February 3, 1997

Dearest John & Julianna; Roy, Patrice, Emily, Timothy & Jesse; Bob, Claire, Michael, Laura, Brett & Katie; Rick, Jean, Ricky, Barbara Jean, Mary Ann & Sarah; Ron, Ann, Susanna, Jessie, Russell, Lee Anna & Jimmy:

I am always SO surprised when I start to type my letter to find that the computer knows what date it is - I don't know what month it is half the time.

I hope you are all doing REALLY good!!! I find myself thinking about Bob and John all the time - I hope SO much that they are having a WONDERFUL time. John came over several times before they left to pick up some clothing he had here and he told me he was not going to take any work with him - that will be a real adjustment for him because he has had his cellular phone in his ear constantly for the last five or six years. I hope Bob is not taking any work with him either. It will do them a "world of good" to have a vacation from their jobs. I just wish the other men in my family could have gone with them. I hope Claire and Julianna will get along fine while they are gone - I can't get Julianna on the phone so maybe she has gone to see her family. She is kinda' tied down with their dogs and I would have been willing to help if they had asked.

BARJI I WAS SO PROUD OF YOU ON SATURDAY!!! Jeannie called Friday night and said that Barji was in a dance competition that was being held at the college in back of me. Jeannie and Sarah came down Saturday about noon and we went to it. We just barely made it in time for their first dance but we were there in plenty of time for their second one. I watched several of the schools and Barji's school was the very best one of all the ones I saw. It was a state wide competition so there were A LOT of people there. I JUST LOVED IT. Barji is SO beautiful anyway and their costumes are out of this world. We really lucked out because I had to leave for the temple at 3:30 and Jeannie and Sarah were a little late getting down here because Sarah's ballet carpool decided to do special things instead of taking Sarah right home after their practice - BUT we made it in time to see both her dances. I love to watch Barji because she is SO natural and sweet and a beautiful dancer - some of the girls are not that way.

The Woolleys came over last night for Family Home Evening and RUSSELL DID A WONDERFUL JOB WITH THE LESSON. I really learned a lot and I was SO proud of Russell. He has been studying the civil problems in the Far Eastern Countries (I believe that's right but don't count on it) in his geography class. He had a chalk board and drew pictures of the relationships of Abraham and his wife Sarah and handmaidens Hagar and Keturah and showed the comparisons of the 12 tribes, the 12 sons and how it connected with Christianity and Judaism as opposed to Islam and Muhammad. He brought out that the big problems are that the Islams think they are entitled to Abrahams' blessings of the land because of the lineage through Hagar and the others think they are entitled to them because of the lineage through Sarah. I need to find out more where Keturah fits in. I asked so many questions last night that I'm sure the children think I am completely stupid. I LOVE having them come over and it was wonderful to have Jeannie & Sarah come down too on Saturday- I regret that I couldn't spend the afternoon with them but once I am committed to the temple I can't change it.

Roy and Patrice - I just about called to see if you would represent our family at the 50th Wedding Anniversary for Chris & Wayne Smith. Their son Rick and his wife Linda had it at their home in Conway. I probably would have asked you if it had been in Little Rock. I called to congratulate them on Saturday morning but they hadn't arrived yet - Linda said it was supposed to be a surprise party and she didn't expect them until about 4 p.m. - the invitation said the party was to be from 4 until 6 p.m. - I hope they got there in time. I hope you're doing good!!!

I had a "WAKE UP CALL" last week that I am going to tell you about so you won't be as dumb as I have been. In 1990 I went to a cancer clinic that is given at the hospital in Provo. The dermatologist there was worried about a mole (really a discoloring) on my face and said I should have it checked out. I did and Dr. Donaldson took it off and it was okay Several months later a funny looking mole appeared on the skin right by the shinbone of my right leg so I went back to him and he said to come back in six months and he would check it. He drew a picture of it but he didn't seem one bit concerned. I have other moles on my body and he checked those out too and said they were nothing to worry about. I have literally watched that mole grow on my leg and have done nothing about it!!!

I always go the first of every year to the internist and the eye doctor for my annual exams. I thought "Well, I'll go back to Dr. Donaldson to see if the mole needs to be checked", but I wasn't really concerned about it. Last Monday I had an appointment with him in the morning at 9:30 and when I got there he looked at the mole and turned white and said, "Mrs. Mellor, why haven't you been in to see me before?" He told his nurse to tell his other patients that he would be delayed for about an hour and he ushered me into his little operating room and cut the mole out. He kept talking to me all the time - asking all sorts of questions about my family and I could tell he was trying to keep my mind off what he was doing. He even took pictures of it and had me sign papers giving him the right to show them at seminars he was giving. When I told him I had two sons who were doctors he said he wanted their phone numbers. I COULD TELL HE THOUGHT IT WAS VERY SERIOUS!!! He said he would send it in and have the results back by Thursday.

When Annie was here on the Sunday night before my appointment on Monday I told her I was going to have my mole checked after all these years. She just gasped as I showed her the mole. She called me Monday after my appointment and said she would be with me on Thursday when he had the results back. I WILL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO HER FOR HER SWEET SUPPORT. Needless to say - I didn't sleep all week. Julianna - if you noticed that I was especially nervous during our lunch Monday afternoon, that was why. I didn't want Bob and John to know about it before they left for their trip.

Annie was with me at Dr. Donaldson's office on Thursday. He took me into his little operating room and checked the incision he had made and then he said, "Well - it is melanoma but it is very shallow". I can't tell you how relieved I was!!! If I understood him right it is .33 mm thick and the cancer book that Roy gave me when Daddy's cancer was diagnosed says anything less than .85 mm thick is 99 percent curable. I believe he thinks it would be best to take more tissue around where he cut but he wants to talk to Bob first. He gave me all kinds of options - one was to have a needle go up into the groin area to see if it has spread - I said I wanted that but after reading the cancer book I don't believe that is necessary. He seemed a little bit concerned that Bob wouldn't be home until the 9th but I have an appointment with him on the 10th and he wants to talk to Bob that morning. I CAN JUST IMAGINE HOW BUSY BOB IS GOING TO BE WHEN HE COMES HOME but I don't know what else to do. I told him I would have Roy call him but after I looked at the cancer book I felt that wasn't necessary.

I can just hear you all saying 'MOM, HOW DUMB CAN YOU BE"!!! I take full responsibility for neglecting a very serious thing. It isn't like the mole was in a hard to see place - I looked at it many times a day - I remember not long ago being some place and crossing my legs and when I saw it, I thought "Wow, that's an ugly mole" and I pulled my stocking so people wouldn't see it!!! PLEASE CHECK YOUR MOLES AND THOSE OF YOUR CHILDREN!!!

We have all been SO concerned about Bev Woolley, Ron's Mom. The dark spots in her lungs have been diagnosed as malignant but they knew they came from another primary cancer and they have diagnosed it as metastastic (sp.?) breast cancer - she had breast cancer 30 years ago.

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