Surgery & stitches

We have two adult children who have recently undergone procedures, resulting in stitches. All of our kids have been ‘blessed’ with plenty of moles on their skin as well as birthmarks. Some of those moles are dark and bumpy. Some of those birthmarks are big, dark and raised. In other words…dangerous, pre-cancerous, and suspicious.

Shasta had two moles removed from her back last week…which resulted in stitches and pain. Thankfully, yesterday the test results came back and they were negative for cancer cells.

Jessica’s birthmark and mole removal was much more complicated. She had a very large birthmark on her thigh, easily the size of an adult’s fist. She also had two suspicious moles removed, one from her chin and the other from her upper stomach. She met with a plastic surgeon several times and the date for surgery was set for the day before Thanksgiving. Wayne and I drove down to the city to be with her and to bring her to our home to recuperate after her surgery. The surgery itself lasted three hours and she was put completely out. The doctor was able to entirely remove the birthmark but it resulted in over 100 stitches, some dissolvable and some not. It is now three days post-surgery, and she is just now starting to feel better, although she still tires easily and is very stiff and can only hobble about and cannot sit for more than a few minutes at a time yet. Today was the first day we were allowed to change her bandage. I did this for her, and it was extremely nerve-wracking…trying carefully to not hurt her or accidentally pull out a few stitches. It looks as though she is healing nicely, but it will still be several days before she can get back to her normal routine. All of the little kids have been so sweet and protective of her…never complaining about helping and serving their big sister. And we just keep praying that her test results will come back as normal.

One thing I know for sure…no matter how old and independent my kids get, my ‘mother’s-heart’ will always want to protect and care for them.

Grown don't mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What's that suppose to mean? In my heart it don't mean a thing. ~Toni Morrison, Beloved, 1987