And now, for the rest of the story . . . .

I was not intentionally taking my time to do a follow up post for dramatic effect. I am just really out of the habit of blogging. So here's the story:

During an annual checkup with the OB/GYN he noticed I had an enlarged thyroid which was not really surprising because Matthew and I had as much as diagnosed me with some type of thyroid issue. So, I kept an eye on the ol' bugger until I noticed that it did seem to be increasing in size. I scooted myself on down to our new GP Doc with my list of ailments including suspicious moles, an annoying wart, seasonal allergies, and -oh yah- a lump in my neck (the enlarged thyroid). He was quite intrigued with my medical history as most Dr.'s are. I'm a medical mystery I tell ya! The lump was a concern and so we started the process of the blood draw, then some scans, and an ultrasound which led to a biopsy which of course resulted in cancerous cells. I wasn't too surprised when he said it was cancer because if there is a 3-5% chance you better believe that I'm special enough to fall in that number.

I have thyroid papillary carcinoma (aka cancer). Everybody seems to know a family member, a friend, a co-worker or some step-sister's, old college roommates, twin brothers, dog trainer who has it too so I guess I'm not as unique as I believe myself to be. But there it is. Some like to call it the "good" cancer but who can really call cancer good. It does however have a 97% cure rate which is fantastic and since it is the thyroid the treatment is not as debilitating as others.

You've all witnessed the 1st step. The removal of that blasted thyroid. My parents, bless their sweet little souls, fresh off their mission to Africa for 2 years came over and watched the boys while Matthew and I went in to take care of this on July 24th. I had a fantastic surgeon and everything went really well. There are a couple of risks and I luckily still have my voice and only experienced a little hiccup with my calcium levels dropping. I spent 1 night relaxing in those "comfortable" hospital beds before I was back home with my boys. Who, by the way are so terribly sweet and caring of their mother. My parents stayed a whole week helping me out and running the boys to swim lessons and such, allowing me to make a pretty speedy recovery. It's day 10 now and I'm feeling pretty great, but I know these days won't last at least for the time being.

The next step is radiation, which again since it's the thyroid is not as bad as the other stuff. I go on a very low iodine diet which shouldn't be too hard with all the glorious fresh fruit and veggies around. Then I swallow a radioactive iodine pill and glow for about 2 weeks. It requires isolation (at home) for at least the first 48 hours and then very minimal for at least a week and up to two. After that it's periodic scans and thyroid replacement pills for the rest of this earthly life.

That's the story. That's why the boys like to run and scream, "Watch out, the Zombie is coming." Wild huh!