To the hospital yesterday to have my “spare head” made. Or, for those of you who don’t watch Red Dwarf, actually a plastic shell which will hold the old bonce in position when they start bombarding me with radiation.

Having been prepared for an Invisible Man scenario, with head completely swathed in plaster of Paris bandages, it came as something of an anti-climax. Basically they get what looks like garden netting, warm it up then stretch it over your face. A bit of fan-cooling later and presto! One spare head.

Then it was into the CT scanner to have various slices of me recorded for posterity. These are then built up into a spookily-realistic 3D version of yours truly.

Future ma-in-law had a wonderful time yakking with ex-colleagues at the unit, who all seem really nice, while I was delighted to bump into John, who was in the bed next to me in hospital and was kindness itself, despite difficulties in communication - he has had his larynx removed. John showed me his new “toy” - an artificial voicebox. Then he popped off to be irradiated.

On January 13 it’ll be my turn.