LC’s Story: Rad AND Rad-ioactive – Thyroidectomy and Radioactive Iodine

Sometimes having something so small taken away doesn’t seem like the most extreme thing, until you realize after it’s gone just HOW important it was.linda

It started in December 2010 when what I thought was a cold just wouldn’t go away. From there it turned into a cough that just lingered for months. Every month I was at the doctors, urgent care or ER with the same issue; no amount of antibiotics, cough meds/suppressants, allergy pills or post nasal drips were helping at all.

In May of 2011, after being seen in the ER, the doctor had asked why I haven’t been referred to an ENT at this point. So there was the recommendation (with HMO there’s nothing like waiting). Late May was my first visit to the ENT, who felt a lump in the middle of my throat and asked how long have I had the lump. I don’t really know, I’ve never noticed it before, but the more he made me feel it, the more I wondered just how long has that thing been there?!

In June I was scheduled for an ultrasound that came back not looking so clear and off I went for a biopsy.
Those biopsies, they never tell you just how uncomfortable they’re going to be or how my eyes wouldn’t stop watering afterwards or how my throat would feel like it was a swollen football and I wouldn’t be able to talk.

My ENT doctor, bless his soul, must have been the nicest man when he had to deliver the news; the words will forever be in my head almost like a marriage proposal. “LC, I want to make sure you understand and listen to what I’m about to tell you. You’re biopsy came back and the nodule that has grown on the outside of your thyroid has tested Stage 1 cancer”.

“WHAT?!?!?!?!?!CANCER!!!!!!!” Of course the hysterics hit once you hear those words, it’s like a movie in slow motion “Yoooooouuuuuuuu haaaaaaveeee Caaaaaaaannnnnnccccceeeerrrrrrr”. Right?!

After the water poured out of my eyes and my ears were no longer muffled, I could hear him speaking again. “It’s going to be OKAY! It’s only Stage 1, we’ve caught it in time, these are our options: 1) we go in and remove the nodule and send it for testing, but if it does come back that the cancer has spread to your thyroid then we will have to go back in for another surgery to remove the whole thing or 2) we remove everything, you’re on thyroid meds for the rest of your life and that’s that”. Well those two very wonderful choices left me speechless, powerless and most of all in shock. I asked “Doc, what would YOU do, I mean if it was You or your daughter or your wife, what would you do?!?!”

He had the most gentle voice and understanding spirit “LC, I’d remove the whole thing because I wouldn’t want to take any chances, but it’s not me – it’s you and I need you to go home discuss this with you’re family and call me to let me know what you want to do, I will be doing the surgery either way and no matter what I won’t let you down, You’re going to be just fine“.

Well the options weren’t really options at all; I’ve got a 50/50 so let’s just go all the way and take the whole thing out so I don’t have to deal with it again. Things are explained so differently and understood in a different nature and language when the word Cancer is attached to it. What you hear is it’s just a gland, you don’t really need it, there’s meds for it, it weighs about an ounce and it’s the shape of a butterfly. Huh…who knew. But in reality the meaning of that tiny little one ounce butterfly gland is…Controls your Weight, Skin, Hair, Nails, Mood, Weight (oh did I mention that already), Energy, Metabolism, Weight – Oh YES your WEIGHT! Being female, this weight thing is actually an important factor in life, being a female over 40 it’s a great big factor in life. Don’t be so quick to just fly away there little butterfly, turns out you’re actually a main factor in my equation. But ALL That, I didn’t hear, all you heard was Cancer and at that point I just wanted it all gone.

September 2011 I had a total thyroidectomy, a lot of ice cream, my venti iced nonfat vanilla latte the day after surgery and a crazy amount of rest. Two weeks after surgery my follow up and removal of stitches came so there I went to my wonderful Doctor/Surgeon just waiting to have my bandages off and get back to my life again. As my sister watched in awe as the doctor snipped and clipped, I just couldn’t wait to move my neck around and see my scar. Then he sat back and said how beautiful it was going to be, it was not going to be noticeable at all and there was some things in my chart he wanted to go over.

Then it all began like this “LC, I received the results back from what was taken and it seems that the cancer has spread to your left lymph node“. Again ——————- WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I don’t really know what he said after that, since my ears muffled and my eyes wouldn’t stop watering, so it was left to my sister to hear everything that was going on through her own tears. After sometime all I heard was we are going to treat this with Radioactive Iodine (RAI) and do a body scan. I’m going to be “Radio Active”?!?!?!?!

With the conversation going “it’s only 3 days and do you have a beach house to stay in perhaps?” A beach house?!?! Really?!?! No I don’t. Because I’m going to have to stay somewhere isolated for 3 days and it’s going to require some extra measures on my part.

There was a time that came that I really “Lost It” – the Biohazard Ward at the hospital when they explained all the details that involved the RAI treatment, like being contaminated and isolated for 8 days. EIGHT DAYS?!?!?!?! WTH! What happened to 3?! Well, the 3 is when you’re completely and ridiculously radioactive; the other 5 are when it’s leaving your system and extra precaution. That’s when the time came that I just got up, walked out and said “Forget it – I’m NOT doing this!” Leaving my parents there to apologize that their daughter is delirious and under a lot of stress. Two weeks later we tried it again, this time my parents called for backup and made my sister go with us, to be the watch guard. No contact for 8 days…

November 2011 was the day I actually became my super hero alter ego “Wonder Woman”, becoming radioactive, but no – my pee didn’t light up or become a beacon in the night, I was just an average person calling in for Starbucks orders to be left at my door and magazines to be dropped off when my sister took her lunch break. It was the longest 8 days I can remember…My kids brought my dog to wave to me from the car as I looked out the window and my boyfriend would stay on the phone with me when he was outside to try and make me laugh. But it finally ended the day before Thanksgiving and at Thanksgiving dinner my sister got the scissors out and cut off my hospital wrist band.

Mid 2012 I tattooed the biohazard symbol, the exact one from that wristband, on the inside of my right wrist as a symbol of strength, growth and never giving up. It reminds me everyday that no matter what I thought I’d never get through, I did. It reminds me that I am a Wonder Woman and I will always fight the fight.

There have been bumps in the road: weight gain, hair and nails are thinner, my metabolism is wacky, my crazy isn’t always in check and no matter what dosage of thyroid meds you’re on it just isn’t the same as that little butterfly gland some of us didn’t know was so important. I’ve fought through weight gain AND it has been a struggle, I can say that after gaining 40 pounds from my RAI and unbalanced meds, I’ve lost 18 and have been able to keep that off. I still have watchful eyes for another 3 years, but I don’t mind as long as nothing spreads or grows. It’s been a tough road but you finally realize it’s your battle and the only one that can be persistent enough to win it is — YOU!

Don’t Ever give Up and no matter what the doctors say, listen to your body it tells you things ONLY you can hear. If I wasn’t so persistent in going back and forth and fighting for what I knew was wrong, my cancer would have never been detected or would have been caught and Lord only knows what stage it would have landed me in or other damage it would have wreaked havoc on. I didn’t take anything less and I changed my life, you can too.

If you want to read more about (and by) LC, please check out her blog at EZBlu.blogspot.com.

For some of us our little butterfly has left, but it doesn’t mean we can’t grow our own wings and fly.

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My Two Year Check In

So it’s been almost two years now. Got my cancer marker blood results back the other week and the doctor said they looked great, albeit iron and Vitamin D deficient. As my Dad says, who isn’t deficient in those?

My thyroid hormone levels are also super high but as my poor endocrinologist has found out, if we drop them I turn into a crazy, suicidal, depressed wacko. So between my high meds and my low carb diet, I’m doing pretty well mentally.

Got the ultrasound yesterday. Now, it’s not as bad as needles but I am still sensitive about things being near my neck, and a half hour (or was it a billion hours?) of lying on my back with someone pressing hard against my neck was pretty rough. The technician let me have several breather breaks to get through it.

Doctor gets back to me and says my ultrasound results are “reassuring”. REASSURING? WHAT?? Sigh. Oh well, better than NOT reassuring, right? I asked for some more information on what ‘reassuring’ means, but I feel pretty ‘reassured’ between the ultrasound and the blood results.

Yeah, two years in, three more years of check ups to go!

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A Chaplain’s Thyroidectomy – First Chapter in his Journey

I am still in the middle of this. I am a 50 year-old male who is active, competing in 5K and 10K races over the past twenty years or so. I participated in a Sprint Triathlon in April 2013. I plan to do another in 2014. I tell people that the thyroid thing has pretty much been a non-event for me, an inconvenience at most. My wife disagrees. But, it is really how I feel. It has taken three days from me and forced me to take a week off of work; because my boss pretty much insisted.

I am a corporate chaplain for four companies and see approximately 500 people per week. My hours are somewhat flexible and I love what I do. I look forward to going to work every day. I love to see the folks I get to serve. Currently, I only have one early morning per week (get up at 4:00 AM on site by 6:00AM); the rest of the week I don’t start until 9:00 AM. One night, I work until 10:00 PM. I have not shared my diagnosis or surgery with any of them because it is my job to serve them and help them through these types of things. If I start to share, it becomes about me. I am sure there will come a time that sharing my story with someone will be helpful to them; but that hasn’t happened yet. I have been able to hide my scar with high neck crew t-shirts (a big jump after 30 years of low v-necks). I usually wear button down collars; so, often the t-shirt doesn’t even show.

My thyroid was partially removed for nodules 7/12/2013. The doc removed the isthmus and most of the right side. First surgery was a breeze. Surgery started at 6:00 pm; out by 9:00 PM; home by 10:00 pm; back to work on Monday. Pain killers on Saturday and Sunday and at night before bed on Monday and Tuesday.

I had the rest of the thyroid removed due to papillary carcinoma on Friday, 8/23/2013. The second surgery had some complications due to a lot of lymph nodes. I needed a drain in my neck and had to stay in the hospital until Sunday, 8/25, due to calcium levels. I took pain killers in the hospital over the weekend and one on Monday. The attending physician only prescribed half the dose of pain killers as the first time. They took the edge off and I was OK.

If not for the drain, I could have gone back to work on Monday. I am still doing everything I can, work-wise, from home. I walked the quater-mile to the grocery store and back on Monday. My 68 year-old mother cut my grass on Monday because the doc said light duty for two weeks.

I went to the doc on Wednesday, 8/28, to have the drain out. The doc had received the pathology – no cancer in the left side, 3 out of 21 lymph nodes malignant. He pulled the drain and released me to cut the grass next week. My energy levels are as good or better than before the surgery.

I saw the endocrinologist yesterday. That was a blessing. I received a call from the scheduler at 1:30. She explained that she was just given instructions to set me up with the endocrinologist and when she looked at the schedule, there was an appointment that just opened up at 2:00. She asked if I could make it. Of course I could. The doc was surprised too. She said she had looked at her schedule and didn’t have any openings until November. She looked at my chart, made some calculations and upped my Synthroid dose, which I went on in the hospital. We also set up the RAI treatment plan – which starts when I get back from a vacation I have planned in September.

My treatment for RAI will be:
Week 1 – Go off Synthroid, go on Cytomel
Week 2 – Low iodine diet starts
Week 3 – Stop Cytomel
Week 4 – Start getting labs done
When TSH is above 30 call for treatment which will be administered 1.5 days later
2 Days after dose – stop Low iodine diet, resume Synthroid and Cytomel (for two weeks only)
7-10 Days after dose – Thyroid Whole Body Scan

I should be done before Thanksgiving.

I hope this was helpful and that your experience is as good or better than mine.

Blessings,
Bill C.
Chaplain

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Mother of two young girls who had papillary thyroid cancer – doing great!

To the user that sent this to me – the submission form didn’t send me your name/email. Please contact me because I’d love to ensure you get replies to this post and make sure this story is attributed to you!

My journey with Thyroid cancer all started in June 2012 when I was just sitting on the couch feeling my neck (for some strange reason) and I felt a lump. Freaked right out; I had my husband and all my friends during the next few days feel it and everyone agreed it should not be there. Very panicked, I got into my Doctor and right away she could tell by the way I swallowed when she wrapped her hands around my neck it was in fact an enlarged thyroid.

So after an ultra sound and a consult with an ENT doctor it was determined that I did in fact have 2 nodules on my thyroid gland; one water filled and the other was tiny but solid and the ENT wanted me to have a fine needle biopsy! Not thrilled, but reassured thyroid nodules are very normal by him, I proceeded with the fine needle biopsy and it was uncomfortable but not that bad .(Honestly) About 10 days after that the ENT called me and told me to come in to discuss the results which came out inconclusive meaning they could not get a good enough tissue sample and that I’d have to have a partial thyroidectomy to get a good biopsy.

Well, I had surgery and I was scared but I came through it well ( stayed one night). Not alot of pain but hard to sleep for about a week afterwards but I used alot of pillows and basically just vegged (hard to do with little ones but they were so
great to mom).

The results did not come in and my Surgeon kept phoning pathology asking what the hold up was as they said they needed more time to get a good diagnosis.

