These Things Happen

I don't want anyone to get too upset about this..

My doctor called me yesterday to tell me my pathology report had come back and that it was not a benign branchial cleft cyst like the original radiologist had assured me back in September of 2023. Had I known, I would have had the surgery right then.

It was “poorly-differentiated invasive squamous cell carcinoma.”

I suspected it was something horrible when the path report took so long to come back. The original pathologist probably knew on Tuesday but sent the slides around to get confirmation like any pathologist would do.

I’m going to try not to let it affect my day-to-day life too much other than being forced to go to oncologists and get all sorts of diagnostic tests starting with a PET scan to tell me whether it’s a primary tumor (good) or a secondary that has metastasized from somewhere else (bad) but the words “poorly-differentiated” and “invasive” already tell me I’m in for it. We’d like those words to be, “well-differentiated” and “non-invasive”, but not this time..

The path report thinks it probably came from a primary in my oropharynx which would probably mean I have to go in for another operation but we shall see.

My priorities are 1. Finishing my book which is now 2,000 page equivalents and will come out in 5 separate books- each with its own subtitle, this summer and fall-one per month starting in June, 2. getting back to Cambodia in the next 2 weeks to do the 6 or 7 surgeries I have promised to waiting patients, 3. getting in shape again in parallel with wrapping up the book so I can go back on the pro golf tour, 4. write a script for “The Covid Movie” in the same vein as the scene I put in “Heroes and Villains”; (the one about the chance meeting of Susan Wojcicki and Deborah Birx at the sink in the ladies room of the nondescript building in the deep forest of northern China.) (There will be another two scenes- one centered around Ms. Wojcicki- in “SANCTIONED: The COVID Murders”. And 5. I want to rewrite STRIKING IT RICH with an update and the story of Alin in there too and after that, make audio versions of all these books. Finally, if time permits, produce “The Covid Movie”.

I don’t think I’ll be doing any more painting as it takes too long.

So you can see I have a lot to do so I won’t have time to think about this bad news except when I have to.

Dear Subscribers:

Thank you so much for all the incredible support I have received from you through this mess. It truly has made me feel so good. Thank you, thank you thank you.