What a relief!

Thanks for all your prayers and concern -- it looks like Saint Agatha has come through for us again.

Mrs. Yurodivi got a call from the radiologist's office today, and the biopsy came back as "benign breast tissue." There's no need for further surgery at this point, and now it's down to the results of this coming Monday's CT scan. If that's clear, the radiotherapy begins next week.

So I guess this should be a lesson: cancer is forever, whether you get a clean report or not. It's always a shadow at the edge of your vision, creeping up in your thoughts when you least expect it; and it never goes away. That's why you have to be thankful all the time, for the time that you have, and the blessings that you have.

You can't take a single day for granted.

Thanks again for your prayers!

Here we go again!

Waiting…again.

Well, where to start?

Last week we thought we were out of the woods with Mrs. Yurodivi, or at least that we could see the edge of the woods from where we were. Her oncologist called her back and told her that, after examining the test results and conferring with colleagues, she didn’t think chemotherapy was worth the risk of the side effects. So she set Mrs. Y up for a radiology consult, and that was that.

At the radiation consult, one of the doctors suggested she have an ultrasound of the other breast. Sure enough, there’s another mass there. It looks a lot like the one they found the first time.

The radiologist who performed the test said, “It’s probably nothing. It looks like fibroadenoma.”

Mrs. Y reminded him that fibroadenoma was also his sage pronouncement at the first ultrasound, and that turned out to be cancerous.

So right now Mrs. Y is in the back of the medical facility while I wait out here, taking advantage of the free wireless while she gets biopsied again. Mind you, I pleaded with the first radiologist to examine the other breast with the ultrasound machine after he found the lump, but he said, “Oh no, that’s so rare. You never get it in both breasts at the same time.

We'll see about that, I suppose. Probably by this time tomorrow we'll know whether she'll be going back for another round or two of surgery. So please keep Mrs. Y in your prayers.

First Choir Rehearsal

Last night we had our first choir rehearsal of the new season. I can’t get too specific about why we started too late in case someone reading this actually goes to my church, but suffice it to say I would have started several weeks ago if it had been possible. Heck, all the kids started school the first week of August, so there’s no point delaying till September, most of the time.

We’re lucky to have what we have; there’s no doubt about that. But I would really, really love it if I could have more than one tenor in the choir. And if that tenor could be below Social Security age, that would be even better.

So I’m shooting for the moon this time. I have been kind of phoning it in at the church ever since the cancer thing came along, and I would love to take a full-time music job, but I just can’t, especially not now that we have medical concerns. So I’m trying to do the best job I can and be thankful to have the jobs I have.