so. REALLY need to preface this. PLEASE take it for what it is - a comment on life in this world, and not a plea for sympathy. 

i found out via a ct scan today (pictured) that there is a small polyp in my inner ear. for you doctors out there, you know that this is no big deal. a minor surgery, and viola. but i must admit that on my way to the hospital today, before my ct scan, i felt these thoughts of death coursing through me - similar level of nag that you feel when a telemarketer calls during dinner - but a bit more dark. i prayed and found comfort in the promise of salvation that i walk in daily - but then thought about my wife, our dog. my parents. brother. sister. it was odd. i didn't know what to expect. google, a great source of info (but sometimes knowledge isn't very comforting) told me all sorts of things the night before. i tossed for over an hour before my brain let me rest.