So…

I’ve been reluctant to post about this because of how much is going on right now, plus it being in the middle of one of the busiest convention seasons we’ve had post-lockdowns, but the news broke this afternoon when the Baen Free Radio Hour went up, so…

On Aug 23 I went in to the doctor’s office to have a mole removed. If you saw me at Libertycon, you probably heard me bitching about the bloody mole that ruined two of my shirts (and led to the startling discovery that the hotel for LC is wayyyyy too adept at removing blood from their bed sheets, but I digress). Anyway, the doctor cut it out, and then spotted another one he wanted to remove as well. No big deal, a little scrape, a lot of blood from the big mole during removal, and they said they wanted to biopsy both to see if there was anything suspicious. They told me 7-10 business days for a response, which meant I would find out more after Dragoncon. Cool.

I found out about Howard Andrew Jones’ inoperable brain tumor on the following Monday. To say I was devastated couldn’t even begin to describe it. Howard is a friend, and we share a love of history. The next day (Tuesday, and not even two full business days later) I received a call from the doctor. Apparently they put a rush on the results because he didn’t like what he’d seen. I have an aggressive melanoma in both spots. The one on my upper back was tiny, contained, less than 1mm, and they were certain they got it all, and should be easily treated. The lower one, though…

The lower one is a major concern because it was deep. 3.8mm deep and, as previously mentioned, vascular (the bloody part), which means there is a good likelihood that it’s already in my lymph nodes. With that wonderful news (that was sarcasm), I was off to Dragoncon.

So if I was rude or dismissive to you at Dragoncon, my apologies. My mind was distracted and elsewhere.

This past Wednesday (Sept 11) I went in for my surgery consult. The doctor is good, and we have a plan. Removal of three lymph node clusters (closest to the vascular site), excise the two melanoma spots, and biopsy everything they take out. Again, fortune smiled at me, because they had one last surgery spot available on Oct 1 at Duke. Recovery time is 8-10 weeks, but I should be up and on my feet in a week or two.

So off we go…

I’m sorry I hadn’t gone public about this yet before today. I didn’t want to distract from Howard (who deserves all the attention and prayers) or Lori (a mutual acquaintance who was in a really bad car wreck last week), or ruin Dragoncon for people, though I did tell a few there. Stuff like this is very hard to keep secret. I also told my current coauthors who I have active projects with, just in case.

We have a plan for treatment. If the melanoma has spread to the lymph nodes and they find microscopic cancer cells in there, then it’s immunotherapy, chemo, and radiation to treat. We’re hoping that this is a big nothing burger, and we all can look back in a few years at this and laugh.

This is mostly to keep the rumor mill squashed and to let everyone be informed.

When I get more news, you’ll get it soon after.