This is the hardest blog I have ever had to write and one of the toughest things I have ever had to announce.

There is really no way to make bad news any better than it is, so I will just tell you. Our dear friend and USGlass magazine columnist Lyle Hill has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He knew something was wrong because, in less than seven weeks, a small nodule inside his left cheek had grown into a large mass upon the left side of his neck. Luckily, he was on it right away and had sought diagnosis and treatment early.

It is a very fast-growing and aggressive form of non-hodgkins lymphoma. As with most things, there is some good and some bad news. The good news is, even though it’s fast growing, the type of lymphoma Lyle has responds extremely well to chemotherapy and he has an excellent prognosis to be totally cured. The bad news is that it requires a very, very intensive protocol of chemotherapy. He began that on Saturday and he will also be hospitalized on and off for chemo treatments over the next few weeks. He expects to be home from the first one sometime mid-week.

Lyle is still Lyle. Just last week, he went gold prospecting with his grandson and, despite our repeated protestations, has continued to handle a number of items for us right up to entering the hospital. And he has kept his very unique point of view. “I am beginning an aggressive chemotherapy program to fight back against a very aggressive cancer (lymphoma) blob that has taken up residence in my neck,” he says. “Not pretty and not fun either. This means I will be out of circulation for the next several weeks, but plan on coming back stronger than ever …”

The only reason I am in business today is because of Lyle Hill. He gave me the encouragement and confidence to try and buy USGlass many years ago and he helped me navigate through the entire process. He is a great business mentor and friend. I hold no one in higher regard than I do Lyle. That many others in the industry would say the same doesn’t surprise me at all.

What he needs most now is prayers. Please pray for his speedy recovery and please keep him, his wife Sandi, and their children and grandchildren in your prayers. If you would like to send a card, you can do so to his home at:
54 Windsor Drive, Oak Brook, IL 60523

or you can e-mail lhill@glass.com but understand if you don’t hear back from him immediately.

The plan right now is to use his blog at http://lyleblog.usglassmag.com on Wednesdays for short weekly notes on his progress and to hope he is back to things like taking on the post office… railing against industry surcharges… and gold prospecting, real soon.

Thank you.

Deb