Charlcie

There has been a nice diversion from thinking about my biopsy scheduled on Monday . I was in contact with Matthew Zachary from the amazing website I'm Too Young For This and The Stupid Cancer Blog earlier this week. His website and blog are amazingly wonderful, irreverent vehicles for the young adult cancer fighters and survivors. I love the whole concept….you don’t have to tip toe around cancer. Meet it square on and kick it in the butt! ~~WARNING: Shameless self-promotion ahead~~ Anyway, Matthew and I emailed about me contributing a blog post, and I am thrilled to say that it was posted to The Stupid Cancer blog yesterday. Here’s the link: http://imtooyoungforthis.blogspot.com/2008/12/will-you-come-into-my-parlor-said.html I really love the whole blogging and social media arena and am thrilled to have mixed that together with the cancer world. Cancer is like a fraternity/sorority except you really don’t really want to belong to it. However, once you do, it’s a whole new communi...

My biopsy is scheduled one week from today. Surprisingly, especially after the "we'll call you in 5-7 days" talk, the office called Christmas Eve to schedule it. I will do this thing on Monday, January 5th at 9:15 AM. Every day that it gets closer, I get the "ready for it" and "are you kidding me?" feelings at the same time. Seems familiar from this summer. Alot is riding on this biopsy for me as you can imagine, and my gut tells me to just get ready as it doesn't look good. However, as I have blogged about before, I know the deal, know the doctors involved, etc. Those of you who know me, know that is good. It's helps me to have as much information as possible, as it does most of us. If it is good news, I will be pleasantly surprised. I'm not feeling well at all today. My "cancer cough," as I affectionately (NOT!) called it back in August-September, is back. I honestly think it is just a "cold cough" but the last time I ...

Today is the day...eldest daughter is finally 16 years old! When my kids have a birthday, I find myself reflective of the day they were born, and this year is no exception. She surprised us on the day she was born in two ways: ultrasound at eight months had predicted a boy, and she had a full head of red/borderline orange hair! She has kept that red hair to this day, and now it is a beautiful color. The great thing: she loved to smile as a baby and still does today. She is a great kid, and I am very proud of her!

I hope everyone had a great holiday week! We had quite a Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, enjoying it all. In follow up to my Christmas Eve post , I have to share about the National Cathedral service. It was really moving, really wonderful. It was grand and elegant yet warm and comfortable all at the same time. It was a great moment of reflection. I am grateful to my MIL who secured the tickets months in advance for us all! Last night we celebrated the two almost 16-year-olds' birthdays by taking the family plus a few friends to the local Japanese steakhouse . We had a great chef in both food and entertainment not to mention the great company. I promised in a previous post to explain the two 16-year-old kids who are not twins....I brought Kenzie (and 11-year-old Morgan) to the marriage, and her birthday is December 28th. Chris brought Christian, and his birthday is January 1st. It was quite funny when we realized this while dating, that we both had a child of the same age, only fo...

Hi all...Happy Merry Christmas Eve! Hope everyone is feeling the spirit of Christmas. I am...stressing just a bit about hosting Christmas Eve dinner but feeling better about it all. Need to get the ski stuff out of the front living room, boxes out of the dining room, ask in-laws to bring another table as we are expecting 11, vaccum, oh and cook. :) Some of you have asked about my doctor's appointment yesterday. First, thanks for checking on me. :) It was somewhat uneventful as "the doctor I don't like" said, "Yes, you need a biopsy," which I already knew from the radiologist. I was anticipating a fight as somehow I thought he was going to say something like "Let's watch and wait with this." Not sure why I thought that, but that wasn't what he said at all. He gave me an order for the fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy. This is a needle without anesthesia to my thyroid (did this first in July 2008...old pro at it now) and then that questiona...

Feeling guilty that I'm not feeling more grateful and in the Christmas spirit today like I was on Friday . Feeling more like "I have/had cancer (whatever this in-between state I am in is called...) and don't feel like being festive!". I'd rather go back to bed but have kids to get off to school (their last day before winter break), presents to wrap, food to shop for, etc. Just not feelin' it. Any of you, cancer or not, just not feelin' it? I'm hoping to have a big turn around sometime today or surely on Christmas Eve. It feel selfish and guilty to feel this way, but I'm allowed some of this right? As long as I can get out of this funk before Christmas.... "Doctor that I don't like," his office called yesterday, and he wants me to go to his office to talk about the ultrasound. Going to do that late morning today.