Alarm bells started going off as I didn’t like how long things were taking but again being reassured it was probably nothing. Now we’re almost a month and a half past my surgery and FINALLY I get a call to come in and see my Surgeon/ENT. He very directly told me I had papillary thyroid cancer but it was found ( thanks to me acting so fast) very quickly and I would need a total thyroidectomy. I was not really scared or upset at the cancer diagnosis as he reassured me nobody dies of this but I was more upset that I’d have to have another surgery and live without a thyroid (that really scared me and
pissed me off.)

So I had the surgery quite quickly after the diagnosis about another month and that went even better. No pain when I woke up and no nausea (stayed one night) but I think I was more mentally prepared and not as scared.

Healing again was not bad, very little pain and I got on synthroid right away as my Oncologist said I did not need to have the RAI with such an early diagnosis (YAY). Most people have to wait 6 weeks to see what there body is going to do without a thyroid (I hear) so I was lucky. Just to note I have had remarkable support through all of this.

Minus a boss who let me go over it (JERK) but I do have two beautiful little girls I’ve had to be strong for (4 years and 6) and of course my husband was very supportive. I went back to work a month after my final surgery (found a nicer boss) and I’m doing great.

I have to go for blood tests every 6 weeks and the goal is to get me to an almost hyperthyroid state to suppress cancer cells so my docs up my dose every 6 weeks and I feel better each time they do. As far as I’m aware I’ll have to get checked for recurrence every 6 months for three to five years but my doctor said my nodule was so tiny that there was no spreading to lymph nodes and most likely I’m in the clear. πŸ™‚

April 2013

A year later – April 2013

DON’T listen to all the negativity out there about being soooo tired for the rest of your life and gaining 90 pounds cause that is crap unless you let it be your reality. You WILL be tired at first till they get your dose mostly right, mine they’re still tinkering with but I feel mostly great and yes, you may put on a few pounds just from all the recovering time but I’m currently doing the blood type diet and buying a treadmill.

MY REALITY… I will have to be watching my diet and exercise program the rest of my life now that I have no metabolism, basically. But hey, I’m alive and survived two surgeries, I have two young girls who need me every day and a full time job and I just take it day by day.

Don’t let THY CA scare you; research it, get good docs and be positive. It pisses a lot of people off when said it’s the good cancer to get as NO cancer is good but hey, I’ll take it over some of the other diseases out there. πŸ™‚

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Welcome!

Thyroid
Having a thyroidectomy is a MAJOR surgery that many people (myself included) often dismiss at first or don’t realize what the after life will truly be like; living life without a thyroid.

There are many horror stories on the internet about thyroid cancer/thyroidectomy. I’m here to say that you can have Β a GREAT life after having a thyroidectomy and there are a TON of positive stories out there!

This blog is to share those positive stories with others who may have just been told their thyroids will have to be removed, or their loved ones looking to learn more. Whether it’s due to cancer, hyperthyroidism or another reason, please share your story with the world, to be posted in this space, by going to this form.

Or if you want to post a general question or comment, feel free to reply to the blog posts or contact me at lifewithoutathyroid AT gmail dot com πŸ™‚

Love,

Sparky

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Life of the Thyroid-less, A Rambling

I had brunch with an ex-employee that I hadn’t seen in several years. While trying to downplay my thycan, my partner was like ‘honey, it hasn’t exactly been nothing!”.

So it’s been about 1.5 years since my thyroidectomy.
Quick recap: Had complete thyroidectomy due to cancerous tumor. Did NOT do radioactive iodine and the surgery went smoothly/easily. Even managed to lose 20lbs a year after by changing my eating habits.

What HAS been an issue for me are mood swings, especially around ‘that time of the month’. My period is a nightmare. It wasn’t like this at all before the thyroidectomy.

I went back on cytomel a few days ago and am hoping it helps stabilize things. My endo also is having me change the type of birth control I’m on and says I should use brand name, not generic, just to rule out any additional issues.

Late last year after I lost the weight, my body went wacky and I saw a Thyroid doctor who reduced my meds and took me off cytomel. This actually had a very adverse reaction and I became not only lethargic but had horrible short term memory loss. I couldn’t remember what I told people or what was told to me, which considering I am a program manager for a living (a job that entails lots of talking to lots of people), became very problematic.

Tip: Get a small laptop or iPad to take notes and document everything. This saved me at my job, I logged EVERY THING.

