My Trip To The Hospital

On Wednesday (June 20, 2012),  I had surgery to remove my thyroid.  


Last summer, during my routine physical, my new Doctor told me I either had a real fat, muscular neck or there was something that we needed to get checked out.  


So, in August I went in for a ultra-sound, where they found one rather large nodule on the left side of my thyroid and about 4 smaller nodules on my right side.  


In September I went to have the large nodule biopsied.  It was found to be benign and I was then referred to an Endocrinologist. 


What is an Endocrinologist?  It is a doctor that treats the Endocrine System.   


What is the endocrine system? The endocrine system is a complex group of glands. Glands are organs that make hormones. These are substances that help to control activities in your body. Different types of hormones control reproduction, metabolism (food burning and waste elimination), and growth and development. Hormones also control the way you respond to your surroundings, and they help to provide the proper amount of energy and nutrition your body needs to function. The glands that make up the endocrine system include the thyroid, parathyroid, pancreas, ovaries, testes, adrenal, pituitary and hypothalamus.

I took the referral and waited.  I waited until about November to make the appointment, thinking that I could schedule an appointment during the holiday vacation.  There were no appointments available until January!  


In January I went to see a fabulous Endocrinologist, who asked me what took me so long to come in.  I told her I knew I just needed to come in for a follow-up, so I took my time.  "No, there is more to this appointment than just a follow-up.", she tells me with a very serious voice.  She begins to explain that because of the size and irregularity of the shape of my rather large nodule, I am going to have to be referred to a surgeon.  


A what?!  The tears start to come....she very thoroughly explains what I can expect from my visit from the surgeon, assures me she is sending me to one of the best surgeons around who specializes in thyroid surgery, wishes me luck and give me my referral.  I call Eric in a panic.  I messed around for 5 months, thinking the nodule was nothing to worry about!


In February, Eric goes with me to meet with the surgeon.  We are at first greeted by her resident.  I can barely keep a straight face or stop giggling as he asks me all of his important health questions....you see, this resident still has acne!  He is so young, I could probably be his mother!  He asks me my age, I answer him but then ask him "and how old are you?"  He tells us that he is 26!!!  he also says, "If you think I'm really young, wait until you meet the doctor."  A few minutes later, in walks this really tall, really beautiful, really young, African-American woman.  She is my surgeon!  Of course I had already googled her, and yes she is one of the best in her field, but her picture online did her no justice.   She is warm, friendly, thorough in her explanations and brilliantly smart.  One last question I have for her..."Can I wait until the end of the school year to have surgery?"  She gives me the OK and Eric and I leave her office feeling informed and in good hands.


Fast forward to June 20, last Wednesday.  My mom has come into town to help out with the kids and hold down the fort.  Eric takes me to the hospital, we do all the pre-surgery stuff and the last thing I remember as a thyroid owner, was Eric kissing me, as they wheeled me out to the operating room.

6 hours later, I am no longer in possession of my thyroid.  I do have a scar that will be the source of questions for a while until it heals nicely. I will have to take synthyroid (thyroid replacement drugs) for the rest of my life.  I sleep all of Wednesday, waking up periodically to greet visitors (thanks Eric, mom, Gabby, Sinobia, Rachel and Sarah), take some pain meds, throw up the ice cream I tried to eat and have my vitals checked.  I am surprised that I can talk.  I was worried about not being able to talk for a while and my voice changing.  I think my family is a little disappointed.  They were looking forward to some quiet time without moms voice:)

On Thursday, I go home and sleep some more.  I bring my hospital surgery socks home with me...I love those socks!  My throat is sore, my neck is stiff, I have a tension headache and I have no appetite, but I'm chill in in my own bed with my hospital socks on (Eric hates theses socks.  He says they scratch him when I move around in the bed).


I'm not allowed to drive for 1 week!


On Saturday, one of my students comes to visit me!  He brings me flowers and a beautiful necklace for me to wear when my neck heals.  He climbs on the couch with me as we chat and have popsicles together (thanks Alex and Amanda for the visit).


On Sunday I ask Eric to take me to Whole Foods to get some vitamins.  The trip makes me exhausted!  I'm frustrated about not having any energy.  Eric tells me to give it time.


By Monday I have my "real mommy voice" back, as I yell for Sinobia to do something.  I go with my mom and the girls for Gabby's orthodontist appointment.  I feel like I'm going to faint.  I am so tired from this trip.  This sucks!  I'm not used to having no energy!  Eric tells me to spend Tuesday resting.  I'm also starting to get hungry.  The family has grilled polish sausages, macaroni and salad.  I decide I am going to eat.  The polish goes down with very little throat pain, but I pay for it later, as it comes out with more fanfare.  I am up all night with indigestion and an upset stomach.