What a great weekend we had! Christian finally landed on Friday night after four delays and about eight hours in the Indianapolis airport. We are glad that he is here....great to see him! He's here until the 27th. On Saturday we went to Chris/Morgan's basketball game, which was their first win of the season. After a quick Chinese buffet lunch, we then realized that we had to evaluate ski gear for five people. After checking our own ski box, begging, borrowing, and a trip to the local sporting goods store, we figured out snow pants, coats, gloves, etc. for five people without breaking the bank four days before Christmas. This was good! The next issue was who was going, who was not. Between our two vehicles, we have 12 seats, and both of us planned to drive. As a result, we let the kids invite friends. Morgan invited one friend then the rest were Christian and Kenzie's friends. They were all great kids, and we had an amazing time! Liberty was good...not crowded at all, and I ...

It's been an interesting 48 hours digesting this new ultrasound/biopsy news. I've gone from really sad to mad to, well, this is just the way it is now for me. Not really resigned to it but knowing this is what I have to do again to get rid of cancer...again. I'll do it, and I'll win...again. That competitiveness that I've passed on to Mackenzie and Morgan does have it's place in times like this! No news about the biopsy as it isn't even scheduled yet. "The doctor that I don't like" is out of the office until Monday morning. My family practice doc's office called today as they had the results and wanted to know if I knew and what the status was of the biopsy. Ah yes, this is how a doctor's office should be, caring about the patient and following up. My FP doc is the one who originally found the nodules on my thyroid on the routine exam in May. Enough complaining....here are some things I am thankful for. Not a complete list by any means ...

Ah, I didn't really explain the "batting a thousand" reference in relationship to me when posting on the blog last night. Was still in a bit of a fog from the news I received from the ultrasound. A bit of history... Batting a thousand: 1. June 2008: ultrasound reveals suspicious nodules that should be biopsied. 2. July 2008: after biopsy confirms papillary carcinoma, neck ultrasound to look at lymph nodes finds suspicious lymph nodes. Post-surgery found out about the four positive lymph nodes, two of which were the size of small plums. 3. December 2008: Ultrasound post total thyroidectomy and neck dissection, small nodules found in the thyroid bed along with a suspicious lymph node. So in summary, every ultrasound I have had of my thyroid and neck this year has revealed something suspicious. Thus, I am batting 1,000 with the ultrasounds in 2008. Feeling rather bleh and crappy about it all today. It's Christmas...why do I have to deal with cancer again? Ugh.

So....not good news from the ultrasound today. There are some nodules on the right side of my "thyroid bed" that the radiologist recommends for biopsy. There should be nothing in the thryoid bed at all since they removed my thyroid, but instead, I have nodules. I also have a cystic, "juicy" lymph node on the right side of my neck that needs to be biopsied as well. The radiologist, not the tech, did the complete ultrasound scan, ear to ear, top to bottom of my neck. He was very thorough . He said he would be contacting "the doctor I don't like" to let him know that he recommends biopsy for these two areas. I am relieved in a way because now I know there IS something going on. I had a feeling, just going with my gut, that there was still something there. And it is different this time around. I know the drill, have had the surgery and the radioactive iodine treatment before. Although it won't be exactly the same, I at least have some frame of referenc...

I started working on Christmas cards last night...finally found some that I like at Rite-Aid of all places. I really enjoy going through the address book, being reminded of literally all friends and family. We are getting to a place where we have more "our" friends now. We still have "your" friends and "my" friends from our separate lives prior to four+ years ago, which is absolutely fine, but it is great that we have more and more of "our" friends. We talked last night about how much things have changed in a year from kids getting older to Christian going back to Indiana to Morgan changing soccer teams to my cancer diagnosis to the presidential election and more. All of these are/were big in our world. What's that Ferris Bueller quote about life moving fast? That seems to be us... Tomorrow morning is my thyroid/neck ultrasound. I'm a little anxious but ready to do it. The location, on Arlington Blvd. (this radiology group has offices all...

Update on the Friday visit to the "doctor I don't like": He said the neck pain is not associated anything thyroid cancer related. I feel like he dismissed me on this so I'm not sure that I believe him. It isn't just a sore neck muscle or clinching my jaws. It's lymph nodes on both sides. The other side of the coin is this: Am I making something out of nothing? Hard to say. However, I am having an ultrasound on Wednesday morning in follow up to my elevated thyroglobulin level indicating remaining thyroid tissue. He said that scan would also include my neck and they would take a look at those painful areas so...hopefully that will be cleared up with the scan. Doctor also said that I might need to do another round of radioactive treatment if the scan showed a significant enough amount of thyroid tissue...GREAT! Those of you who followed me earlier this fall know how much i loved that...NOT. The treatment itself was absolutely fine for me. Swallow the pill, wait u...

