Why we didn't send out holiday cards

Zero years always make me more contemplative than ever. Forty years ago I first met my wife while we both worked for the Phoenix Public Library. August 21st will be the 40th anniversary of our first date and the 20th anniversary of the day we drove out of Phoenix for what we thought was a two year stay on Long Island that is still going on.

This year we would have had lots to do in a "What our year was like" holiday message. Went to Pete Seeger's 90th birthday at the Garden and saw Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen and Arlo Guthrie among many others. Went to the US Open and saw the young man who went on to win the entire tournament. Got tickets for the first game of the World Series ever played at Yankee Stadium. Served my first year of my job at the New York Law School that made me a daily commuter to Lower Manhattan.

Donna had been irradiated as a baby in a brief period of time when doctors thought radiation was the answer to a number of health problems. Babies who had that treatment turned out to be at high risk for thyroid problems later in life. This fall Donna's thyroid was tested and found to be so full of irregularities that she was urged to find a surgeon and remove her right thyroid. Scary enough. Then it gets worse. While taking a catscan for that operation they discovered that she has a 3.5 centimeter benign tumor on the back of her brain. It had not caused any symptoms. If they hadn't found this by accident she would have found out the hard way.

This led to months of visiting neurologists, brain surgeons and long talks with the insurance company. The plan now is that she will have the thyroid surgery in early February. Afterwards, she will get a new MRI and see if the tumor has grown. If so, it goes in the spring. If not, she may still have it taken out at the earliest time possible. One of the top surgeons in Manhattan met with us for a second opinion and reassured us that this is fairly routine, although there is a one in five chance that she will experience some vision irregularities after the surgery. Also a one in twenty chance that there will be more serious complications.

It's going to be an interesting year.