Done.
Excision complete, neatly stitched up, and good to go with a couple of Tylenol when the freezing wears off.
How I wish cancer could be this 'easy' for everyone.
Tea? I'll pour 
I just happen to have a couple of spare hugs around here, so I'm sending them your way.
Just because.
I can relate to your comment about the ease (or lack thereof) for some cancer cases vs. others. I felt that guilt myself, since my case was a bit unusual. I didn't even know I had a problem until I started bleeding (GI), and spent four days in the ICU. The waiting in intensive care included a half dozen various major and minor procedures, along with and 7 or 8 transfusions before the GIST tumor was finally found. I only had 8 hours of "knowledge" of cancer between tumor discovery and surgical resection. GIST is rare enough that only about 5000 cases a year show up in the US, and it happens to be a cancer that simply can't be treated with radiation or chemo, so surgery was the only option, and I managed to be asleep through that fun part.
I went on a powerful daily drug called Gleevec as adjunct therapy after surgery, and while it did have some significant side effects, they were pretty tame in my case compared to many who deal with both the direct effects- and side effects of cancer. I was more scared of the cancer than MS, but Multiple Sclerosis was affecting my everyday life in a bigger way (my MS diagnosis was just 5 months before my cancer diagnosis), so I suppose it allowed me to use a bit of denial and avoid focusing on cancer too much.
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This thread was indeed (as RockHead noted) representative of a community within SA that Catherine was a member of, long before she found herself facing the beast head on. It made it even harder for many of us to "participate" to some degree, because she was already so much a part of this "family" and so many already had the pleasure of knowing her in person in the real world outside of the SA web site. When it hits close to home for an active and/or long-time member on the site, it hits hard, but for the hundreds of others who are newer or less well "known" on SA , the pain and fear and struggles and challenges are just as big, just as real, and just as deserving of our support.
When Shaun started this thread, one of his primary stated goals was to offer support and strength for everyone who battles cancer... or any other significant health or life challenge. I always get a lump in my throat when I see this thread bumped to the top of Page 1, and the way I handle the fear of looking to see the latest news, is to remember how much strength I've gotten personally from many of you, and to remember that we are all stronger together than on our own. Like RH, I find strength and love here, and I too invest the time to start at the very beginning with Shaun's first post every 6 or 9 months and read it all the way through again. I cry a fair amount, but I also smile.
Cheers to all**
Blake
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