I ran across the following quote this week: The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time. -- Abraham Lincoln No matter how overwhelmed we get about our health, the holidays, work, family situations, etc., we can only take it one day at a time, no matter what. So....breathe (talking to myself here as much as you), think about your one day, today, and make the best of it.

Hey, check out this warning about nutmeg. This blogger's post is on the BlogHer site: http://doesabodygood.blogspot.com/2008/12/im-laughing-but-its-not-funny-nutmeg.html . It's crazy! Who knew this about nutmeg? Anyone? I sure didn't...

We were all disappointed to see no snow when we woke up this morning. It's not cold enough. However, it continues to rain, and I was inspired by The Soup's Rubber Boots post to get out my own wonderful pink rain boots (See photo. Thanks photographer Morgan!). Now I will hardly take them off...so comfortable and keeping my feet dry! Anyway, I had to also mention in follow up to yesterday's post that did receive two more Christmas cards in the mail yesterday bringing the grand total to three! Speaking of Christmas cards, gotta get ours out the door...yet another "to do" for the weekend. Appointment with "doctor that I don't like" is today. Getting the usual blood draw and also an order for the ultrasound. Neck still hurts this morning, for two weeks now. Isn't it amazing as cancer patients we get so used to being poked and prodded? It all started with a needle straight to the thyroid with no anesthesia (fine needle aspiration or FNA to be officia...

Can anyone believe that Christmas is two weeks from today? Really, I find it hard to believe. In fact, just yesterday a friend of mine on Twitter (here's a plug...follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/charlcies ) mentioned her family had only received one Christmas card...us too! As she asked, I will ask you: Did we miss the memo? Are folks not sending out Christmas cards? I LOVE to get Christmas cards, especially with the goofy family letter with the update on what everyone has been doing so...if I'm not on your Christmas card list, please add me! :) And on another Christmas note, about two weeks ago, I was so ahead of the game with shopping. All of a sudden, I'm behind. Another factor for us: two of our three kids have birthdays within a week after Christmas! This has a harsh impact on the checking account, for sure. However, it's been that way for a while, two of the kids' birthdays a week after Christmas. It's just the way it is....we'll survive as we...

The cancer snuck up on me today at work...not fun. While looking at some childhood cancer photos today with colleagues, we found this particular photo of a teenage boy getting a treatment of some sort. I had this flashback to my hospital experience, thinking about how I hated that IV to the point that the last 24 hours or so I was in the hospital, I would not let the hospital staff use it at all. I thought about how I hated that drain in my neck and walking around with this drain full of crap in my hospital gown pocket. I thought about how all I wanted to do was to make this all go away. I was overwhelmed with emotions...for him and, selfishly, for me. I felt myself getting emotional, closed my eyes, and wondered what was happening but then I knew. There is a thyroid cancer support group meeting at the local hospital here this Saturday. I'm going to try to go if schedules allow. I'm curious and wonder what it would be like to be in a room with other thyroid cancer survivors. So...

This morning at 8:30 AM, I was with Morgan and her friend Rachel as they started their sixth Girls on the Run (GOTR) race, 3rd Reindeer Romp. It was a brisk 18 degrees at race time, warming up to 21 when they were finished. Although we do not have the official times yet, they ran it in around 30 minutes. Then, we kept running to the car, drove to Thoreau Middle School so she could get in about one quarter of her basketball game that started at 9 AM. Whew!

Today I received a press alert via email from my alma mater, Oklahoma State. Check out the first two paragraphs below: Following only the sixth nine-win regular season in school history, Oklahoma State University today announced a contract extension for head football coach Mike Gundy, giving him a new seven-year contract worth $15.7 million. The contract was announced following action by the OSU/A&M Board of Regents at its regular meeting in Miami. With the new contract, which is effective Jan. 1, 2009 and runs through December of 2015, Gundy’s average annual compensation will be more than $2.2 million. His current six-year contract paid him $1,053,000 this year. What the heck? That's quite a raise, and he didn't even beat OU, Texas, or Tech! Now, I went to OSU when Mike Gundy was the quarterback there. He was the quarterback during Barry Sanders' Heisman year. He seems like a nice guy and a great coach, but wow... In all fairness, I have to point out that I also read ...

