(This was the email that Gary sent to his friends and work colleagues the day after his diagnosis, right before he entered the hospital. Kay)

All,

A surprise has come my way and I wanted to let you know what my
immediate future looks like. I would have wanted to tell you in a
conversation but time does not permit.

I've been having some odd physical symptoms over the last 3-4 weeks,
which resulted in a neurologist ordering an MRI of my head. Yesterday
afternoon they discovered a tumor growing at the base of my brain in one
of the ventricles that holds brain fluid. The blockage of fluid flow
is the cause of the dizziness that I've been experiencing. We don't
know how long it's been there or how fast it's growing, but it has to
be removed. On the plus side, it's appearance is such that it is
well defined/contained, doesn't appear to have any "fingers" into the
surrounding brain tissue, and surgical removal should be complete.
Anything that might be left behind would be addressed with radiation
but best case it looks like I'll not require either chemo or radiation.

I expect to be admitted to North Austin Medical Center today (Thursday);
the surgery should take place tomorrow (Friday, May 27). I've been told
I will spend 2-3 days in the ICU followed by a few more days and then
I'll be released. Then 2-3 weeks at home to recover.

I don't believe in coincidence any more; my God has everything under
control and (Romans 8:28 - wise) I know that there's a purpose to this
experience. I'll say that God has prepared my body for this by causing
me to take better care of my physical health over the last 6 years, and
the timing of this has fallen rather nicely into a bunch of other activities
so that there will be relatively little disruption to my family. I'm totally
thankful for that, and have every confidence that it's all good.

Prayers appreciated for Kay, Amy and Alyssa, and for the skill of
the surgeon and his team as they go about their work.

Gary