Dear CADS,

It is with regret that I need to let you know about Mike Lyonette’s illness. In fact he received the news a couple of weeks before Mike Carn’s party, but in typical CADS style he embargoed it until now.  However he wanted me to communicate it to you, in case you thought his absence in the next few months was intentional!

Mike has been diagnosed with a form of tonsil/tongue cancer. The complaint is treatable and the prognosis and survival chances are reasonably good, so Mike and Kath remain positive. They both attended and enjoyed Mike Carn’s celebration earlier in the month, and then took advantage of a break in tests to visit Malta for a few days. Mike has undergone extensive testing, and the specialist at the NKI-AVL in Amsterdam is proposing a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which Mike has agreed to have dealt with as part of a multi-year piece of advanced research that the institute is coordinating across a number of EU countries. The treatment starts on 27 May – daily for a six week period, primarily on an out-patients basis.

As you may be aware, the treatment is uncomfortable, and has some side effects. Mike will be back at CADS later in the year, and appreciates your thoughts and prayers in the meantime. You can reach him at mike.lyonette@gmail.com if you want to send messages of support.