July

Starting with the 4th of July:
 (I think she is doing the Haka)

July was an interesting month.  It is the month when we heard the C word in our family for the first time.  It is not a word that one wants to hear.  I have had a little mark on my back for 3-4 years.  Tristan never really liked it but I chose to ignore it.  Finally, we decided it was time to go see a dermatologist.
They did a biopsy and I still wasn't worried.  A few days later Dr. Sewell gave me a call (by the way I highly recommend him if you ever have any skin issues).  He didn't give good news.  He said the C word.  A skin cancer sarcoma.  DFSP to be specific.  Read here to find out more about that if you care.

Out of every 1 million people, 5-8 people will get this kind of sarcoma so it is pretty rare.  The good news is that it was really small.  My doctor says usually people wait until it is much bigger before they come in and it is a lot harder to treat.

So, I cried for a couple hours.  I was scared. I scheduled surgery for August 1st.  More on that later.

Luckily, we had some fun planned that day to get my mind off of it.  We left girl C with my mom and went up to see the Bar J Dinner theater.  First, we had to have some square ice cream.
Then we did some miniature golfing.

It was a great day.

We've also had two days at the lake with friends.
The Mariners were looking for Idaho fans to feature during a game, so we had to get our best Mariners duds on and give it a try.


We also had a family reunion with my side.  We found an awesome place in the middle of no where, Idaho.  This farming family has built an incredible yard and let people come play and camp there.  It was really relaxing and all the kids (old and young) loved playing on the toys.



A little yard water play:


Swimming Lessons:

B decided he was too old this year


C's first year and she loves going under the water.
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So, I had calmed down about my surgery.  Everything was going to be Ok.  The day came, and they did the first incision and we waited for the test.  Still some remaining cancer cells.

They did two more cuts and after the third one, he felt like he got it but there were still a few suspicious cells.  We went home and they sent the tests over to the hospital.

The next morning the office called and said the tests were clear!!

I scheduled to have my stitches done.  It took almost an hour to do my inside and outside stitches.  It is about 4 1/2 inches long on the outside.

So, the last few days and have been pretty boring as I can't lift or bend for a week or so.  But, I feel so blessed to have diagnosis and tests clear within a months time.

Moral of the story is to get things checked out if they feel weird.



Ta ta for now: