Not too bad looking. Still have the stupid dissolvable suture in there and some bumps left over from the allergic reaction, but all in all not bad!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Just take it one step at a time.
February 16 - two weeks post surgery Things are going really well! I went back to work last weekend and it was great! The best part was simply getting back to my regular routine. My neck got just a hair sore right at the incision where it felt like it was tearing inside, but it was mild/moderate. Not bad at all. It was a little unnerving going to work with this crazy incision and syphillitic looking rash on my neck. No one gave me a hard time about it and all my co-workers were AWESOME!! They asked questions and were curious, but in a supportive way. The rash is going away very slowly, but I make sure to keep the whole area clean and "lubed" up with bacitracin!
February 17 - surgeon's follow up visit Not a good day. I stayed in Memphis last night because my appointment was supposedly at 8am at my surgeon's office. I get there, however, only to find out that they don't even open until 9am!! I called my mom (who's staying at my house to take my son to an appointment he has) and she finds my discharge papers and verifies my appointment time on there. Fab. So, I show up at the surgeon's office again at 9am and they have no record of an appointment for me. I explain where I live and that I can't just come back in here whenever, so they worked me in to see another surgeon. Two hours later I finally get to see someone. He asks me to get him up to date on what I had done, takes one quick look at my neck and tells me it looks fine and that I can go. Huh? I thought he was going to take out my one remaining stitch! That's what Dr. Hammond had told me and my husband. Apparently not, tho. He said it's dissolving and will come out on it's own. Great. Ok then, back to my day!
February 22 - first Endo visit post surgery This day I knew was going to be rough. I worked 7pm to 7am last night and my appointment is at 945am!! Yikes! Ok, no big deal. So, I get there and of course have to wait forever to see my Endo. He comes in, takes a look, asks me about how I'm feeling and then tells me we're going to try Synthroid 112 mcg daily. He checks some lab values since I'm having occasional signs of hypocalcemia (numb and tingling hands and face) and a THS (why, neither of us know, I guess just because! LOL). He wants me back in 3 months to check my levels. We'll see how it goes! I'll be posting a new picture of the scar soon. It's healing well!
February 17 - surgeon's follow up visit Not a good day. I stayed in Memphis last night because my appointment was supposedly at 8am at my surgeon's office. I get there, however, only to find out that they don't even open until 9am!! I called my mom (who's staying at my house to take my son to an appointment he has) and she finds my discharge papers and verifies my appointment time on there. Fab. So, I show up at the surgeon's office again at 9am and they have no record of an appointment for me. I explain where I live and that I can't just come back in here whenever, so they worked me in to see another surgeon. Two hours later I finally get to see someone. He asks me to get him up to date on what I had done, takes one quick look at my neck and tells me it looks fine and that I can go. Huh? I thought he was going to take out my one remaining stitch! That's what Dr. Hammond had told me and my husband. Apparently not, tho. He said it's dissolving and will come out on it's own. Great. Ok then, back to my day!
February 22 - first Endo visit post surgery This day I knew was going to be rough. I worked 7pm to 7am last night and my appointment is at 945am!! Yikes! Ok, no big deal. So, I get there and of course have to wait forever to see my Endo. He comes in, takes a look, asks me about how I'm feeling and then tells me we're going to try Synthroid 112 mcg daily. He checks some lab values since I'm having occasional signs of hypocalcemia (numb and tingling hands and face) and a THS (why, neither of us know, I guess just because! LOL). He wants me back in 3 months to check my levels. We'll see how it goes! I'll be posting a new picture of the scar soon. It's healing well!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
11 Days post op
A friend from work reminded me that I hadn't updated this with all my latest news! Thanks!! I did mean to do it and just completely forgot.
Ok, Update number 1: I got my final pathology report yesterday "follicular adenoma". Basically what that means is that it is a non-cancerous tumor made up of follicular thyroid cells. The thing with this is that it eventually turns cancerous. So, I beat cancer before it got the chance to get a foot-hold! Whoo hoo!! Hooray for me being persistant!! So, I'm done now. No radiation, no scans, nothing! I'm officially cured!
