Monday, April 25, 2005

A Cut Above

Sometimes people ask whether I've been a journalist all my life. And I say "Not yet." Things got a little scary recently, though, when I found out I had cancer. Fortunately, it was a kind of cancer that could be caught -- or so we hope -- by surgery. Even more important, a minor inflamation that didn't seem to be significant turned out to be another cancer, which was also removed during the surgical process.
So I'm upright, which is better than the alternative. To those who visited, thanks very much. Thanks also to those who thought about it, or at least put off thinking bad things about me for awhile.
Surgery is sometimes more than it's cut out to be. I can't say that I recommend it, but I do strongly recommend anyone who suspects a wound that doesn't heal, unusual bleeding or lumps to see a qualified physician and have it checked. I had a tumor that looked like a mushroom, but not all cancers are so obvious. Modern medical knowledge can deal with cancers that are detected soon enough, often with prospects of full recovery. It is certainly worth the time and money to have a checkup.