fracked! - By Scarlett Cannon

By Scarlett Cannon,

Dear friends -
Right now, the government has put nearly two-thirds of England up for shale, without fully understanding what effects fracking is likely to have on local health or the countryside.
What we do know is that if we want to tackle climate change, we can't be digging new fossil fuels out of the ground.[1]
Find out if your home is at risk of being fracked. Look up your postcode at wrongmove.org now.
Despite the government's enthusiastic dash for gas, we have the power to make fracking very difficult, and may even be able to halt exploration in its tracks, if enough of us come together.
This is how it works: fracking involves horizontal drilling that can extend two miles from the actual drill site, passing directly under the homes of those nearby. If you don't want fracking companies pumping toxic chemicals under your home, you can say so. Then, any drilling there becomes trespassing; the frackers would be breaking the law.
Therefore, if enough of us say we are not willing for the land under our homes to be fracked, we make it harder for companies to ignore the law and could stop fracking in its tracks.
All you have to do is declare that your home is Not for Shale and you will be added to the growing legal block to stop fracking where you live.
But we need to act quickly, as there are hints that the government will try to change the law to force through their dash for gas! [2]
Look up your postcode and find out if you could be fracked and join the legal block now.
Now is our chance to take a stand to keep dirty fuels in the ground where they belong and say no to fracking our communities.
Scarlett
[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22845425
[2] http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/naturalresources/article3877163.ece
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Scarlett Cannon is a Heavenly Healer, a Glamourous Gardener and a 1980's style icon. She is also a friend of the Barnet Eye blog and writes her own excellent blog here - http://heavenlyhealer.blogspot.co.uk/ - I took the liberty of posting my fave picture of her up as well, as  it is always a treat !

Guest Blogs are always welcome from our friends and foes alike !

Charity fundraising gig at the Queens arms featuring Lee Thompson of Madness

Tricky Dicky and Desperate Dan - The men who destroyed the London Borough of Barnet?

The Leader of the London Borough of Barnet is Councillor Richard Cornelius. The deputy Leader is Councillor Daniel Thomas. It may surprise you to learn that on a personal level I quite like both of these gentlemen. They are polite, calm and reasonable. I don't for one second think they have ever made a policy decision with any deliberate ill intent towards anyone else in Barnet ( I can't say that about some of their current and former colleagues). I think they genuinely think they are doing the best job they can in the current climate.

In the title of this blog I called them "Tricky Dicky" and "Desperate Dan". Tricky Dicky was the name given to disgraced former US president Richard Nixon. Nixon was an incredibly shrewd and cunning operator, who saw nothing wrong with "bending rules" when it suited him. Desperate Dan was a comedy figure in the Dandy Comic. He was a jolly character who liked nothing more than to tuck into a big cow pie. In both cases my use of the names is rather ironic. You see I don't think Richard Cornelius is a tricky operator. I think he is a decent enough bloke, who is completely out of his depth as leader and has been lead a merry dance by the officers at Barnet Council. As for his deputy, he seems to be a rather trusting and naive chap, who, it appears, has simply not thought through exactly what is expected of a member of a Leadership team.

The One Barnet contract with Capita was signed a month ago. It is becoming increasingly clear that neither Tricky Dickie or Desperate Dan bothered to read it. Instead they asked officers to assure them that everything was alright. Did the officers read the contract? I am starting to wonder if anyone at Barnet actually read it. I suspect that the boys from Capita simply gave them the potted highlights and said "don't worry, you'll save millions and everyone will think you are marvellous". As a result all manner of nuts and bolts are starting to shake loose, now we actually have to see the process in action.

There are huge conflicts of interest. There are situations where staff work for either Capita or Barnet depending on what side of your front door they are standing on. How this will stand up in a court of law, no one seems to know. This is not trivial stuff, it involves planning and licensing, the things which maintain our Borough as a pleasant green leafy suburb. My worry is that clever lawyers will use this conflict of interest to bypass all manner of regulation that has thus far kept Barnet green and pleasant. When council decisions start being challenged because there is a confllict of interest, with Capita having  a vested interest in decisions its staff are making, we can expect all hell to break loose.

Where will this leave us at the end of the ten year conrtact? Well over the coming months I will be going around the Borough and taking pictures of some of the treasures of our natural habitat. In ten years time, I have a horrible feeling, we'll be looking back on these pictures with a nostalgic glow as we look back on pictires of Mill Hill the Hale Station in the 1930's with pretty steam engines pulling carriages through fields.

And why will we be in this impass? Because Dicky and Danny couldn't be bothered to do their job and read the contract properly. They didn't ask the right questions and they didn't put the right checks and balances in place. Once all of the ex Barnet staff have been sacked and the functions moved to geographically distant parts of the UK, we'll be lumbered with Capita and no matter how bad a job they do, we'll be tied in to using their service and paying through the nose for it.

Guest Blog - Are Barnet Council lemmings lead by lemons by Big Ronnie

By Big Ronnie,

I came across this blog a couple of months ago Googling dyxlexia after seeing the Shane Lynch program on the box. What Rog writes about dyslexia is quite interesting and reminds me of my own days at school. I had a rotten time at school and couldnt wait to excape. When I left I felt liberated and with a handful of o levels started to run my own business as I found an area where there was easy money to be made. There is an old saying that where there is muck theres brass and I found that to be true. Whilst Rog seems to be a socialist and keen on the state running the show I believe in self sufficiency.

As i read his blogs about subjects other than dyslexia I got rather pissed off at the left wing agenda that he seemd to relentlessly push about Barnet Council and the One Barnet project. I live in Barnet and I have always found the council to be OK. My bins get picked up my kids had good schools and the parks are well maintained. When I read about One barnet I thought its just unions trying to keep there members jobs, why should I care. I saw a cuple of guest blogs so I thought I'll write one and put the otherside of the story. Why shouldn't the council outsource. Like Rog if I get a bee in my bonnet I have to do something.

So I thought I'd find a few riproaring outsourcing successes where the council tax has tumbled. Afterall that is what it is all about. So I Googles council outsourcing saving money. This produced a big long list of places where it didn't save money and a few places where councils have just recently signed contracts making big claims. In fact the top item was a story about nine outsourcing failures. Much to my surprise, my own council Barnet was number 2 in the list! My search hadnt got off to a good start.

So I Googles council cut council tax  outsourcing to see if there is any evidence there. Do any of these say theyve cut it because theyve saved money by outsourcing? I mean if you did a great job youd tell the world wouldnt you? I found it rather odd that nothing seemed to come up at all to show this worked. So then I Googles big council tax cut.  Surely there must be a local council somewhere that has made a big council tax cut because theyve outsourced? again nothing.

So what does this tell me? Theres only 2 possible things it can tell me giving how politicians like to boast when they dont cock things up. It tells me that either outsourcing doesnt save money so they have nothing to boast about or that if it does they are so useless that they waste the money they save somewhere else andso they keep quiet about it.

Then I read that the Barnet Council is planning to cut council tax with all the money it saves. Now this is good but all of the other stories of outsourcing dont save money. As we saw in the first Googles I did even Barnet had cocked up and lost money when they thought theyd save it before. So they are making cuts with money they havent saved.

Now Rog likes to share things in his blogs about the lessons he learned at school and the things teachers told him. I done well since I left school. My business has made me millions and so I reckon I know a thing or two. At school my teacher said to me Ronnie you are an idiot you surround yourself with idiots and you play the fool you will do nothing with your life. So I thought about this and thought well i may be an idiot but i dont have to surround myself with idiots. When i started running my business i thought i will get the best people i can and i'll hang on to them. So i found that if i pay them better wages than the other firms i get better staff. Then i find that if one of my competetors has better staff than me i can pinch them if i pay them more. It costs me more money but they do better work and they know if they screw up they will lose out big time. And then I look at my customers. I think if they have a problem, i want me or my staff to sort it out, so they know they are being looked after. So even if we screw up they know that if they take there business away they will get worse service somewhere else. So over the years my business has gone from strength to strength and all of the main local competition has gone. This is because we run our show properly. I may be an idiot but i am not surrounded by idiots. I have a great workforce and i pay attention to the small things. The people who work for me know i may turn up at any time at any place. I still jump in a truck and go out on jobs sometimes especially if there is a problem. In the office i will check invoices. I will read the mail. I will ring up customers if there is a problem. I don't fob people off if we screw up. Its called running a tight show. My customers rely on me. I rely on them. That is what makes us tick.

So I think about Barnet Council and what they are doing. They are moving the jobs out of Barnet. Will people in Blackburn care if something goes wrong. They are paying less wages. Will people take pride in their job and worry that if they get the sack, they will think they can only get a worse job if they leave. Is the man at the top of the council surrounding himself with superstars or idiots. and you know what I have had to admit. After voting Conservative all my life I have to admit that it seems like they really dont know what they are doing. As I started writing my guest blog I read more on this blog and other blogs about what has been going on in Barnet. It seems to me that there is potential for huge savings at the council. This wont come when people say to another firm who take jobs out of the area and pay peanuts. It will come when the people at the top start running the show as if they were running their own business and spending there own money. If the leader of the council and his mates took an interest in the day to day running. Turned up unexpectedly. Went out on jobs. Queried invoices and paid people more if they were giving 100% and delivering great service then we'd soon see real savings and real cuts. In my firm i found that ten good workers do the work of fifteen or twenty lazy ones. If I pay them 15% more than the going rate I get more work done for less money than my competetors. Do the maths. I encourage them to use their brains and  this saves the company money. Let me give you an example. We have a lorry that has to go to Chesham and to Peckham. When we load it, the first drop goes at the back and the second at the front. If we do Chesham in the morning and Peckham in the evening, we are going against the traffic both ways. That way the driver can leave at 8am and be back by 5pm. If we do it the other way, he'll get stuck in the rush hour and will not be back till six or seven. That will add 2-3 hours wages and 25% more fuel. if my staff dont care about how they schedule the runs then that costs me big bucks. Because they do, we all do well. If one of my staff has a good idea and it saves the firm money, if its a small amount I'll give them a few quid. If its a big amount, I'll pay for them to go away for the weekend. That way they know they are appreciated.

Does the workforce at Barnet Council have any sense of appreciation if they do good things. I can guarantee that if they don't they wont deliver. When I started my business, my biggest local competetor had  anear monopoly. They gave rubbish service and they used to regularly let their customers down. The staff were surly and they simply didn't care. The management dismissed us when we started up. Used to call there management the lemons and the staff the lemmings. From what I've seen that seems to be the case at Barnet. The difference is that there is no competition. It is our cash and we really have no idea where it goes.  When I stated out writing this, I thought i'd say something different. It hasn't worked out like that.
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Big Ronnie is a local businessman and runs one of Barnets most successful firms. Guest blogs are always welcome.