A story

 When Elysia was probably 3 or 4 years old she was learning about the fact that she was a girl and her brothers were boys.  Sort of developing her identity.  She knew I was a girl and Daddy was a boy.  She started telling me that she had a boy foot and a girl foot.  We played along with her.  It makes sense in a 3 year old's mind, and why not?  A few years later, she was probably 8 or 9 years old, I told her I could never remember which foot was her boy foot and which was the girl foot.  She replied, "That's easy, Mom.  Girls are always right!"  

So, fast forward to this week.  I was discussing my tumor with her, and she thought I ought to name it.  My thought was that if I named it, it needed to have a name I didn't like, since I am not terribly fond of the cancer.  I came up with Lester the Little Lump or Hildegard.  Hildegard means "battle garden".  Lester means "walled city".  Both names seemed somewhat appropriate for cancer, and both were names I was not exactly fond of.  Elysia didn't like either of those choices.  She did say even though the tumor is in my left breast that she thought it should still have a girl name.  I wasn't convinced.

My next thought was to ask Duncan's opinion.  Why Duncan and not my other kids? I'm not sure.  Maybe because I knew he would come up with something plausible and have a definite opinion on the matter, but whatever the reason, I asked Duncan.  Being the English major that he is, he told me it should be either Lotho or Lobelia.  I must admit I don't care for either of those names, so that was a start.  I apologize to anyone reading this with any of those names, but this is just my preference. I proceeded to ask Duncan where those two names came from.  He said they are two distantly related hobbits of Bilbo from "The Hobbit" by J. R. R. Tolkein.  Next I asked him if the tumor should be male or female.  He responded with, "Annoying, refuses to take a hint, sits around and does nothing, pain in the backside, definitely a single guy."  

That being said, the tumor is named Lotho.  And in case anyone is wondering, it is pronounced, low-tho.  

As a quick update, I contacted my doctor's office because I hadn't heard from the surgeon.  They replied that the surgeon's office has the information and was supposed to get back with me about setting up an appointment by the end of the week.  I have not yet received that call.  If I have not heard back by Wed. afternoon, I will contact my doctor's office again.