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Good tidings to all! On top of all the other good news in my life — drumroll please — the CT scan from last week shows that I'm cancer-free! Woo-hooooooo!!!

And the scar in my throat from the "mother of all tonsillectomies" is healing quite nicely, thank you.

All this good news is from one of the docs on my surgical team, Dr. Dale Ehmer.

He also gave me a referral to the Oral Surgery clinic — don't go freak out on me, now! — to check out the pain in my temporomandibular joint (TMJ). . . my right jaw joint.

The joint has been hurting like nothing I've ever felt before since the surgery and doesn't seem to be getting better. The problem with the weakness in my shoulder pales in comparison. So, we get to shoot some x-rays and look at the soft tissues in my cheek and jaw to see if there is a serious problem that warrants further treatment.

Of course, I don't relish more surgery but, at this point, I'd do almost anything to stop the pain. Yeeeeooowwwww!!

Even that would be good news.

I'm fully convinced that the prayers of friends, family, and, yes, strangers have brought me through this crisis and I am so grateful to all of you. Without your help, I'd still be pouting on my sofa in my old apartment, asking "what am I gonna do?!?"

Thank you. And Merry Christmas one and all.