So, today I am taking Eric's advice.  I'm taking it easy, resting and going back to my yogurt, soup, green tea and ice-cream diet.  This has been quiet a long post, and I just realized that I'm not exhausted from it, so I believe I'm on the mend!


Thanks to Eric, my mommy and the girls for all of their great recovery love and care!

Happy Father's Day!

 

Eric is a gift to any child that comes in contact with him.  He is humble, kind, caring and generous of his love, affection and time.

Before we even considered getting married, I knew that I wanted Eric to be the father of my children.  We were young and figured, "Who needs to be married?"  We were going to have a family without the formalities of marriage.  There was not a doubt in my mind that with or without a marriage certificate, Eric would always be there for his children, guiding them, loving them, and giving them all the support they need to succeed in life.

Of course, once I became pregnant with Gabby,  my father was furious at our idea.  "What are you guys thinking?"  "What about the kids!?" and my favorite..."what would I tell my children when they asked me, "who's my daddy mommy?"  It was difficult to convince my dad that we knew what we were doing.  He adored Eric and knew he would make a fantastic dad, but didn't get our "young and immature thinking."

Several months down the road, we did get married.  My dad was so proud and excited.  Since I'm his only girl, he never questioned the expense of our wedding and encouraged me to take advantage of the fact that he only had to do this once:)  I always knew Eric was the guy for me.  It became even more crystal clear the moment Gabby was born, that I had been right all along...he was going to be the best dad ever.

I'm not sure what the girls would say on most days about their dad being "the best".  As with all kids, as a parent he is annoying, weird and embarrassing most of the time.  What I do know is that Eric shares a special bond with his girls that brings tears to my eyes when I think about it.  They know he is there for them forever and always.  He is tough, strict, stern and at the same time fun, silly and fair.  As I have said before, I believe that he is their first true love (which is going to make it hard for any guy to beat!)

Yesterday, for Father's Day, Eric participated in the Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate 5K run.  This was his first 5K and a big deal for him.  Although the girls were slow to get up at 6:30 am to get Eric to the run, they proudly watched him line up at the start line, take off and then they anxiously awaited to cheer him on as he passed under the finish line.  We were all proud of him, especially the girls.  What a great way for the girls to start Father's Day...Cheering on the guy that cheers them on every day of their lives!

Happy Father's Day Eric!

Summer Time!

Just when you think that summer will never get here, it starts to come at you really fast!  The end of the school year is a crazy time of year, especially when your family is at 3 different schools.  There are the end of the year parties, ceremonies, concerts, gifts, blah, blah, blah...

So, I am blaming the end of the year stuff on why I haven't blogged in a while.  Wow,  a lot of stuff has been going on as we were closing out our school year.

Sinobia cashed in her birthday gift.  She wanted a scuba lesson as a birthday gift and wanted to bring Gabby along for the fun.  So, sometime in May, I finally made good on my promise and signed them up for a scuba lesson.  Sinobia was of course, a natural in the water.  She needed about 5 minutes of instruction and then didn't come up for air (or a break) for another 30-40 minutes.  Gabby said Sinobia kept doing crazy tricks under water, taking her mouth piece out, blowing bubbles and then putting it back in (all while still under water).  Gabby was a little nervous at first, but started to feel comfortable after a few short dives.  After that, it was pretty much me looking lonely, because know one came up for a while.

Gabby was inducted into the National Honor Society in May.  It was a short but sweet candle light ceremony.  With college on the brain, she has been working really hard in school this year.  It has made Eric and my job easier, as we are doing a little less nagging..."Did you do your homework?"

 

Sinobia flew through 6th grade!  She loves everything about middle school and surprised us with her tween age work ethic when it comes to getting her school work done.  For all of her hard work, she was awarded a "High Flying Eagle" award for the 3rd marking period at Chute.  Another cute ceremony, but with a much better reception (pizza and cupcakes)!

And then there were the end of the year concerts (yea, orchestra videos!)....

Gabby was inducted into the TRI-M Music Honor Society this year, so she got a little shout-out during the Orchestra's Spring concert.   This concert is so long (2 1/2 hours on a Thursday evening)!  The only thing that keeps me awake is the fact that the orchestra is really good.

Sinobia, once again is the only bass player in the Chute 6th grade orchestra.  She is starting to understand that you can always hear the bass playing, so if she doesn't practice, we will all hear it.  This has motivated her to be a better bass player.  I think I recorded her faking some bass playing last year at the spring concert:)  This year, you can clearly see the difference 1 year makes in the life of a middle school kid.

Hmm....so, now all of the backpacks are piled up in the corner of our dining room.  Know one wants to unpack a years worth of stuff that has been shoved into our lockers.  Gabby started work on Monday and Sinobia is taking full advantage of some time off from school and swimming = sleeping all day!

I usually feel guilty about being off for the summer for the first week of vacations, so to ease my guilt, I have already cleaned out one closet!  I think today I'll do some laundry:)

Happy Summer!