Dearest Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
This blog was established as a tool for evangelization. As a result, I haven't given much personal information with the sole exception of my father's final illness and passing. However, given my very public voice problem it seemed the best way to update everyone. I will continue to use this blog space to update family and friends for as long as necessary.
About eight weeks ago my voice started acting up. My neck and facial muscles would tighten up and when I spoke it would sound like I had a cold or a sinus infection or something. I wasn't in any pain except that my neck and facial muscles would ache from being so tight. Not an ideal situation for a priest who celebrates, on average, eleven Masses per week and teaches about eight hours per week, plus parish and school meetings.
After about four weeks I went to the doctor to get checked out. My general practitioner checked out my ears, nose, throat, lungs, etc. and could find nothing that would explain this. And then, he re-checked a spot on my leg, which we've been keeping an eye on for several years, and decided it should be looked at by a dermatologist.
So, I went to the dermatologist who cut out the spot and sent it off to be checked for cancer. It came back positive for melanoma.
In the meantime I also had appointments with an ears, nose, & throat specialist, a speech therapist, and was scheduled for an MRI. The ENT found nothing remarkable; the speech therapist was sure she could help me; and the MRI came back with a small "meningioma".
So, I’ve had five appointments with various doctors over the last three
weeks, none of which have come any closer to understanding the roots of this
voice problem. The spot found by the MRI apparently isn’t in the
area dealing with speech. Ugh! But now they want to biopsy that to make sure it
isn’t malignant. And since they found a
cancer on my leg and a spot on my brain they now want to do a PET scan to make
sure cancer isn’t lurking anywhere else.
So, now I have a PET scan next Thursday and three more doctor
appointments the following Monday.
Oy! But, hopefully they find
nothing on the PET scan except the leg (which we already know about) and figure
out whether the spot on the MRI is anything to be concerned about.
Honestly, at this point, I’m not particularly worried because there isn’t anything definitive to worry about yet. I feel well enough and am continuing with my normal schedule.
I am grateful to all who have expressed concern and offered up prayers. Keep the prayers coming if you can, especially through the intercession of the Servant of God, Fr. Joe Walijewski. I have always been very much aware that a priest is sent to serve, not to be served, in imitation of our Lord. For that reason I am sorry for any disruptions / inconvenience this is causing anyone and will cause in the weeks ahead.
As always, I am most grateful to almighty God for his mercy and love, and for the many people he has put in my life who have been such an inspiration to me and such lovely teachers of how to live life fully and well, especially in the face of adversity.
