DCR surgery, part deux....

This morning, I had the DCR procedure that was done on my left eye earlier this year redone.

The constant tearing of that eye continued even after my eye doc removed the tube. In October, he tried to clear the scar tissue that formed over the hole he created during the first surgery, but hat was not successful. It has been especially bad these last couple of days with the cold (for San Diego) weather. Hopefully this time around it will work.

For now, I get to sport this lovely dressing over the incision site until 12pm tomorrow. My follow-up appt is next Thursday.

Ready...set...raw vegan

My mom recently returned from a 10-day cleanse program, and she has come back as a raw vegan. Depending on who you talk to, diet is a cancer survivors best friend. The theory / belief is that what you eat can either keep cancer away, or give it a place to continue to grow and spread to the rest of your body.

I read it in several books about fighting cancer, including the one general cancer book I bought right after my surgeries in 2010. My good friend, KT, had also mentioned to me that her friend that is a nutritionist recommended that I change my diet, which to me sounded a bit extreme because I wasn't ready to cut out certain meats and all sugars, including those from fruit - I love fruit! The major point, from all the resources I had, was to remove the enemy: all processed foods.

When I posed the question to my Endo two years ago, his reply was along the lines of 'no, cutting out sugar might be good for other health reasons, but not for preventing cancer from coming back.' First thing to run through my head was, 'great, point to the fact that I am still overweight, regardless of all the weight I lost via WeightWatchers before my cancer diagnosis, plus all the weight I lost recovering from my surgeries and that god-awful Low Iodine Diet (LID) before getting RAI.' But his answer was good enough for me, so I went on my merry way.

Fast forward to this year/month, and what I did not have the balls to do myself, my mom does. To me, a thyroid cancer survivor, depriving myself from the food I love and enjoy today for a cancer tumor that may not show up until 20 years from now seemed rather pointless when so much life can be lived in 20 years. But to a lung cancer survivor that has been told that she has the highest chance of recurrence in the first year, and that chemo is not an option if she does have recurrence, those odds of living another 20 years, cancer free, are not so good - why take any chances at all? Going vegan means removing all meats and dairy from your diet. There are plenty of proteins that come from plant sources. The raw part means that nothing is cooked, so you get as many nutrients as possible from your food.

My aunt, who worked as a cancer nurse for many years, was the one that encouraged my mom to go to the program and to go vegan. The raw part is from the program itself. I think it is a good thing, not only for my mom, but for me as well, as I can see other benefits from eating like her, like not having to worry about diabetes, high blood pressure, or weight gain. But mostly, I don't want to find out 20 years from now that I've had a nasty thryoid cancer tumor growing inside me all the while. I want to know 20 years from now, when I see my Endo for my semi-annual appt that my TSH and T4 are fine, my Tg is still undetectable, and I am still cancer free.

I support my mom in her efforts to fight cancer with her fork.

Stress....

It can manifest itself in many different ways. Some believe it is the root of our diseases, such as cancer. I have been dealing with a wide variety of stress for the past month. The normal things like work, health, and finances. But also the one-offs lime my niece swimming in the Olympics, or the family member or friend that seems to be crying for help.

I think this person has been crying for help for a long time. Regardless of how much me and several others have repeatedly tried to give support and suggestions, it falls on deaf ears. This time, though, I think is the last straw. This stupid decision will change everything for this person, and not in a good way. Sure this person seeks out drama. And yes, this person is very insecure. But I am tired of giving a damn. I have way too many other things to worry about.

Follow-up DCR appt - 8/16/12

Today might be the day the tube is removed from my left eye. I had green discharge this morning, something I have not had in a while. In the evenings, I have been dabbling my left eye less over the last week or so, so I hope that removing the tube will do the trick. Crossing my fingers.

Catching up....has it really been two months since my last post?

The last couple of months have been....well, crazy. I got lost in things. My mom's radiation treatments. Projects and conflicts at work. Nagging right arm pain. I was not making time for me. But I am slowly getting back to the business of taking care of me.

