Our meeting with the surgeon on December 24th clarified several things:

• Surgery will be January 6th, at 7:30am.
• We will have a detailed diagnosis of the Lymphoma as a result (3-7 days following the surgery).
• This will be an outpatient, relatively minor, surgery.
  • It will take less than an hour.
  • It is essentially another, more thorough, biopsy. The first was a needle biopsy, which did not give the pathologist enough information for a detailed analysis and diagnosis.
  • The surgeon will take out several whole lymph nodes which will then be analyzed. The oncologist (cancer doctor) will propose a treatment plan based on the complete diagnosis.

Radiation or chemotherapy?

I expect to be in some form of chemo/radiation treatment over the next multiple months; probably six months or more.

How will this affect you physically?

We can’t know at this point. Some people can function pretty much normally throughout treatment. Others have to slow down quite a bit.

What about your international work?

Major overseas travel, or moving overseas (like France), would not make sense, at least during this initial treatment process. So we are stuck in Littleton for the time being. I guess if one has to be stuck someplace, Littleton is a pretty good place to be.

Part of me is grateful that we are in Littleton for this process, surrounded by specialists, as well as a fantastic community.

How are you feeling physically?

Physically, I feel completely fine.

How do you feel about not going to France right away?

The other part of me is pretty upset that greater involvement in the French-speaking world is now on hold. I feel like a life-long dream, for the time being, was ripped out of my hands.

But for now?

I want to get on with this fight. Surgery? Chemo? Radiation? Bring it. Let’s do this.

Thanks for praying for & with us.