hiatus and a surgery

well, I guess the reason for the hiatus WAS the surgery! well, and the chaos of starting 2 kids in school and getting used to a new routine this year. i attempted to keep this quiet, just didn't want to make a big deal, but there was a bunch of cryptic messages and such on facebook so i've decided to put it out there.

so, let's start with the SURGERY. I have never had surgery. only had IVs when I had my littles, never broken a bone, had stitches, nada. perhaps I had better start at the beginning...

in high school (almost 20 years now!), my doctor noticed that I had an "enlarged" thyroid. blood tests resulted in a normal functioning thyroid, so no further tests were ever conducted. over the years, various doctors noticed my big neck, sent me for blood work, and everything was always normal. about 5-6 years ago, my internist suggested that we look into it a bit further and have an ultrasound done. this resulted in the discovery of many nodules/goiters/cysts, both simple and complex and varying sizes, in my thyroid. due to the complex nature of some of them, I was then sent to a specialist (endocrinologist) and sent for a biopsy of the largest. this came back benign (though i've often wondered if a good enough sample was taken...), so I was advised to follow up every year just to track growth.

well, I haven't been the best follow-up-er the past few years. aloha airlines going belly up resulted in a missed appointment, then lack of insurance, then being just plain busy, ended up being 2+ years between appointments. I finally followed up a few months ago and the ultrasound showed significant growth, which resulted in yet another biopsy, which came back as "atypical," meaning not necessarily cancer, but the only way to be sure was s•u•r•g•e•r•y. bummer.

surgery was scheduled, delayed, and the re-scheduled. i had a great surgeon. great nurses (pre, during and post op), and a really cute anesthesiologist, who ended up being quite good as well. a partial thyroidectomy was scheduled to remove the questionable 1/2 of the thyroid, with the possibility of a total thyroid removal should that 1/2 be cancerous (they biopsy while you're still knocked out on the table...isn't that cool?). 2 hour surgery, unless it turned out to be cancer, then it would be 4. and i would have no thyroid. i went into the OR at 11:45am, and woke up in recovery about 4:15pm. yup, cancer.

the good news: stage 1 papillary thyroid cancer. the most common of thyroid cancers, and the most curable. in fact, probably one of the most curable cancers there is. essentially, the removal is the cure, with a little radioactive iodine treatment 5-6 weeks post surgery. given my age and the stage of cancer, there is very little chance of recurrence.

the bad news: well, there really isn't any bad news really. good, right? i have a pretty good looking scar at the moment (see photos below), but that will fade eventually. the 3 days in the hospital and week i was out of commission weren't all that fun, but it's over now. really, my biggest worry was the girls, and whether or not they would be able to "survive" without me, and they did. thanks to my super-duper noa for taking emergency leave from his new job (when surgery ended up being more than anticipated), and to my parents for taking time off to come and help with the girls.

and now for the pictures...

day 1: post surgery. swollen & bruised.

week 1: glue removed, still have to wear steri-strips for a week, still pretty bruised.

week 2: no more steri-strips! shiny from tamanu oil, thanks Lependus!

week 3: swelling much better (hard to tell, but it is!)

a smile & love from cousin holly. makes for great scar distraction (at least for me!)