The good news:
1. My mom made it through her radiation treatments, and so far is recovering nicely.
2. One of my nieces made the US Olympic swim team. So proud of her!
3. My work issue has been resolved.
4. I do not have a rotator cuff tear.
5. I got a new phone! - the EVO 4G LTE


The bad news:
1. I have been putting on the weight. All that stress from the past couple of months - all the eating and never getting around to exercising is finally coming back to haunt me.
2. My awesome dog, Frankie, was put down this past weekend. He was the best dog in the world. RIP, buddy. I miss you every day.
3. In order to be able to climb again, I have a lot of work ahead of me - I need to get a trainer to help me strengthen my shoulder girdles, take care of the weight problem, and correct my posture. If I continue to injure my right shoulder, then it might be time for me to hang up the climbing shoes.
4. I am still dabbing my left eye, post DCR surgery. Hopefully the tube will be removed next month, and the dabbing will finally stop.

Thyroid issues. Other than the weight gain, that weird, tingling feeling along my scar has been bothering me again. And, I can't stand the way my seat belt hits me in that area when I drive. But I am happy to report that I have not missed a single afternoon T3 dose in the past two weeks.

I leave you with a photo of my buddy, Frankie:

How does my neck look? - 5/11/2012

Two years ago today, at my post surgery follow-up appt, I was given the bad news, "Sorry, it is cancer". I don't remember the exact words my ENT told me, or the exact words I said in reply. I do remember him telling me I could get a second opinion on the pathology. I didn't need it. I knew going into the surgery that if it was hurthle cell carcinoma, the rest of my thyroid had to be removed. I just wanted to know how soon the second surgery could be done, and I wanted it done ASAP. Luckily, he had someone cancel that following Monday, so I took it.

I think in the back of my mind I already knew I had it. And it is probably best that it was my ENT who told me the results of my FNA instead of my Endo because I don't think I could have handled that kind of information knowing that I would not have my ENT consult for another month. Part of me was hoping it wasn't cancer, especially when my mom told me that when my ENT spoke with her after my surgery, he told her he felt positive it was not, but that the surgery right before mine was. He was wrong on both, but that doesn't matter because there was more cancer to be found on my right lobe after the second surgery.

It also meant I would need to take more time off from work. I remember telling my boss that I didn't want to share the reason for my 2 week absence with the rest of the team. But, since I was going in for another surgery, I knew I had to say something. It took a while to compose my email, but I wanted it to be informative, not a "woe is me" announcement. At this point, I also decided to tell my closest friends. That too was another difficult email to compose. I was so far away from all of them, and when they hear from me it is to tell them that I have cancer. Great.

I have come a long way since hearing those three words no one wants to hear ("it is cancer"). So two years after I was told I have thyroid cancer, how does my neck look?

  

Now, fast forward two years later and I am dealing with the one side effect I had from my RAI treatment, a blocked tear duct. Left nasolacrimal duct obstruction. The treatment, left dacryocystorhinostomy, or a DCR. It was done yesterday. My left eye is still puffy. My surgeon called this morning to check up on me. He said I could take off the bandage, and that "I would continue to have some tearing for about two weeks, that I'd get some draining through my nose or the back of my throat, but it would not affect my brain." LoL - where do all my doctors get their humor from? So anyway, how does my left eye look?

  

2 years later...

Two years ago, my left thyroid lobe was removed. In the back of my mind, I knew I was going to be fine regardless of whether or not cancer was found in that lobe, I just wasn't sure what it was going to take to feel 'normal' again, or rather what my new 'normal' was going to feel like.

I had done enough reading and research on hurthle cell carcinoma to know that if that is what was in my left lobe, the right side also had to be removed, that I would be given RAI, that I would be on thyroid meds for the rest of my life, and that it could come back 20 years down the line. I was afraid of the daily requirement for medication - how on earth was I going to get used to taking a little pill every morning, at the same time every day, 30-60 minutes before I ate breakfast, the same breakfast for the rest of my life? I don't even wake up at the same time on a daily basis, let alone be able to wait 30-60 minutes before eating when I wake up ready to eat every morning. But I have gotten used to it. I had to.

