Fleur de Aleta

  Dear Son, I haven't written a letter in a long time.  I'm sorry, sweet boy.  You know Mommy has been through a lot with cancer.  You were so helpful, offering to help me get out of chairs and hold the doors open for me and picking up things that I couldn't reach.  Mommy is getting better and feeling better, almost a year since the first surgery and not even a month after the second surgery.  I did a blog post (scroll down further past this post to see it) about my "pink journey." "Pink Journey" is called this for breast cancer awareness and also because you know Mommy loves the color pink.  I used to think it was pretty, but now I know it also means strength.  I hope you remember Mommy being strong and determined to heal. You certainly have been strong!  So many changes at such a young age and you adapt so well.  At the end of 1st grade, Corona Virus swept around the world.  Everything closed down, including schools.  Your teacher, Ms. Falgout, did a g

Warning:  At the end of this post, there are pictures.  You might not want to see them, it gets ugly. It was typical for me to wait 2 years between mammograms.    My cousin just had a scare with needing a biopsy about 7 months prior.    I remember telling her, with the intentions of calming her anxiety, "Most people who have a biopsy, it comes back benign."    It did for her, though she has to go back every 6 months for a mammogram now.   Dr. Wax's office called me after my annual (2 year for me) mammogram, "The radiologist recommends a diagnostic mammogram.    It says here that there are calcium spots.    That's typical, it's probably nothing."    My husband and my mom went with me for the diagnostic mammogram.    They were in the waiting room, where the nurse told them, "Aleta doesn't need an ultrasound.    That's good.    God forbid she needs a biopsy."    I wouldn't wish a diagnostic mammogram on any woman, imagine the routine p