Update number 2: I went back to work yesterday. It was really awesome to be able to get back to work and out of the house. My neck didn't hurt that bad, but the incision itself started to hurt. It felt strange, kinda like a "tearing" sensation when I turned my head to one side or the other. It wasn't bad, but VERY annoying. I'm sure that's a normal sensation and I'm not the least bit worried about it.
I go back on Wednesday for my first follow-up with the surgeon and he will take my one stitch out. I've named my stitch "Floyd" by the way. I figured if I had to deal with it hanging out of my neck for 2 weeks, then I might as well call him something! LOL! Sorry, please excuse my warped sense of humor. Anyway, moving right along. The rash from my reaction is starting to go away. The bumps are still there a bit, but most of the redness is gone. I have a little pustule there where Floyd is, but it's tiny. Um, let's see. . . I feel great, almost complete mobility in my neck, no hoarsness, no swallowing problems (I can "feel" it, but it doesn't hurt, more on that later.), rash going away. I think I'm officially "mended"!
Ok, about the wierd swallowing thing, whenever I swallow, I can feel a lump move in my throat. The thicker whatever I'm swallowing is, the more I can feel it. I do believe it is just scar tissue from the surgery. It's not inside my esophagus, but between there and my skin. That's why I think it's just scar tissue. It is not painful in any way, just . . . odd. I asked my dad about it since he had a total thyroidectomy about 40 years ago. He sat and thought about it for a while (and swallowed, LOL) and said that if he pays attention to it he still feels it too, but said you get used to it and it doesn't bother him. Cool!
So, all in all I think things are going really well! I start jogging again on Monday and I will also be starting Taekwondo on Monday! On Wedesday I start my Mediterranean/Atkins diet and I WILL LOSE THIS FREAKIN' WEIGHT! Ok, I fell better now. I guess I'll update one more time at 2 weeks post op, then I think this journey will be just about over.
Thanks for reading!
Ok, Update number 1: I got my final pathology report yesterday "follicular adenoma". Basically what that means is that it is a non-cancerous tumor made up of follicular thyroid cells. The thing with this is that it eventually turns cancerous. So, I beat cancer before it got the chance to get a foot-hold! Whoo hoo!! Hooray for me being persistant!! So, I'm done now. No radiation, no scans, nothing! I'm officially cured!
Update number 2: I went back to work yesterday. It was really awesome to be able to get back to work and out of the house. My neck didn't hurt that bad, but the incision itself started to hurt. It felt strange, kinda like a "tearing" sensation when I turned my head to one side or the other. It wasn't bad, but VERY annoying. I'm sure that's a normal sensation and I'm not the least bit worried about it.
I go back on Wednesday for my first follow-up with the surgeon and he will take my one stitch out. I've named my stitch "Floyd" by the way. I figured if I had to deal with it hanging out of my neck for 2 weeks, then I might as well call him something! LOL! Sorry, please excuse my warped sense of humor. Anyway, moving right along. The rash from my reaction is starting to go away. The bumps are still there a bit, but most of the redness is gone. I have a little pustule there where Floyd is, but it's tiny. Um, let's see. . . I feel great, almost complete mobility in my neck, no hoarsness, no swallowing problems (I can "feel" it, but it doesn't hurt, more on that later.), rash going away. I think I'm officially "mended"!
Ok, about the wierd swallowing thing, whenever I swallow, I can feel a lump move in my throat. The thicker whatever I'm swallowing is, the more I can feel it. I do believe it is just scar tissue from the surgery. It's not inside my esophagus, but between there and my skin. That's why I think it's just scar tissue. It is not painful in any way, just . . . odd. I asked my dad about it since he had a total thyroidectomy about 40 years ago. He sat and thought about it for a while (and swallowed, LOL) and said that if he pays attention to it he still feels it too, but said you get used to it and it doesn't bother him. Cool!
