Introduction: The adventure begins.

So here’s the deal. I have a cancerous tumor in my head, in the soft tissue in the back of my mouth, in the gum behind the molars, and spreading down to the base of my tongue. As of this writing, we’re in the process of testing to determine how extensive it is, so that we can make some decisions about what the treatment options are. The usual treatments are surgery and/or radiation. I have a CT scan and an MRI scheduled for Tuesday.

Decisions about treatment options are a bit more complex in my case. Because of the treatment I went through the last time I had cancer (a phrase that few people get to use, by the way), I have a weakened heart that may not be able to stand the long and involved surgery that they might want to do. Similarly, the radiation to my neck that I had then will limit the amount of radiation I can be given now.

The theme right now is “crossing that bridge when we come to it.” There are a LOT of scary possibilities ahead, and, in the absence of more data, it would be easy to spend hours obsessing over them and completely freaking out. I’m trying to resist that, and quite consciously choosing to believe in paths that lead to it all working out OK.

The CT and MRI will be very important. They will help us know what we are really dealing with. Though the tests are Tuesday, I’m not sure I’ll have the info back that day.

I’m setting up this blog as a way make it easy to keep everyone updated. Come back for the latest.