Surgery and Post Op

November was pretty crazy and I honestly don't remember much of it because it flew by so quickly and I was on drugs a good majority of the time. The days leading up to surgery we tried to utilize to the fullest as a family by playing outside, raking leaves together, having lazy days at home, visiting family and going to movies together.

My surgery was the 13th of November, that morning I went to tabata, I had to do something for my nerves, I was so nervous for surgery. I fasted from dinner the previous day and tried to just sip the water at the gym so I would still have an empty stomach for surgery. After the gym I went home, showered, and packed my stuff for the hospital and the stuff for Coop to sleep out at my parents and made sure the house was clean before we left.

We checked in around 11:00AM and my Mom met us to take Coop, Ry and I waited around for almost two hours before they wisked me back. When I got back there Dr. Fritz came back to visit for a minute, I changed into the lovely hospital gown, gave a pee sample to make sure I wasn't pregnant (I wish,) and they started my IV. The anesthesiologist came into visit with me before surgery; I told him I'm allergic to vicodine and get super sick from anesthesia. He proceeded to give me a pill that he said would basically make the nausea disappear and to take double precaution he would put extra anti-nausea in my IV push. Needless to say I came out of surgery sick as can be, I was burning up and remember the nurses having fans all over me, wiping my neck and face with a cool wash cloth trying to cool me down and I was dry heaving non stop trying not to rip my incision on my neck right open. They wouldn't let Ry back to recovery, I guess I was pretty bad and they were trying to get me to not be so sick before he saw me. He said I looked pretty white when he got to come to my room.

Dr. Fritz said surgery was "tedious" and it lasted quite a bit longer than they had planned but went well. She removed my entire thyroid along with four lymph nodes that she sent to pathology to make sure I was all clear. She said she has never seen anyone react as bad as I did to the anesthesia and felt bad she didn't give me an anti-nausea patch three days prior to surgery.

They kept me over night until the next afternoon to keep monitoring me and making sure all my levels would stabilize. I had super low blood pressure 60/40 after surgery which explains part of why I was so weak and had absolutely zero energy. My calcium and vitamin D were both super low so I had to start taking supplements. I had no voice the first day and a raspy one the second, (I was nervous because she said worst case scenario I would come out with a trache because both vocal chords could collapse and I could also have voice changes,) there were two surgeons in the surgery and a nerve specialist who hooked into all my nerves to monitor me to make sure that didn't happen, I'm happy to say that my voice didn't change at all and healed up great. I had visitors, family and friends, I don't remember much of it because I was so drugged up and exhausted. Coop was apprehensive when he came to see me, he stared at me and was very gentle when he was sitting with me. I was happy to finally get to go home and be in my own bed and on my own couch.

Like I say, that first week out of surgery was kind of a blur, my body was adjusting to not having a thyroid, getting the anesthesia out of my body and trying to normalize hormonally was exhausting. I have great visiting teachers who brought dinner and had people bring dinner for four nights and friends and family who brought food. My parents were awesome and helped with food and Coop, Ry took off work for a couple days to help out and deal with me; I passed out a few times and luckily Ry was there all the times I did. I had a rough week and a half, I had no energy, felt like crap and would get nauseous anytime I got up for any amount of time.

My post-op appointment I got great news: my lymph nodes were all clear! So the last step in this whole process will be Radioactive Iodine Therapy, which includes me going on Cytomel (a synthetic T3 drug) to slowly ween me off my Sythroid or I can go cold turkey, which I am leaning more toward so I can get it over with faster. A normal TSH level is between 0.4-4.2, once I go off my Synthroid they check me until my level reaches 50 so any remaining thyroid cells will swell and easily uptake the iodine and be destroyed with the RAI. Then they will decide which type of Radioactive Iodine Ablation therapy to use, intravenous or pill form and then I will be isolated in the hospital for three days or so and then away from Coop for another eight days. Once this process is complete they will do cancer checks every year and I should be in the clear. I will be so relieved to have it all over and move on with the next steps of life!

 

Loving the "crunchey leaves" he would bury himself in them and throw them in the air.

That face!

My handsome nursery goer, he absolutely loves it!

Feeding Missy Rae her treats...

One of our few movie dates together!

 

Good bye thyroid...

Neck before, right after and two weeks after.