Alan ... Myrna's elderly cousin, Rafael (76) recently [last week] underwent laser surgery on his prostate.

Thankfully, all seems to have gone satisfactorily according to his daughter, Myla - a Filipina nursing graduate currently living and working in Hartlepool - in spite of specialists' earlier concerns regarding his fitness to withstand the operation due to chronic heart illness ~ complicated by general frailty and COPD.

So ... for Myrna and I, this thread of yours has been a virtual godsend in that, we're both very fond of the old chap and his wife, Exal - with whom we stayed throughout my two visits in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Indeed, it was *Exal's influence that led to Myrna's decision to enter the teaching profession back in the early '80s ... having *herself taught for many years - latterly in a supervisory capacity as Head of Domestic Science for her home region.