Whew....I'm finally back home and in my own bed. Yay! I went in for my second surgery to remove the rest of my thyroid yesterday around 5pm or so. The surgeon was successfully able to remove the left side of my thyroid and about 5 lymph nodes without any complications. He was very pleased with the results. I should find out this Friday at my followup appointment if the left side was also malignant and if it had spread to any lymph nodes. The surgeon said in about 70% of cases if one side of the thyroid is malignant then the other side is as well. Now onto the next steps.
First step is to rest and recover. I did fine after the surgery but they sent me to the ICU just as a precaution since I had underwent 2 surgeries in less than a week. By morning I didn't get my pain meds in time and that is when my pain kicked in big time. We were finally able to get it under control though IV drugs which act instantly and later they were able to give me the actual pain pill an hour early to make sure the IV didn't wear off. After that I was good and have been since. My voice is scratchy and soft but that will improve over the next few days. It is nice to be at home with my family. I missed the boys so much. I can't interact with them alot but at least I'm in the same house with them.
My next appt is Tuesday with the pulmonologist. I'm not exactly sure what will be discussed then since the diagnosis is now cancer but we shall find out soon enough. I may just ask them to move my CT scan up a little earlier and repeat it more frequently and go from there. Wednesday I see my endocrinologist where we will discuss the rest of my thyroid treatment. Right now we are guessing my options are to start thyroid meds now so I can feel okay while recovering and then stop the meds to undergo the radioactive iodine treatment or I can put off going on meds and do the treatment sooner. From what my surgeon said the side effects of my thyroid being gone should start kicking later next week. Prayers for wisdom with this decision are greatly appreciated. Friday I go back to see my surgeon just to have my calcium levels checked.
So what does the radioactive iodine therapy involve? It really depends on my dosage and the procedure of the hospital. From my understanding (I'll know more Wednesday) I will be given a pill of radioactive iodine and kept in isolation for 3 days. Not fun but necessary. Not sure what we will do once I'm released as it will still not be a good idea for me to be around the kids. The actual radioactive iodine will seek out and kill any remaining thyroid tissue and thyroid cancer in my body and kill it off.
Okay...pain meds are making me a bit incoherent so I believe I'll cut this entry short at the moment. Thank you all for the continued prayers, help, and support. It is all greatly appreciated! God has been so good through this entire thing. When I was in so much pain today before the pain meds decided to work I just laid in bed, closed my eyes and began praying for relief from the pain and for rest along with for a few specific people that came to mind. God did not let me down He met me in my pain and got me through it until the pain meds finally kicked in.
Will update more later once I see the doctors this week. Love you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment