σιδερένιος is greek for "a wish to get better quickly, and literally means be as strong as if made of iron". I like it. Thanks Marios :) I got the biopsy results today - the lump in my throat is cancer. more specifically (as I wrote to my brothers earlier today):

The cyst in my neck is a metastatsis of a squamous cell carcinoma. The original site has not yet been determined, but it's likely to be nearby -- most likely in the throat. The biopsy showed the presence of P16 proteins, which indicate that the cause is most likely HPV (human papillomavirus), and mean that the prognosis is relatively good.

The next steps are to positively identify the primary site (via PET and MRI scans), then treat it, probably with chemotherapy and radiation.

After a vague sore throat, earache, and headache for the last six months or so (or maybe a year or two), I found a lump in my neck, called my ENT, and had an untrasound (congratulations, it's a cyst on your lymph node), then an FNA (fine-needle aspiration, aka a biopsy).  You know the rest.

Contemplating mortality is more fun when you're not facing it.  My son Jack just turned 8, and goddamnit I don't want to leave him without a father.  I may be a cranky individual* at times, but I know how much he loves me, and how much he needs me.  And I love him so.  much.