Earlier this week, Brave Words reported that Metal Church drummer Stet Howland (ex-W.A.S.P.) is fighting a mystery illness, and is currently in a Massachusetts hospital undergoing tests - read the full story here.

Stet Howland himself has just checked in with the following update:

"Hello friends. It's me, 'Mr Mystery Illness'.

Three hospitals and almost two weeks later we have a diagnosis. I have Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma. In layman's terms, its essentially a form of cancer in my blood. And while it is a very aggressive form of cancer, it is also very treatable with an 80% cure rate. In my case I'm one of the lucky ones whom my doctors are confident of knocking this shit completely out of me!

I have gone from actually feeling like death, to feeling fairly strong, all in just under one week of treatment. It's been a rigorous and constant IV fusion cocktail that hasn't been exactly fun. But if this is what it takes to get back to my family, and to get back to my routine, I find it well worth it.

I want to publicly thank my love Heidi for giving the best updates possible given the info she had to work with. I have been too weak to do this myself until now.

We started treatment based on the doctors' initial diagnosis, as they were confident of what they were dealing with. They knew I had a form of Lymphoma but the actual details didn't rear their head until yesterday as we had to await test results.

I'm once again blown away and thankful for all the positivity, love, and well wishes from family, friends and fans worldwide. I have heard from some people that I never knew if I would ever hear from again. Friends from school and all walks of life have reached out. The outpouring of love has been overwhelming to say the least. I have been feeling like crap off & on for over a year now wondering why, now we all know.

I Will be discharged next week and heading back to Vegas, where I will begin tracking the new Metal Church record with a vigor and thankfulness that I don't know if I've ever felt in my life. The 2018 Metal Church calendar is already starting to fill up, and I'm going to be out there whooping ass at every single one of them!

I consider myself a very lucky man who has done many great things in my life. I have been blessed to play in several iconic bands in my career. But my current Metal Church gig is the unrivaled pinnacle of it all.

Thanks again to you all for your love and support. And one more thing, if it is your prerogative to open your heart to a higher power and pray. Please feel free to do so, don't ever let anyone tell you what to do. I'm sorry I allowed my bitterness to do just that. Bitterness removed here. Lol.

On my next post names will be named. But for now - Big love to all. Carry on."

(Photo - Markus Wiedenmann Photography)