Frank Shaughnessy

Hi Everyone. Well, what a lot of us, including me, thought was a sports related hip injury has turned out to be stage IV cancer. Christel and I just spent 10 days at the Stanford Medical Unit working with a Doctor specializing in bone cancers. The greater trochanter on my right hip has a bone tumor, and a preliminary look at CT imagery from my torso shows a growth on my right kidney. Further analysis of that imagery may show more tumors. I had a biopsy taken of the hip tumor on Friday (10/11) morning, and I have to wait 7 to 10 days to get that analysis, which will tell me what kind of cancer I have, and so what kind of treatment is possible.


To say that this has been a brutal shock is a massive understatement. Christel has been my rock. We just got back to Arcata on 10/12. Fiona is coming home today, and Dion will likely be coming back from Denmark some time this week. And thank goodness for Labrador Retrievers. You should know that I am getting cancer care at one of the best facilities in the world, and that my local Doctor and friend, Lee Leer, is already in close touch with the Stanford group. And between my two sisters Maura and Anne, and all my friends on and off campus, I have an awesome support group.


I am taking a Medical Leave from HSU effective just about immediately so that I can focus on fighting this disease. Either me or one of this site's coauthors will post updates now and again, and when we figure things out a bit more, we will use this site to ask for help.