AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

Before we move on with the show, I wanted to say a few words about my absence from the show this week. I took time off following a minor but important medical procedure known as Mohs surgery — that’s M-O-H-S — microscopic surgery, to remove some skin cells on my nose that tested positive for squamous cell cancer. The procedure was painless, using only minimal local anesthesia, and it went well. I got the stitches out yesterday and now have Steri-Strips across the bridge of my nose, a kind of post-surgical Band-Aid.

But I decided to come back on, because I think it’s important that we are not — you know, we don’t have to be picture-perfect on TV or video. We are not plastic; we are people. And people get by in all sorts of ways around the world, and I think it’s important not to hide.

The good news is, in my case, we caught the problem in time. The medical team that treated me are confident they removed all the cancerous cells. And in medical terms, it means the edges are clear.

And I’m really grateful to everyone here at Democracy Now! for covering me this week, especially my New York-based co-hosts Nermeen Shaikh and Anjali Kamat, our editorial director Mike Burke, who managed everything, Charina Nadura, Tey-Marie Astudillo — thank you so much — Deena Guzder, the whole team. And, Juan, of course, always thank you. It was a real treat watching the show from home with my dog Zazu by my side.

I want to emphasize that the problem was caught in time, but too often people don’t realize that a spot, a bump on their skin, a mole or a blemish anywhere, or just a rough spot, something scaly, might be cancerous. We don’t have to be squeamish about squamous cell carcinoma or basal cell carcinoma, unless it’s not caught in time. Do your dermatology checks every year. And now with climate change, with the Earth heating, with the increased exposure to the sun, there’s an increase in skin cancer.

And, Juan, as you so prophetically warned after the 9/11 attacks here in New York, the level of toxins downtown were devastating. And skin cancers, like squamous cell cancer, went way up, especially downtown. Back then, Democracy Now! was the closest national broadcast to ground zero, broadcasting from the firehouse studios of DCTV.

Well, enough of this story. So, thanks again to everyone. It’s great to be back covering the important stories of the day.