Mort and Pharyngitis

Old boy has a cough.  It started Friday or Saturday night.  I was worried.  I know he has a heart murmur and he could get an enlarged heart.  A dry cough is a sign that the heart is so enlarged it's pushing on his windpipe.

So I sent 2 videos to his doctor because I knew Mort wouldn't cough like that in front of the vet.

And his vet also had me count his breaths per minute.  Mort is a very relaxed breather when he's sleeping.  14 per minute.

He got diagnosed with a sore throat.  He's on banana flavored amoxycillin.  Banana!!!

Good thing I'm allergic to amoxycillin or I'd be tempted to drink it myself!  :-)

Twice a day for 7 days.  I hope he starts to get some relief very soon.  It's tough seeing him do this.  Takes a lot out of him.

Bear #5

I earned this beautiful bear right before my surgery.  But because I was on the low iodine diet for 3 weeks or so, I delayed my NS shipment.  That also delayed getting my 50 pound bear.

She came today.  She’s so pretty!  A beautiful raspberry color.

I’ve been wavering between 198 and 200.x since my surgery.  I have a feeling Dr. Thomas will up my levo when I get my blood work done in early July.

It’s the strangest thing to be sticking to 1200 to 1300 calories a day and going to the gym every weekday for the past week and still being at the same weight.

But once my levo gets properly dosed - according to my doctor - I’ll start to see a change rather quickly.

Hot Flashes and Night Sweats Suck

I used to not care that I was sweating.  When I was younger I'd be drenched and I wouldn't be hot.

Fast forward to 50+ and my body now hates being warm and sweating doesn't cool me down at all.

And then there's the sneak attack hot flashes.  I'm not doing anything different, sitting at work or at home, and it starts in my arms and chest and works it's way up.  Escalating temperature-wise the whole time it's crawling up to the top of my head.

Sometimes I just get the hot without the sweat.  Other times, I'm dabbing at my face.  Or if when it happens in bed, all the dogs have to shift so I can get my one leg out from under the sheet and also pull my shirt up and sheet down to expose my belly to the air.

So I did some research.  Since these hot flash things aren't going to end any time soon.

I found the BedJet and a couple other options.  I chose the BedJet based on a few reviews I watched on YouTube.

I bought it directly from them, not through Amazon because it was cheaper.

The company is excellent.  Sending a thank you email and emails with the progress of shipping.  Also, an email on things to remember when installing the BedJet.  Unpacking it was easy.  The manual is the size of a thick magazine.  But don't let that discourage you. 

I had the thing unpacked and installed in about 20 minutes and that was me taking my time.

It was so nice last night!  I may end up moving the blower closer to the side, middle of the bed rather than near my feet.  But it was very nice having air flowing around me, keeping me cool and dry.

The dogs are still trying to figure out where they can lay without this air blowing their ears.  :-)
I'm going to try to put them between the comforter and the sheet so they can't feel it.

If you have a significant other, there is a dual control BedJet.  Check out this video:
https://youtu.be/zXjIY-j8Yyw

Buh Bye, Dr. Pennington!

Final follow up with surgeon this morning.

Incision looks good, swelling is down to the level it should be.  I probably will barely be able to see anything at all in about 2 months or so.  :-)

And his PA, Toby, did say that the FNA supposedly found cancer.  They've only seen one other time where the FNA was wrong.  I do consider myself extremely lucky.

Still trying to get used to the Levo and not having a thyroid.  My body is being a tad stubborn.  And I know I've forgotten at least once to take the pill.  So I'm trying something different to remember.  We'll see how it goes.

Even though I slept almost 12 hours Saturday night, I still got a lot done Sunday.  Mowed the lawn, did laundry, cleaned the bedroom and bathroom floors.  And the laundry was heavy stuff - the mattress pad, Cesar's chair covers.  And I didn't need a nap after!

So the next step is to hope that 125 mcg is a good dose for me.  That's what the 2 month follow up is for.  Blood work, then visit with Dr. Thomas.

I think I'll upload the incision progression to this post.  Look for update soon.  :-)

May 12, 2018

May 13, 2018

May 26, 2018

June 4, 2018

2 Weeks Post Thyroidectomy

I visited my surgeon last Thursday for my follow up.  Biopsy results weren't back yet, but thank the lord, he took the steri strips off me!

It felt so good.  Very little itching after that.

I still have a very small scab on one side of the incision, but the scar is barely noticeable.

Monday or Tuesday of this week I got the call that I do not have cancer.  Benign!

I am back on my regular NutriSystem and 125 mcg of Levothyroxin.  Follow up on June 4th with surgeon and in 2 months with my endocrinologist.