The first eight months were the worst for me. I was always waiting to hear my Endo tell me that my Tg levels were off the charts and I'd need another surgery, or that I would feel a bulge in my neck area that was a lymph node that needed to be removed. I was constantly worried that they did not get it all, not with the surgeries, not with the RAI. Didn't help that my first ultrasound post surgery was abnormal. Didn't help that I was having thyroid brain fog in the afternoons.

I have been on 88mcg Levoxyl and 10mcg T3 (5mcg, twice daily) for over a year now. I forget to take my afternoon T3 dose at least once a month. Luckily that has not affected my Tg or TSH levels. So far the only issue I have is weight gain. I feel fine most of the time, so my meds are probably fine where they are. I guess I can say that I am pretty close to feeling normal again. I say 'pretty close' because I am not free and clear from recurrence, none of us ThyCans are, so it is a rather fragile normal.

So what do I worry about now? Well, my left tear duct started to show signs of blockage six months after RAI, so I constantly have to dab my left eye. I learned quickly that I could not use low-end tissues otherwise my left eye would get even more irritated, and I've had two bouts of Conjunctivitus over the last two years. But I am happy to say that I am finally getting it fixed next week! Otherwise, I have come to the conclusion that I should only worry about it if my blood work ever comes back with detectable Tg or my TSH is over 1.0, and either continues to trend upwards.

So two years later, things are going well.

Radiation, of another kind

Today is my mom's first external beam radiation treatment for her lung cancer. A bit scary. It only takes 10 minutes or so. They are running late today, so that didn't help her nervousness.

I remember waiting for my RAI pill. That took forever too. Didn't help that the doc had to explain everything and answer all of my questions before it could he administered. At least she will not be radioactive like I was. I hear there is pain involved with this type though. Just hoping this therapy gets all the cancer.

And I still wonder, why my mom, why now? Sure, way bettter technology these days, but wasn't me having cancer enough for my family to have to go through? So prayer. Prayer for grace and peace in what she has to go through. It will be Ok, mom. Just something more to help you kick cancer's ass.

ENDO appt - 4/18/12

All clear. No changes to my neck (ultrasound results), undetectable Tg levels, TSH and FT4 are fine.

Said the only other option, for meds is Armour, but didn't think we needed to go there yet. Now, I was surprised he is Ok to prescribe it because most Endo's won't.

I did mention my weight gain issue. I said I am having a hard time getting exercise in - no running, no climbing, no yoga or pilates. He said weight gain is a hard one, because there could be so many other factors like the exercise routine issue I have. I guess that means if I am still having problems even after I start working out regularly again, then he might try the dosage change.

He renewed my Levoxyl prescription and said to come back in 6 months. No ultrasound for that one (keep that as an annual check), but have blood work done before that appt. Cool.

I also asked if he could tell me the results of my MRI. He said they found a (or was that a couple of) small tears in my rotator cuff, nothing PT can't fix, he says. I also mentioned being sick a lot lately, and my eye thing this past weekend. How did it happen, he asked. I guess just the constant eye dabbing and doing so with dirty hands. He said it looked like it cleared up.

Ok. Not too bad of an appt. Didn't feel like anything was being overlooked. He still seemed a butt rushed, but I didn't have any pressing questions, so I am Ok with it this time.

Neck ultrasound - 4/10/12

Not so sure I am satisfied with my neck ultrasound this afternoon. First of all, I requested that the same person that did my last two do it this time - that didn't happen.

Then, this tech's idea of an ultrasound was placing the wand thing at three different places along the base of my neck. And she was going to stop there! Holy smokes. So I said to her, "Aren't you going to get the back and sides?" as she was starting to wipe up my neck. She replied, "Oh sure, if you want." "Yes, please, since that is how it was done the last two times."So once again, she put the wand thing below my ears on each side. Whatever. At least she did more than she had planned to do. I kept on thinking to myself, 'I think I want to ask my primary doc to order a full/careful neck ultrasound because I am not happy with the one done today', or 'I wonder if my second opinion Endo does her own neck ultrasounds, and if so, would she do one for me?'

Well, at least the tech was personable.

This will be a busy week

The only day I don't have an afternoon appt this coming week is tomorrow, 4/9/12. I managed to get everything scheduled for this week without having to cancel a single appt for overlap. All these appts could not come at a better time as I have not been feeling.....right lately.

Tuesday afternoon I have my annual mammogram and neck ultrasound. I missed my mammogram last year. My primary care doc said I should get it done annually, not that she thinks I have anything to worry about, but I might as well since it is covered by my insurance, but most of all, early detection is the way to go. Not too worried about my neck ultrasound since I have not felt anything in my neck, and I have not had the weird feeling along my scar in the past month.

Wednesday afternoon is my MRI. Finally. Just a little concerned that they will only look at my shoulder and not at my arm, where the pain is coming from. Hopefully I get at least one climbing session in before the MRI so I can irritate whatever it is that is injured so it will show up nice and clear. Well, I'm sure that isn't how these things work, but to me at least, I hope they find something good to explain the pain I've been having. Honestly, I don't think it is a labral (labrum) tear because that is not the type of pain I feel in my arm. If it is, then I have to have surgery to correct it. If it isn't, then I don't know. But my copay is around $103, so it better be good. Need to remember to get my labs done for my ENDO appt next week. If anything is of concern for my ThyCa, this is where it will show up.

Thursday afternoon I get my permanent bridge installed. Every now and then my temporary bridge feels like it is coming off. I remember how sensitive my gums where in that area when it came off the day of my mom's surgery, so I really hope it stays intact until this appt.

Friday afternoon, finally, is my acupuncture appt. I have managed to not get a regular exercise routine going, so not only have I gained back more weight, I also still feel really sluggish. I spent this entire weekend almost exclusively in my pj's and eating while watching TV. I am a mess. I did manage to get at least seven hours of sleep each night, well, after going to sleep between 3-4am. I need her to give me needles for relaxation, appetite control, and energy. Or, then again, maybe my period is coming.

Anyway, at least it is a week when I don't have to take my mom to one of her appts. It will just be a week that I have to deal with my own.

Rough week for parts of my head

Lots of stuff going on, but this week in particular has been really bad for my head.

Monday, I went to my dentist because of considerable pain in my upper right jaw the week before, and I had noticed last weekend that the tooth that was causing all the pain was loose. First my dentist says, "Ok, I need to replace the crown on that tooth as well as the one next to it." The right side of my mouth is numbed. About 15 minutes later the drilling starts. Next thing I know, he is telling me, "I am sorry, Florida, one of the roots of that tooth is broken....I will have to extract it." Ugh. Then he says, "I need to put a bridge in." Huh?!? The only thing I could say in reply was, "I don't think I've had one of those before, what does that mean?" "No, you have not. Let me show you...." So I have a lovely temporary bridge in there now, and an appt in two weeks to have the bridge set. And why is this all happening? Because my teeth are shifting. Why are my teeth shifting? Because I still grind, but probably more so whenever I take a nap and I don't have my night guard in. Crud.

Thursday, I had an appt with the eye doc I saw earlier this month about my teary left eye. All the doc said at that appt was "I need to go in and find out where the blockages are in both of your eyes." I'm thinking to myself, "Sure, that's what the guy I was referred to last January did, so this should be a breeze." But when I left his PA gave me a sheet of paper titled "Eye Surgery". So, I was a bit confused what was going to happen because the only other thing he said was "Yes, you can drive yourself home, although there might be a little discomfort after the procedure." Hmph. So Thursday, they called me back 45 minutes after my appt time - he was doing the same procedure on someone else right before me. Anyway, I am sitting there in this bigger than usual exam chair, and the PA hands me the consent form for a '4 lid punctoplasty'. Didn't even know this thing had a name, but now this is starting to sound serious. She leans the chair back and starts to explain that my eyes will be closed the whole time, she'll swab on an anesthetic, then he'll inject more and start the procedure. Before he starts, my eye doc tells me I might have bruising at the areas where he injected the anesthetic - Yes, I do have that today, and now the green goo coming out of my left eye today is starting to cloud my vision.