My endo upped my prescription and the brain fog lifted and I became human again. But even with a higher dosage I was still so sad, which made no sense considering my life is pretty fly.

So now back on cytomel (which is a T3 fast acting thyroid hormone) and feeling positive.

I know this is a fairly boring post but I get a lot of people reaching out to me about thyroid cancer. The biggest thing, honestly, is you have to pay attention to your body and emotional being. In some ways, you almost have to re-learn yourself and what certain physical or emotional signals really mean and stay on top of your medical care.

You can’t just get that original prescription and hold steady to that for years. Get your thyroid levels tested minimum once a year, more so if you are tired, gaining weight, lethargic, depressed, cloudy minded, or anything that doesn’t “make sense”. DO NOT let it ‘creep up’ into your life and then just ‘deal with it’. Go to the doctor, get it sorted out. Life is too short to live an inferior life when something as easy as an dosage change can brighten your life!!!

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Invisible Thyroid is Invisible

Invisible Thyroid

I’m not gonna lie – it’s been a rough week for me.

After losing weight and having my body go askew, I’m still dealing with the repercussions. The doctor had me go down to 100mcg of synthroid about a week ago.

This week, I am a ZOMBIE.

ZOMBIE!

I can barely move, I don’t want to see anyone, I want to hide my face in my hands. It feels like I am withdrawing (which I guess I am, coming down from 114mcg of synthroid).

ZOMBIE!!

Yes, I have made it into work and with grueling effort, made it through most each work day. I then go home and throw myself into bed, neglecting the cats. Don’t worry, they still get fed.

Mom doesn't give me enough attention so I'm going to snuggle this dishrag

Mom doesn’t give me enough attention so I’m going to snuggle this dishrag

I feel like such a whiner. I feel like I should be “stronger than this”. I mean, I’m healthy! I’m FINE! Why can I barely MOVE?

After a year of being so ‘on target’ with my thyroid meds, I am very disheartened for that state of steadiness to have unraveled. I had signed up for the Mulholland Challenge century but haven’t even begun training. The thought of even standing up right now causes waves of ‘noooooo’ to echo through out my body.

The apartment is a mess. I finally mustered up enough energy to bathe today (ew, body crust), and might work from home tomorrow, as I don’t see any meetings on my calendar that require me to be there in person.

So disappointed. I feel like my body is no longer ‘in my control’. Does that make sense?

The GOOD news is, is that although I am glum and exhausted, I am not depressed. I really attribute the drastic change in mental outlook to low carb eatin‘. So although I’m having a rough week, I know it could be SO much worse if I was still eating like I used to.

Although I totally pigged out on some comforting beef & butternut squash stew tonight.

Well, waiting to hear back on what the doctors say. I am working with two and honestly, ready to get a THIRD opinion as well.

I know I’m not the first person to lose her thyroid and then go through all of this. Would love to hear from others on how you got your thyroid and body ‘back on track’. Please let me know about the light at the end of this tunnel!

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Papillary Thyroid Cancer: A Year Later

Over a year ago, I was diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Cancer. Looking back at my blog posts from that time, I can confirm that getting my slender neck back was the only “Pro” of having thyroid cancer.

I’m coming up on the one year anniversary of my thyroidectomy.

The past year has been interesting. Some thyroid related stuff, for anyone researching what life is like after a thyroidectomy:

  • Be very cautious of changing your thyroid meds, even in the slightest. I was destroying 25mcg of cytomel via my pill splitter, so the doctor had me switch from 12.5 mcg of cytomel to 15mcg (3 x 5mcg pills) a day. Well, I was thinking ‘YEAH! More cytomel = more energy and maybe weight loss!’. Oh ho. Oh no. no no. Instead, apparently I had an “paradoxical reaction” (doctor’s quote) and became extremely sloggy and tired and sad. #pill-splitter-fail
  • Tired. So Tired. But am I tired because of the thyroidectomy? Am I tired because of depression? I have no idea. It’s so confusing.
  • Depression. Am I depressed due to situational stuff going on in my life? Am I depressed because I always had depression? Is it because of med dosage? No idea.
  • Voice change. My voice HAS changed. Very slightly but it has a weird gravelly sound to it. I was filmed for a work-related interview and my voice sounded TERRIBLE. I CRINGED. Listen, if you dare. I’m only in it for a little bit, heavily edited out, probably because of my tragic voice. I used to do a lot of public speaking, too, so I need to start working on getting my voice back to sounding decent.
  • The scar. The scar is pretty faded and you have to look for it to see it. Sometimes it still really hurts, like a throbbing pain in the front of my neck. The pain definitely goes away after the first few months but pops up every now and again. No idea what triggers it. The doctor said that it can take up to a year for the pain to go away, because your body is filling in the gap with scar tissue/etc.

