I apologize for not posting anything here sooner, but I’ve been trying to find the right way to word this, to broadcast this, and my writing has almost entirely failed me.

For any of my readers who know me, you probably know that my mother and I are very close. Actually, my entire family is very close, but I have a closer relationship with my mother than with any other member of my family. My mother is my hero, and probably the strongest person I’ve had the pleasure to meet. She’s always willing to help out with anything she can, until she’s dead on her feet, and she thinks of everyone else before herself, always.

I got home from school a few weeks ago, and my mom was exhausted, but I figured that was because of work and helping with my younger brother’s play, which was a part of it, but the real reason was revealed the next day, after my brother’s final performance for the year.

She sat the whole family down, and told us that she’d had a mammogram done, for the first time since 2009 due to monetary issues and no health insurance, and that it had come back abnormal, which was all of the information she had at the time. Several doctor appointments occurred over the next week, and her official diagnosis was that she had two types of breast cancer, focused on the right breast and lymph nodes. She was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcenoma and metastatic non-small-cell carcenoma, though we are not sure what stage either is at, as we’re still waiting for the results of the PET scan that she did today. However, her doctors are very positive about everything, and believe she will be okay after treatment, which will begin fairly soon, I imagine.

I’m asking for anyone reading this to pray, think positively, or add up some good juju for her in the upcoming troubles that are facing her and our family. One of the good things about Mom being so involved in our lives is that she now has a huge support group, not even including her 8 siblings, and I was a little bit surprised at just how many people have offered their support for anything that we as a family might need. It has been a blessing, and I’m so immensely grateful for everyone that has reached out to us.

In other news, I have most of the money that I need to replace the camera lens that broke a few weeks ago, and after I get this weeks paycheck from Kroger, I will have the money I need to replace it without completely draining my bank account, which is fantastic news for my sanity. It’s been really really hard going without my camera, especially for my sanity. It’ll feel great to have it back in my hands again. Friendly reminder that if anyone wants to donate to help me eventually upgrade, the link is here!

ALSO, I found out today that I definitely made the Dean’s List at school, which meant that my GPA for this semester was above a 3.5 on a 4 point scale! I’m really really proud of the work I did this semester, and while I know next semester will be a huge effort as well, I’m really excited.