The results were, my cannicula on the left side are clear, however my left tear duct is completely blocked. The right side is completely clear, but if there were any kind of blockage, he just cleared it out for me. Super. The recommendation, of course, is to have a DCR done, same procedure the eye doc last year recommended. But this eye doc at least explained it a little less violently: "I will drill a hole in the bone on the left side of your nose close to the inner corner of your left eye...a passage way will be made so your tears will be re-routed...a tube will be left in there for three months...a string will keep the opening open at the top...I will use stitches that dissolve to cover the area where the incision in your nose bone is made." Ok, not happy he also breaks the bone and doesn't go through the nose. So I ask if there are any problems with this tube that will be stuck in my nose for three months. "No, it will not be visible (in my nostril?), but it needs to stay there so the new opening will not heal itself closed." "Will I be able to feel it?, like will it be itchy?" "No, most people can feel it for the first week, but not so much after that. I did have one case where it made the patient sneeze all the time, so it had to be removed a few weeks earlier." Interesting. "Am I going to look like I was punched in my left eye for two weeks?" "No, most people look fine the following week when they come back for their post-op appt., and the procedure is done on a Thursday, so you have the whole weekend to relax, and you could work from home the next day." The surgery takes 40 minutes!, and is done as an outpatient procedure. I will need someone to drive me home afterward, and I should not do anything too strenuous the rest of that day. I will be able to wear my glasses and contacts - the pads from my eyeglasses won't hit that area (not sure if he is accounting for the Asian nose or not), and the string in the inner corner of my eye will not be bothered by my contact lenses. "You can think about it and let us know." Are you kidding me? "No need to, I'll take your first open date, I want this thing fixed already. I am so tired of having to blot my left, teary, eye." So my appt is on May 10. Oddly enough, that date is the week between my two thyroid surgery two years ago.

Now we start the weekend before my mom's lung surgery. The mass on her left lung is almost 100% cancer based on the CT and PET scans. Luckily, the two lymph nodes involved can be removed with the upper left lobe. My mom seems to be at peace with all of this. She too understands that things happen for a reason, something I had to accept myself when I found out that my FNA had what looked like hurthle cells. I was hoping I would never have to accept a member of my own family into my 'cancer club', but I am no longer alone in this club of certain unpleasantness. I at least know what she is going through - the feelings, the anxiety, all the 'what ifs' that go through your mind every single day because I have been there. So the rough week for parts of my head is to be followed by a rough week for my heart as I have to see my mom begin her own cancer journey on Monday morning.

Thyroid plays a part in episode of 'New Girl' 3/6/12

I like watching the Fox tv series 'New Girl', so I was pleasantly surprised to see the episode that aired this evening covers a thyroid issue of one of the characters. Funny thing is he is at an OB doc who points out the lump on his neck, and a lot of ThyCans are at their Gyn doc when their nodule is discovered.

Here is a review of the episode:
http://m.tvfanatic.com/2012/03/new-girl-review-skinny-dipping-and-nick-millers-sad-song/

Catching up with my meds

I ran out of Levoxyl Monday morning. When I tried to refill my prescription late Monday night, I was told my prescription expired, so I couldn't get a refill since I needed a new prescription.

Luckily, I can go without taking my daily Levoxyl dose, so long as I take the missed doses sometime during the week. I was not able to pick up my new prescription until last night, so this morning I need to take the three missed doses, plus my regular morning doses (Levoxyl + T3) for this morning. Bottoms up!...

Poke my left eye some more, please...

Today, was my appointment with the eye doc my Endo referred me to. He seemed pretty nice. Said that there is a breast cancer drug that is notorious for blocking tear ducts, so my eye wasn't the first he had seen that was blocked up as a result of cancer treatment. He also seemed to know the eye surgeon I saw last January.

He did a test to make sure my eyes were making enough tears, that they were not in fact dry. He put these strips of paper close to the outer corners of my eyes. Didn't feel too bad. The right side felt like it was making more tears than the left side. I passed the tear making test.

