By now we had read our neurologist's report, and we knew he suspected, and so we did too, that it was a mid-to-high grade astrocytoma (Grade 3 or 4). A grade 4 would give me a lifeline of about 9-12 months, with rare individuals living to an outside of 2.5 years.
I wrote the email below after going into work and giving a verbal update to the IT/Computer Department (the department i'm a member of). This verbal update included the information in the Preface above, and it included “how we were doing with it”.
-----Original Message-----
From: John Wolford
Sent: February 27, 2005 11:08 AM
Subject: Thank you
Hi everyone,
Pretend this email is addressed to you. This is one of those times when the efficiency of sending a mass email cannot be turned down!
We really got a lot out of coming in on Friday. It was really nice to see everyone, it feels like a looooong time since Tuesday, Feb. 15, when we found out about this. We've done a lot of sharing, discussing, answering questions, over the past few weeks, and i can honestly say that i never get tired of it. It's good to see a furrowed brow relax as unknowns become knowns, and it's really good to see the weight come off the shoulders of someone as the understanding comes that "wow, there are a lot of good things here".
It's funny, i was wondering what it would be like, talking to the entire IT dept. I was thinking "What would it be like to do a presentation on the Vessel Release Binder to the whole department?Will this be the same or will it be different?" Maybe it's what i've got on my plate right now, and the plate is too full to have room for getting nervous about "presenting" to a large group; or maybe it's because the more heartfelt the topic, the more connection i feel with the people involved, and so the easier it is to share; or maybe it was Darin's timely jokes/jabs that kept the good energies flowing ;-) Whatever it was, i felt really good about it, and i thank you for taking the time out to join us.
I can't say it properly, but i can try: Thank you, thank you, thank you, for your words, your emails, your prayers, your well wishes, your thoughts, your support. These are always good things, and in this time and space i am coming to learn just how powerful they can be. Thanks too for the gifts on Friday, they are very personal and fun, i look forward to a rapid recovery with them!
A quick update: My surgery is scheduled for Monday morning (my admission time is 8:35AM). We'll keep you posted. I should be back at home by Thursday, plus or minus, and i'm sure that my withdrawl from email will be much stronger than my need to rest, heh. If not, Dhalie can do the typing and i'll just nod my approval ;-)
One last thing - i'm sending this from my john.wolford@gmail.com account. I will still check my TK email but i will be turning the "Out of Office" on so non-IT persons in TK realize i'm out of the office and nothing slips through the cracks. You can send emails to either my gmail or TK account, and i'll get it.
:-)
jw
