News

In the words of one Arnold "Governator" Schwarzenegger: "It's not a tumor."  Ok, well it is actually.  In the past week I've received two pieces of news, both that were very surprising.

I've had a bump on my leg for the last 4 years or so.  If you're a close friend or family member, you know where it is and what it feels like - kind of creepy.  I'd asked doctors about it in the past only to receive an, "Oh, it's probably nothing.  If it's not bothering you, then i wouldn't worry about it."  Nice advice from the medical profession.  The weird thing about this bump is that while it is hard to the touch, it's warm.  It doesn't hurt, doesn't have funky coloring, but it's warm.  So a little over a month ago Ryan and I went to a skin cancer screening.  I had a mole on my foot that looked a little questionable and that's mainly what I was concerned about.  As the doctor was giving me the once over, she saw the bump on my leg and axed about it.  I told her I had no clue what it was and that previous doctors had said to not worry about it.  She seemed intrigued by it, poked and prodded at it, and then suggested that I come back in 1) to get the questionable mole removed and 2) to get samples of the bump so we could figure out what it was.  So last Thursday I got a call from her informing me that it is a tumor and that it is cancerous.  She said to not freak out, but once you hear the c-word, it's hard not to.  I didn't really freak out, but it did sit on my mind for awhile.  She called the next day and gave me more info on it, telling me that it's a rare type of tumor.  Oh great!  Having something "rare" is not what anybody really wants.  She said the common name for it was Evan's Tumor.  Try googling that.  Not much will come up.  That's how rare it is.  She proceeded to inform me that once they're removed they have a low recurrence rate and that they generally don't spread.  She also told me that she was kind of passing the torch onto a doctor at a medical center - someone that had a bit more exposure to "those" types of cancer.  I would much rather have someone that knew more about this, so I was totally fine with being passed on.  I'll go in next week for a consultation and hopefully have surgery not long after to get it removed.  While it shouldn't be a big deal, prayers would be appreciated.

The other news, not so monumental, is that I'll be teaching juniors this year instead of freshmen.  I found this out yesterday.  I had been excited to teach little freshmen again especially since I'd be able to recycle a lot of the material I'd gathered last year.  I've heard a lot of maturation (that's kind of a weird word when you say it outloud) goes on in between the sophomore and junior year - we'll see if that's true.  I'm excited for the challenge and look forward to having a bit older group.  I do have to start over with material and curriculum, but all should be well.  

I have a lot of pictures I want to put up, but I don't have the time right now.  Please check back soon.