I have gained weight this week.  I'm back up to 201.  I'm not really concerned because I've been eating the avocados I have left from my low iodine diet and eating them along with my NS food.  So eventually I'll get back down to my 1200 calories a day and start losing again.

:-)

More update after my June visit with surgeon.

In the meantime back to normal stuff.

Thyroid Removal

Surgery was May 10th.  Check in at 11:30, but we got there closer to 10:30.

Only prep for me was no food after midnight.  I was able to drink water or coffee till 9:30 that morning.

This is my 8th surgery and 3rd hospital stay.  So I packed my own jammies along with toiletries and my go-home clothes.  That stayed in Dad's van till I was in my room.

I should have also brought my own food since I am still on low iodine diet and I really don't think the hospital followed that.

Pre-Op I got an IV and the calf air things.  Strip down to nekkid and fashionable hospital gown.

I was put in the exact same pre-op room my brother had for his cancer surgery - #4.  :-)

Visit from nurses, anesthesia team, more nurses, surgeon and PA.  Dr. Pennington was my surgeon and surgery was at Sacred Heart Pensacola.

Only Dad could come back to be with me.

Finally time to go!  I sat up in the bed and 'drove' us to the OR. My nurse thought that was funny.  OR room #4.  I moved to the operating bed and it's nice and warm on your butt.  Chatted the whole time with the team while we waited for me to fall asleep.  The drugs are awesome!  Room was spinning around and the lights looked really pretty.

Then I woke up with extreme pain in my left eye.  Graceful me managed to poke myself in the eye as I was waking up from the drugs.  I didn't even care about the neck discomfort.  They had to saline rinse my eye once then give me ice while I was in recovery.

Then in my room 2 more rinses.  It was the worst tear I've ever had.  I used to get them a lot when I was younger.  Luckily, this one did heal quickly like the others - by the next morning I was fine.

I had a drain put in the wound.  No outside stitches, just steri strips and a gauze cover.

Hospital room was boring - no window.  But I was on my feet pretty quickly, IV had already been disconnected (still in my hand though).  Changed into my jammies, showed nurse I could walk and even dance a little and got my socks changed from yellow (possible fall) to beige (safe to walk).

Wandered around several times throughout the night.  Found the maternity ward, but they put the blinds down so it's hard to see the new babies.

I only slept a little because with the drain I had to sit up to keep the wound above my heart.

One of the nurses was sweet enough to make a pot of decaf for me and put it in the fridge to make it cold.

I finally decided to nap around 3 when I had another concerned nurse ask if I was ok and she covered me up and turned out my light.  I figured that was a clue I should try to rest.

Got to leave around 1 I think.  Which meant I was able to watch Dad at Margaritteville!

Drove home that night.  Took my pills - an antibiotic and NarCo and went to bed.  Saturday I was up long enough to eat and feed dogs, then back to bed for a nap.

The feeling I had over the weekend was like I was recovering from the flu.  Muscle aches, worn out.  But then I'd have moments of feeling fine.

Sunday I did go grocery shopping and today I'm hoping to get my nails done.  Tomorrow back to work.

My neck is itchy.  I did have a negative reaction to one of the tapes on the gauze.  It was on the top and felt like it was pulling down.  It left a red mark the exact shape of the piece of tape.

Right now I'm doing ok.  Still itchy, like my skin is being stretched.

I should hear no later than Wednesday the results of the biopsy on the full thyroid.  I go back to Dr. Pennington on Thursday for my follow up.

The C Word

I met with my surgeon on Tuesday.  For everything that he does and his level of knowledge, he's a humble man.  Respectful of his patients and the referring physicians.

He explained that the pathology report did state papillary carcinoma and did I know what that meant.  I said yes.  He suggested we take the whole thyroid.  I said definitely yes.  I also explained that I had a need to get this done quickly due to my insurance starting over June 1.

So my surgery is May 10th.

Lab report confirming cancer or saying, "Nope, you're good," will be back 2 or 3 days after that.

Normally, it's 4 weeks of low iodine diet and no thyroid meds to get TSH high prior to radioactive iodine treatment.  But because he was so definitive about it being cancer, I started that yesterday.  That'll put me 9 days ahead and hopefully get the RAI started within the last week of the month.

Not all cancers are death sentences.  This one is not.  It's an easy cancer to treat.  It can come back even with the thyroid gone, but that nodule just gets removed.  Easy.

I'm not nervous or scared about having cancer.  My brother is going through way more than I'll have to.

And I've had enough surgeries that I'm really looking forward to that nap.  :-)

As of this morning I weigh 200.4 pounds.  So in the middle of all this thyroid nonsense I just might be able to get to 199 or less!