little black mole

It was several months ago when I noticed Chloe had a small, very black mole on her right arm.  The mole was small, and it looked sort of like someone had taken a Sharpie and pushed it against her skin.  Well, I decided at the time to simply watch the mole to ensure that it wasn't changing or getting larger.  And, thankfully, it never did.  Chad and I discussed asking Dr. McKenna about it, so we decided that we'd bring it up with him at Berkley's 2-year well visit (rather than spending $$$ on a visit that might have ended in a, "Sorry to have you bring her in for no reason" response).  

I asked him to take a look at it, and he explained that the color of the mole, coupled with it's rough feel, made him inclined to have us have it removed and sent to the pathologist to determine if it was typical or atypical (pre-cancerous).  So, a couple of weeks ago we had it removed!  She really was a trooper: she wiggled and was upset for only a minute, and she watched him put the stitches in (she had one internal and one external).  

a close-up of the "wound"

For some reason we coulldn't get a picture without her eyes closed :)

As you can see it was a small mole, which meant only a small area was removed.  I am a little upset with myself for not having taken any pictures of it beforehand, but it obviously slipped my mind!  Once we got home after the procedure Chloe insisted that we take the bandaid off so that she could see her wound.  After many failed attempts to convince her otherwise, I caved and took the the bandage off.  Chloe looked down at her stitches and started crying.  I asked her what was wrong & if it hurt, and this was her reply: "No, it doesn't hurt, it just looks like it hurts!  Put the bandaid back on!"  Haha, it was so cute!

We had the stitch removed a week later (which was simple, and no tears were shed).  We also heard from the pathologist that the mole was typical.  Whew! What a relief!  Prayers were definitely answered, and we are SO grateful that the mole was just that: a mole.

Several days after having her stitch removed we met Kenny & Melanie on the road headed up to his appointment in Aberdeen.  Chloe said, "I bet that's Kenny & Melanie heading to the doctor."  I told her that she was right, then she asked, "Why does Kenny go to the doctor so much?"  Well, this led into a conversation about Kenny being sick (which she remembered), and I explained that the reason we wanted to check her mole out was the same reason why Kenny was sick.  She said, "Oh...," and thought for a moment about that.  Then, in her cute fashion, she says excitedly, "Mommy, since Kenny & I both had the same mole on our arms taken off that must mean we're cousins!"  She is so sweet!  We sure love her and are forever grateful that her mole was typical :)

And Kenny & Melanie certainly have not left our thoughts and prayers for a long time.  We love them both so very much, and that sweet little Taya!  We continue to pray and wish for his recovery, and things are looking well for them.  His treatments are going well and blood work continues to come back positive.  I feel so selfish feeling this way (let alone saying it outloud and on my blog, for crying out loud!), but I miss Mel & Taya like you wouldn't believe!  Melanie is one of my best friends, and I so wish we could have had a summer like we did last year: hanging out at least once a week, playing at parks and in pools, and even taking trips to Logan.  It has been months since we've been able to do that, and I hope and sincerely pray that Kenny will get better so that they can get back to normal and so that we can have our friends back!  The literally have been the only couple that we hang out with, and we sure miss having pizza, chatting, and playing with the girls while funny movies play in the background!  We love you, Kenny & Mel!