Steve, older brother, had a brush with death a while ago and recovered (https://wp.me/P7LOzv-5K). Since then a series of illnesses. Around the time we went up to Lords in 2011 he was in and out of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). Just the morning we were setting off he was having electroversion where the medics stop the heart and then restart it in the hope that throwing everything in the air results in important bits landing face up. Scary. Anyway he reverted to sinus rhythm on his own and we had a great 2 days in London. The beer was expensive and he is still on anticoagulants, miraculously compatible with alcohol. The things they do these days.

Then it was waterworks. He has had renal stones in the past, but this was accidents and some pain. Going a lot and needing lots of clothing support. The whole episode was coloured by delays and misinformation, depending whether anybody believes older brother anymore. At face value it was a shambles. The culmination was prostate surgery for benign hypertrophy, something we discussed right at the beginning of his symptoms. This produced the compliment that I had a reputation as a good diagnostician. I agree, simply because I always saw patients’ problems as puzzles to be solved. But it came from an unusual source. I wonder what people thought of the treatment side of things? That’s often complex however and buried in the activities of a multidisciplinary team and says nothing about my social skills.

Sadly he now has oesophageal carcinoma and is awaiting staging. We will hear about it soon.

July 2020

Update – courageous and heroic chemo at Liverpool Royal vanquishes cancer. Steve now resembles a medical text book with great outcomes.