The Modern Wonders of Medicine

I am feeling grateful today and thought I would share just why I feel so grateful. I have been meaning to write about this but kept putting it off. So today I am going to write about it.  The modern wonders of medicine will never cease to amaze me. About 6 weeks ago I had a nasal procedure done by my doctor who is an ENT/Plastic Surgeon. I had had some moderate nasal issues and was having it corrected.  

Well prior to this I had a little skin tag that was growing under my eye. Over the last few months it seemed as if it was growing and becoming more of a nuisance. I had had them before on my neck and they were easily removed with no issue. So just before I went in for my nasal procedure I asked my doctor since he was also a plastic surgeon if he could shave it off.  He said no problem. When I returned for my follow-up on my sinus procedure he immediately told me I had another problem and that was I had basal cell carcinoma. That little skin tag he took off was skin cancer. My heart sunk and I immediately became worried. I know it is the most treatable cancer but any cancer is too much cancer to me. 

So my next procedure was having this skin cancer removed. I had to wait three weeks. It seemed like an eternity. Because it was so close to my eye I had to have a dermatologist surgeon do the Mohs Procedure and then my plastic surgeon stitch it up. Mohs surgery is the most effective treatment for most types of skin cancer. So on February 7th I had the procedure done in the morning and then went and had it stitched up in the afternoon. Both doctors did an amazing job.  Dr. Linder did the Mohs Procedure and had to do it 3 times. Then when I went to Dr. Hobgood to have it stitched up he put in 22 stitches as tiny of a stitch as possible. It was awesome. I shared some of the gruesome pictures but am so grateful for what it is shaping up to look like.

I am grateful for the wonders of medicine.  That we can take care of something that can have such a terrible ending if not properly treated.  I am grateful that something prompted me that day to ask the doctor to take that little skin tag off.  I will be forever grateful that I listened!

A Mitt Romney Rally!

You can say that we are a very political minded family.  Most all of us enjoy keeping up to date on anything in the political world.  With the big GOP election coming up and all the debates the candidates are having we have been glued to our TV.  We are constantly talking about each of the candidates, our likes and are many dislikes.

There is one candidate though that we are partial to and that is Mitt Romney. Well this past Monday evening our dream of seeing him in person became a reality.  Mitt Romney was having a real live rally right here in Mesa, Arizona at the Mesa Amphitheater.  We were so excited we could hardly stand it.  Ike, Spencer, Cameron & I headed down to the rally nice and early to make sure we made it into the venue he was going to be at. The kids also brought two friends.  The doors opened and we hurried inside and went directly to the front.  We got positioned in the very front row right next to the stage.

A band played for about an hour before Mitt Romney came to the stage.  He gave a wonderful speech and got everyone so excited.  There was at least 5000 people in attendance.  We were so close to the stage that we got the best pictures ever.  The best part of the whole night though was after he finished his speech he made his way down to the front row where we were and we all got to shake his hand.  Yes, I shook hands with possibly the next President of the United States.  It was so cool.  Here are a few pictures from the rally.

http://www.mittromney.com/

Happy "100" Years Arizona w/ the MoTab

Tonight we had the wonderful opportunity to attend the concert of "The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra" at the US Airways.  The choir is made up of over a 300 member choir and about 60 member orchestra. It was absolutely fabulous.  We sat in in Section 212, Row 14.  Right in the center of the stage. Oh did I mention in was the very last row in the place.  We are talking as nosebleed seats as you can get.  It actually was not that bad.

We thoroughly enjoyed it. Me, Ike, Taylor, Cameron, Tom (AKA Dad), Tamye & Zack all went.  It was a concert to celebrate 100 years of statehood for Arizona.  Governor Brewer invited the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to come to Arizona for this special concert. It had been 46 years since the last time that had come to Arizona.  They performed a wonderful selection of songs.  Mostly secular music with a few hymns and a few patriotic ones.  a highlight was when Alex Boye sang a solo which was absolutely superb.

The best part of the concert  for me was at the very end when they invited a special guest from the audience to come up and conduct the final song.  Up came Ex-Superior Court Judge Sandra Day O'Connor.  She did such a great job.  It was so cute seeing her up there conducting.  They did an encore of 5 songs.  What an awesome evening it was.  So glad we went.