Insides Revealed

After a whirlwind trip to Detroit for the loss of Emily's Uncle Bo, we returned on 7/29, went home, grabbed some lab orders, and I was out the door to get to a 4 o'clock LabCorp appointment for blood draw. This was "the check" to read all Thyroid levels, PTH, TSH, Calcium, Thyroglobulin and more to see if radioactive iodine therapy was going to be prescribed. The good news is, no, I do not have to have radioactive iodine! Wahoo! And really there is no "bad news," just information and next steps. One of the cancer marker tests is for Thyroglobulin (Tg)- the protein synthesized by Thyroid cells. Since I have no Thyroid, I have very few Thyroid cells (since they can't remove everything) and if both my Tg levels and Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels are low, that's a good indicator there is no active cancer. As the doctor said, there is no guarantee of anything at anytime and he'll be following me for life basically. So, we keep checking a...

Today was a "good" day. We fought traffic to get to my 9:30 AM appointment with a new, hopeful endocrinologist that was recommended by the PA of my surgeon as they also see this provider for their own care post-thyroidectomy. After completing typical intake paperwork with medical history, current health status, etc. and providing the receptionist with the latest paperwork from my followup yesterday, we only waited a short while until the nurse brought us back. They took my weight, height, vitals, etc. before the meeting with the doctor. The appointment lasted about 45 mins. The doctor was very knowledgable, detailed, and thorough. Friendly to Emily and Noah, and assuring again of the outcomes of Thyroid cancer. He has a solid background "in the field of thyroid cancer and subclinical thyroid disease, and won a national award for his work in thyroid cancer research." So, my confidence from the referral and his background was high. He discussed everything from t...

Post-Operative Day #3(POD3) Any medical situation can feel debilitating to one who doesn't know the jargon. So, I try to pay attention to everything: what is said, read, dictated, or otherwise done to me or about me. From the first imaging appointments, I've requested copies of all reports, imaging discs, etc. and it's all organized in a binder (yeah yeah, some of you know me well enough to know how organized I try to be). Nevertheless, "POD3" was the new one I learned and felt every bit of day 3 after going to see my surgeon to have the drain removed (thank God!). Those things have to be one of the most annoying, irritating post-operative part of it all. Hanging from your wound, stitched to skin usually like mine was and then attached to a bulb syringe basically, that had to be drained since being in the hospital at least twice a day. Then my surgeon wanted a drain report each morning which he used to determine if it could come out. Apparently mine had slowed...