Next he looked at my tear ducts, and under my lids, etc. He said there is a hole that leads into the punctum, that pocket looking thing at the inner corner of your eye, but he needs to find out where exactly the blockage is. So I get to go back in two weeks and have "eye surgery" done. Well, at least that is what it said on the sheet I was given, to prepare for the procedure.

He will numb my eyes (well, he didn't really poke around too much with my right eye, so not sure if it will be poked like the left side), then will send in a scope to see how far he can go down the tear duct, or if the tear duct is closed and he can make a loop through the canulas (sp?). Sounds exciting, right? Hopefully he does a much better job of numbing my eyes than the eye doc from last year.

So, depending on what he finds, that will dictate my treatment. Fix my eye, please!

Medical bills...bills..bills...

Finally, almost all of my medical bills from last year have been corrected. The big issue wasn't with any of my ThyCa related doctor visits, but more with all the PT visits I had. I had a total of 30 visits, 10 over the 20 allowable. Will be glad when all my PT invoices are adjusted for my health care provider.

Next week I see the eye specialist for my leaky left eye. Wonder what kind of surgery will be needed to fix it. My boss's husband had a procedure done last December for a similar issue. Either I get this fixed or buy stock in Kleenex.

And here comes some more cancer

Thankfully, not my own. Sadly, someone else in my family is joining the club. My mom's lung mass is still there. She awaits a PET scan to check for lymph node involvement and to confirm it has not spread outside the structure of the lung. My brother says that since surgery is an option, it is probably still in the early stages.

She seems to be taking it well, so far. She only told her prayer group, but has decided that she didn't want to tell anyone else outside of our immediate family about it until after she has the PET scan and sees her pulmonary doc again. I seem to be taking it pretty well so far, also. I almost broke down in the bathroom at CostCo, but then I thought to myself, "my mom isn't dead. she has lung cancer, but her doc seems pretty confident that it can be removed with surgery. sure it sucks that she has to have surgery. it sucks even more that she has cancer. but she isn't dead. she can still live a long life after this. i don't have a reason to cry." I'm here for my mom. To help her through this journey. To keep her in good spirits. To let her know it is Ok to cry whenever she wants to. She is going to make it through this.

Non-small cell lung cancer. This is the type of lung cancer that non-smokers get. Non-smoking Asian women have a higher incidence of getting this type of lung cancer because of their exposure to second hand smoke. Unfortunately, my grand-father was a smoker.

ThyCa group meeting - February 7, 2012

It has been several months since the last post I did on my local support group meetings. We have had a few speakers (endocrinologist, surgeon) already. This evening we had a pharmacology student speak to us about our meds. It was interesting and of course informative. We had a lot of questions, so his 20 minute presentation was stretched out to 90 mins!

When he was describing the mental effects of being hypothyroid, and he said "mental dullness", which was not on his slide/handout. I had to stop him to make sure I heard him correctly. Gave me a good chuckle because I had never heard of thyroid brain fog described this way. "Mental dullness". Nice.

One of his slides had a table with the different medications. "Liotrix", sold under the brand name 'Thyrolar' was listed by itself. I have never heard of either. Liotrix, he explained, is the synthetic form of desiccated thyroid, or 'Armour Thyroid', which is pretty much pig thyroid. Since it comes from an animal's thyroid, and has both T3 and T4 in it. Armour is marketed as 'natural' thyroid medication because it comes from a pig, not chemicals. For some, Armour works wonders. The controversy is in the fact that it is hard to regulate exactly how much of T3 v T4 is in each Armour pill. What I found interesting is that he said it actually does have chemicals in it, which is necessary to bind it together into a pill form. So it is 'natural' thyroid plus some chemicals to keep it stable. Got it. Anyway, Liotrix is a drug that has both T3 and T4 in it (1:4 ratio). It is not a very common drug prescribed because our bodies automatically convert T4 into T3. Most don't need the extra T3. Others, like myself, need additional T3 to clear up issues, like afternoon fatigue, or thyroid brain fog.