So, all in all I think things are going really well! I start jogging again on Monday and I will also be starting Taekwondo on Monday! On Wedesday I start my Mediterranean/Atkins diet and I WILL LOSE THIS FREAKIN' WEIGHT! Ok, I fell better now. I guess I'll update one more time at 2 weeks post op, then I think this journey will be just about over.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, February 8, 2010
6 days post op
Ok, this is 6 days post op. I'd finally had enough of my latex/adhesive allergy. My surgeon's office was closed today due to the killer winter weather we had last night and this morning, so I couldn't get in. Me being the bad patient (they say nurses make the worst patients) I went ahead and pulled off my steri strips. I was dying here!! Anyway, I think it all looks pretty good considering! I think I would have actually been worse off if I had left the steri strips off. I really think the allergic reaction would have prevented appropriate healing.
Ok, so on to my other complaint. I still don't have my final path results! I'm starting to get very upset about that. My surgeon said that I would have results in 2-3 days and now it's been 6 and still no results! I'm getting very angry and upset! I'll try calling again tomorrow.
Ok, so on to my other complaint. I still don't have my final path results! I'm starting to get very upset about that. My surgeon said that I would have results in 2-3 days and now it's been 6 and still no results! I'm getting very angry and upset! I'll try calling again tomorrow.Saturday, February 6, 2010
4 Days post op
Well, my sister has just left and my husband is at work. First day alone. Not too bad so far. My pain is nearly nonexistant, so that's not a problem. I'm still steadily working my neck to regain full ROM. It's much much better, but looking up is still where I'm lacking the most. I even still walk with my head down slightly if I don't make a conscious effort to raise it. My only issue today is I don't have a vehicle. I haven't gone and gotten a rental since I butchered my truck on Sunday morning. My parents are going to be coming out on Monday to bring the kids for their Taekwondo class, so I'll probably go back with them and pick up a rental then. That will be the first time I have driven since my wreck. I'm a little nervous about that as well. That's why I'd like to be as healed up as possible from this surgery before I start driving again.
No final path report yet. My surgeon expected to have one by Friday, but no such luck. Had a preliminary path report that said multi-nodular goiter, but I'm not relying on that. I mean, don't get me wrong, I HOPE that's what it is, but I just have a feeling it isn't. So, yet again, I have a weekend wait to get information. I'm hoping to be able to pick a copy up on Monday when I go in, but the office may be closed by the time I get in there. If that's the case, it might not be until next Friday before I actually get a physical copy of the report. I also plan on getting a copy of my entire hospital stay. Call me OCD, but I want to have records of everything that happened to me. Can't help it. Ok, off to clean house some more!
No final path report yet. My surgeon expected to have one by Friday, but no such luck. Had a preliminary path report that said multi-nodular goiter, but I'm not relying on that. I mean, don't get me wrong, I HOPE that's what it is, but I just have a feeling it isn't. So, yet again, I have a weekend wait to get information. I'm hoping to be able to pick a copy up on Monday when I go in, but the office may be closed by the time I get in there. If that's the case, it might not be until next Friday before I actually get a physical copy of the report. I also plan on getting a copy of my entire hospital stay. Call me OCD, but I want to have records of everything that happened to me. Can't help it. Ok, off to clean house some more!
Friday, February 5, 2010
3 days post op
I'm feeling pretty good now! I don't have hearly my full range of motion in my neck, but it's getting better every day. I don't have to take any more prescription pain medication either. It's really nice now. Unfortunately, I think I am allergic to the steri strips that they used to close my incision. The part of my neck that is under the steri strips is still swollen and red, also very itchy. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to just deal with it until they come off on their own. I'm also still waiting on the final path report. I got the ok from my surgeon to start working out and start tae kwon do whenever I feel like it. I think I'm going to start up again the week after I go back to work. I don't want to over do it and set myself back. I might, however, have to hit the treadmill before that. I'm really itching to get going on this!!
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