Well, I’m in the system and being shuffled from place to place as my Nov. 19 brain surgery continues to come at me like a freight train with no brakes.

On another trip to T-Town today, Dr. Raphael Francisco, an endocrinologist, gave me a thorough going over and it seems the tumor I have is pressing on my pituitary gland causing my body chemistry to go haywire. It’s making me fatter by the day (that’s a real joy), it may be causing my body to forget just how important water really is, it is causing me sleep problems and some more stuff that would be, as the kids say, TMI.

Dr. Francisco is putting his formidable skills to work looking at a blood tests I had taken at McAlester Regional Health Center (By the way, the Saturday morning lab team deserves a big raise and a big pat on the back, Mr. Begs. They are terrific people, dedicated to us patients and I was so blessed by their care). He said we’ll see if some of the pituitary function straightens out after the big cut.

I am set for a pre-op appointment on Monday (Nov. 16) to get the final instructions about the surgery set for the 19th.

My mom, Louise Lane, a very skilled RN, is flying in on the 17th and we are going to pay a visit to my family doctor, Dr. Nelson Onanro (who is as fine a man and as good a doctor as you’ll ever meet). In addition, I am hoping to see my doctor from the Choctaw Nation Indian Health Center, Dr. Paul Chin (a doctor of uncommon skill), before the surgery to make sure all the right stuff is happening and to let him and his nurse, Gardy (a saint among us), know what’s up.

My dad, Carl Lane, will also be here on the 17th. He and my mom divorced I’m sorry to say, but its nice they’ll both be with me on the fateful day.

Am I scared? Sure. But get this: Churches here in McAlester, in Yuba City, Calif., Checotah, Muskogee, Oklahoma City and other are praying for me. Also, I have received so many good wishes and offers of prayer from people that I am left humbled. Thank you all for this. There are no words to describe how I feel about all these good wishes and prayers.