Health Update - 8 November, 2022

I want to thank all who have been holding me up in prayer.  So many of you have communicated your prayer intentions for my health to me.  It has been humbling to say the least, but I am most grateful for your prayers, expressions of concern, and the delicious food some of you have left on my doorstep.

My latest round of doctor appointments is now completed.  there's basically three pieces to this: the skin cancer, the meningioma found on the lining of my brain, and the reason I went to the doctor in the first place - my voice issue.

The skin cancer (melanoma) will be removed in the near future.  They'll also take some lymph nodes to determine whether the cancer has spread.  Bottom line: This part of the trio seems to be the one that will be the most involved in time and effort to overcome.  But, it can, and with time will be.

The spot found on my brain, a meningioma, is small and not uncommon according to the neurosurgeon.  She said it could have been there for several years already for all we know.  I'll have another MRI in three months, and if that shows no significant difference in the spot then there'll be succeeding MRIs at greater intervals until we can forget about it.  If it does grow, it is something that can be dealt with and is dealt with much more commonly now with radiation and, if need be, surgery.  But the prognosis is very good.  Bottom line: it isn't particularly worrying.

Finally, they still have no idea why my voice went haywire.  The neurologist is chalking it up to a viral infection.  It's been getting better over the last three or four weeks little by little.  So, we'll go with that and not look a gift horse in the mouth.  The hope is, especially since there hasn't been any discoverable cause, that it just continues improving until the voice is back to normal.

So, there it is: one issue improving; one issue not particularly worrisome (at the moment); and another to be dealt with more immediately with not quite as much confidence in the endgame yet.  Hopefully the last will have more clarity in the not too distant future.

In any case, the medical professionals will do their part, but in the end it's in God's hands and I'm ok with that.  So, again, thank-you for the prayers and good wishes.