[Magdalen] Update and Surgery

[Christopher Hart]

Dear Pubmates,

Most of you know that I have been diagnosed with prostate cancer. It
appears to be contained so far and surgery to remove the prostate is the
recommended course of treatment. Among several pre-operative procedures,
some of which I would prefer not to mention in any detail, I needed to get
clearance from my cardiologist. That was reasonably convenient since I had
a regular checkup scheduled today anyway. I informed his office in advance
that the checkup would also be for pre-surgical clearance, so when he came
into the exam room to meet with me his first words were "what are you
having done?" When I told him he responded that he'd had the same surgery
about eight years ago, with the very same surgeon. He said I couldn't do
better without going to Sloan-Kettering. He also shared a lot of little
extra information about things to expect. It went a long way toward putting
my mind even more at ease. I can't exactly say that I'm totally relaxed
about this, but I'm convinced it is the right course of action. Doing
nothing is clearly NOT an option, and the only other possibility is a long
course of radiation treatments with less certain results.

So I'm scheduled for surgery on 18 September and will appreciate any and
all prayers thereupon. I'm told to expect just one night in the hospital
and then about 3-4 weeks recuperation. I hope to go back to work at least
1/2 time by the fourth week. Should I for any reason not resurface in the
pub soon after my surgery, I would appreciate someone here volunteering to
be in off list contact with my wife to discern my status. I think our
brother Scott Knitter may have done this before, but I'm not certain. I
know Eric+ Funston did in the past, but he's not here anymore. Any
volunteers should contact me privately for contact information.
-- 

Christopher Hart

List Mail Address: cervus51 at gmail.com
Personal Mail: cervus at veritasliberat.net
Twitter: @cervus51