(Also written 23 August. See previous entry as to why the gap between reported and actual dates.)

This news was actually why I stopped writing on 10 August for nearly two weeks. First week was spent waiting for the news, the second processing it.

Cutting to the chase, the news is about as good as can be expected, we think. The cancer hasn't packed up and gone traveling (or, more accurately, set up franchises.) It's still in SpouseKitty's neck, her trachea to be exact. It's probably still very small.

Doctors don't operate on the trachea lightly. It's a difficult place to do the work, crowded with other critical bundles of flesh. It doesn't lend itself to wholesale excisions, either.

External beam radiation is going to be part of the therapy, that's for sure. The question (still outstanding even now at time of this writing) is if they can operate on it. Hopefully, that's the case.

Still, she scared me when she told me that she has a persistent cough, and a matching persistent pain in her throat. I'm glad she's getting this looked at ASAFP.

We've spent 13+ years together. I can't say it's been smooth sailing, but we have learned one another's styles and rhythms. That's no small accomplishment. I'm a difficult person to live with, and I'm elated she still finds me bearable.

Thirteen years is a long while, but I want more. There never is enough time, really. Even if we had fifty years, I'd still want more. She does, too. She wants to see Kitten graduate college. She wants to know that Kitten will be ready for life without her, without me.

Scary days.