Following up from my last journal (at the request of a few concerned friends), I have been to a couple specialists, and the general consensus is that I do not have throat cancer. Also, in the spirit of good-news first, my voicebox looks "really good" (they put a camera tube up your nose so they can watch your throat...feels like someone's poking around inside your brain).

However, part of my throat responsible for swallowing keeps breaking and bleeding for some unknown reason. It also pulls on my vocal chords funny (sort of like a leg with a limp, but in the throat), so I have lost my ability to control a significant portion of my singing voice. No-one knows what is happening to my throat or why this is the way it is. One doctor even said it could be like this for "many months"...which is disconcerting at best.

Thank you to everyone who sent me notes of encouragement; I am still hanging in there.