Among the food interactions to avoid right before or after taking our daily T4 dose, he listed 'cottonseed meal'. I asked what that was, and he didn't know. So I Googled it: animal feed. Doubt I will ever eat animal feed for breakfast, so I don't see this as a problem.

We have another speaker at our meeting next month - a radiologist who will go over the finer points of the radio-iodine ablation treatment. We are also hoping to get a pathologist. Mary, one of the other co-facilitators, has done a fantastic job coordinating all of the speakers for our meetings. Me on the other hand, nothing. It is getting to the point where I send out the meeting reminders the Friday before the meetings, so I feel like a bit of a slacker. I guess the most important thing is that we all show up for the meetings.

Thyroid cancer in the news - update on Argentine President

According to a Reuters.com article, the post-op pathology found that Argentine President, Cristina Fernandez, did not have thyroid cancer, at all. The article says this happens 2% of the time.

I don't know that I would want part of my body removed if it didn't need to be. I think if this happened to me, after my chances of cancer increased from 5% to 20-30% due to the presence of what looked like hurthle cells from my FNA, and knowing the history of cancer in my parent's lineage, I think I'd be upset that my left thyroid was removed for no reason at all. What is that saying, that hindsight is always 20-20? I'd have to agree with that since the cancer cells in my left lobe were different from the those in the right. If my left lobe came out clean, they would not have found the cancer in my right lobe until much later. What then? I might be in the "over age 45 group" and in stage 2, maybe also some lymph node invasion since one of the three foci was close to the margin. I think it would be far worse for me to have to deal with the real cancer scare five, even 10 years later. I am lucky all of it was caught early.

I wish the best for the Argentine President. She had a total thyroidectomy, so no worries about cancer showing up in the other lobe (if only half of her thyroid was taken out) years later, and she doesn't have to go through RAI. Not sure what the T4 protocol would be since she doesn't have cancer, but she will have to take it for the rest of her life. I hope her doctors follow up with annual testing (blood work, ultrasounds, etc.) just to make sure nothing ever shows up in her thyroid bed. Better to be on the over cautious side, regardless of her current non-cancer diagnosis.

How does my neck look? - 1/7/12

This is my inaugural post using the Blogger app on my phone. Here goes something (or nothing).....

Still getting used to writing "2012" or "/12" every time I have to write a date.

Last year at this time, I was so happy to be done with 2010, and rightly so since it was the year of my ThyCa diagnosis. The first year is definitely the hardest for anyone diagnosed with any kind of cancer. I feel very lucky that I found and joined the local ThyCa support group after my first surgery. Regardless of what is going on with my own ThyCa journey, I plan on staying active with this group because I am sure that many more will be following in my footsteps every year, and I want to be there for anyone of them that needs support.

This year, as with every year going forward, I pray for clear ultrasounds and that my meds and levels stay where they need to be. My Endo is fine with my levels. I don't think the changes I experienced (brain fog, needing afternoon naps, two periods in Nov, etc.) in Nov/Dec of last year are due to depression, at least I hope they are not. If it is, thank goodness there is a needle for it - I'll take an acupuncture needle over drugs and chemicals any day! Still think everything was and still is out of whack because my workout routine went down to pilates and a run once a week. I still have issues with my right arm, so I have not gone climbing since October; not supposed to run because I have OA in both knees. So it is not my cancer that is holding me back right now, it is my body.

So this year, in addition to taking all of my meds more consistently, I also need to take better care of myself. I need to eat better, sleep better, and strengthen all the weak areas of my body so I can return to climbing and running (easy there, not planning on running a marathon, just want to be able to run at a good pace for my knees!) quickly and easily. Like AnneMarie said, I need to come back stronger. Been thinking about getting a trainer for some time now, just have to find a good, affordable one. So, that is the plan, for now.

Anyway, how does my neck look?

How does my neck look? 1/1/12

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2012!

Hoping for another year of clear ultrasounds and TSH/FT4/Tg/TgAB levels where they need to be. And, also hoping that my blocked tear duct issue will be fixed this year.