OK SO I don’t really have any ANSWERS. Just vague questions. Life is a bit adrift, but that is more of a big picture thing. No good way to conclude this so….. have a great weekend! πŸ™‚

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Post Thyroidectomy

I’ve been healing from having my thyroid removed. I wanted to post about the thyroidectomy experience and post healing process, because I haven’t been able to find any that are NOT insane horror stories and were all non-normal scenarios. So hopefully someone who has thyroid cancer (or has to have their thyroid removed) will do a Google search and read my experience and help them feel better.

3 weeks after the cut. Note weird neck line above the cut - that was not there before - I think it's cuz there is a chunk of body missing on the inside, resulting in excess skin.

1. The worst part of the whole experience is waking up in the holding room after the surgery. You might find it hard to breathe – DO NOT PANIC. Take slow, deep breaths. It will be uncomfortable, but you should really focus on trying to breathe.

2. The hospital sucks. They will take your blood once at night and again in the morning to check your calcium levels. If they went up a bit overnight, they will probably set you free. I was able to leave by 8 AM the next day.

3. People will try talking to you. Your vocal chords are temporarily damaged and you can probably croak at them but it will suck. Text them on your mobile device and tell them to stop trying to make you talk. Texting is your friend for the first few days after the surgery.

4. You’ll be able to walk around, etc. In fact, two days after the surgery, you will start your new medication and you might feel AMAAAAAAAZIIING!! You will feel like you can run, bike, go hog wild. Don’t do it! It’s your body hyped up on hormones, since the old thyroid hormones take over a week to go away, so you are doubled up. The thyroid controls your energy levels, so of course with too many thyroid hormones coursing through you, you will feel amaazing!! wooo! superwoman! yaeahhhh!!

5. This will end. You will crash. Sleep is your friend.

6. You might feel great after two weeks and decide to go back to work. DO NOT DO THIS. You will get tired really easily and by that 1 PM meeting, feel like you got hit by bricks. Take THREE WEEKS OFF. I made this mistake and suffered heavily.

7. It takes about three weeks for the neck swelling to go down. My scar looks like a red line drawn on my neck, but that all depends on your skin type, etc. I smear Vitamin E on it every day and wear my hair back so it doesn’t stick to my neck. Classy.

8. It’s been about three weeks and I have most of my voice back. It’s hard to talk loud and I can’t hit the high ranges. Expect to NOT sing in your car for about a month.

Overall, I feel great CONSIDERING that only three weeks ago I had my neck slit open and my thyroid and surrounding lymph nodes cut out of me. I’m still a little tired, but overall pleased.

Please share your story about your positive post thyroidectomy story!

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Dead fish, vampires and one week post thyroidectomy

So a week ago from today, I went to the hospital to get my thyroid removed. Recap: I had Papillary Thyroid Cancer. The cure? More cowbell. No wait. Remove thyroid. 1 week post thyroidectomy!

Little known fact since this a blog about biking – I also specialize in saltwater aquaria, with a focus on invertebrates (coral, clams, etc). So I see a fishtank in the waiting room and wander over and am greeted with a horrifying sight.

This clownfish's days of laughing are over.

A dead clownfish, floating in the tank. The superstitious side of me, albeit small, starts to panic that this is a premonition of how the surgery will go.

So I flee the tank and wander around some more and see the following stuck to a door:

Well, hell. Depending on your chosen genre of vampire literature, I’d rather have a vampire sexily suck my blood then a goddamn needle jammed in my arm. It’s been a week and I still look like a domestic violence victim on my arms.

Finally I’m prepped for surgery, they put me under, I wake up and have a panic attack that I’m dying, and end up in a room. I won’t go into detail of the next 24 hours, which just really sucked, but I’m alive and I think I am well. We find out fully on Thursday, but the surgeon said it went really well.

Below is my ‘victory’ picture taken in the hospital after the surgery. I can’t believe I really thought my neck was getting ‘fat’ on one side (which was the tumor). I have my pretty slender neck back, and am doing really well.

w00t. πŸ™‚

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