I haven't blogged about "the cancer" in a while...suspiciously so. Many of you know I am a worrier of the highest degree. I come by it naturally. My Mema is the biggest worrier of all. My Mom tries to tell her that at 88 years old, she can quit worrying about so many things as I have taken on the majority of that worrying burden as well but she presses on with it as do I. But I digress.. Ah, "the cancer".....I'm in this weird stage of being done with treatment yet not really in the full swing of follow up other than the blood tests that "the doctor I don't like" has me doing every six weeks. I call him for results a week ago and he says, after I press him for my actual bloodwork numbers, "There is nothing you need to worry about. I'll tell you when you need to be worried." Every morning that I wake up, the first thing I see in the mirror is the five-inch scar on my neck. Some days I feel lucky to be alive. Others, I can't bel...

This month my oldest daughter will turn 16....yes, 16! Geez, time goes by so quickly. For all of you out there with babies and toddlers saying, "Yeah, right! I can't wait!" um....you can wait. It has nothing to do with teenagers being difficult or crazy. It has everything to do with your baby growing up, driving, having a boyfriend, etc. The amazing part is watching your this teenager who used to be your baby grow up (yes, I said the same thing...) and be responsible, have a job, organize a volunteer project, work, make great grades, and watch out for her little sister. Really, it's amazing....

How was your Thanksgiving? Do leave a comment and tell me how yours was...yes, this is my sad attempt to see who is really reading my blog! You lurkers, jump in and leave a comment. Our Thanksgiving was great...we spent it at my in-laws home along with almost 20 other folks. It was great food and great company! A fun twist: we had a talent show. At first, most complained, including my husband. However, once it got going, it was awesome! From Morgan's clarinet solo to Kenzie's piano playing to Kevin's "running man" a la Bobby Brown 80's music, it was lots of fun. The next day, I decided we would do something spontaneous and go on an overnight trip. We went to The Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, VA. I had found a deal on the Virginia Tourism Newsletter for a great room price that included breakfast. I called on Friday AM, and they had availability so we were on our way by 12:30 PM. Little did we know that it takes almost four hours to get there, but it was wort...

This past week, I went to Austin, Texas for both business and pleasure. When I travel to Texas for work, I almost always incorporate a visit to see my family as I did last week. After traveling to a conference in Austin, I rented a car and drove to Mema's house, about a four-hour drive. Unfortunately, I left Austin during rush hour traffic. I called Mema to let her know that I was on my way. "Watch out for deer and wild boars," she says. "Wild boars? Since when?" She proceeded to tell me that my uncle's wife, Marsha, had hit a wild board recently (turned out to be two years previous), and they were "everywhere." Within minutes, Mom calls. She and Gary are on their way to a church Thanksgiving dinner for which she had spent the day cooking. Before they walked out the door, she wanted to make sure that I was on the road, doing OK, and to let me know to "watch out for the deer and wild boars." Really? Sufficiently warned, I continue on in th...

I love airports. It's strange, I know, but maybe I don't love airports as much as the people there. I do like to people watch. All sorts of people travel by airplane, and I wonder things like: who are they? where are they going? where are they from? business or pleasure or neither? This trip to Austin takes me back to July 2008 when my Mom got on a plane from OKC to come to VA for my thyroid cancer surgery and recovery. Did others look at her and wonder where she was going? Thnking about airports today also makes me think of a trip I took three years ago, August 2005, right before Hurricane Katrina hit. I got a call from Mom on my way home from work. My Pepa was supposed to have a simple pacemaker procedure that morning. It didn't go well, and Pepa was in a grave situation. At 6 AM the next morning, I was on a plane at Reagan National Airport headed (via Dallas) to Abliene, Texas. I knew I had to go, and I had a feeling it would be the last time I saw my Pepa. I arrived at ...

I've let a week lapse again without blogging...and I really enjoy it! An update on what's been going on around here: Last weekend we went to West Virginia for a church youth retreat. We went last year as sponsors, now again this fall, and really enjoyed it. I'm glad we went again. This time, we were able to take Morgan since Jennifer, the Youth Pastor, deemed her a "mini-youth" (she'll graduate to the youth group next summer). She liked the title and was thrilled to go. Chris put shutters on our bedroom windows to put one of the finishing touches on the remodel of our room, and it really looks great! The shutters really make the whole room. He has a few cabinet details to do, but the project is probably 90% done and looks wonderful. Chris and Morgan are getting ready for basketball season to start. Practice starts soon, and games the first weekend of December. Kenzie is busy as ever, finishing up the Wounded Veterans' Project for SGA and starting to work ...

So here's the full story on the endo visit. I blogged earlier this week it "went well" with him as it has not in the past...at all. He increased my dose of Levoxyl from 125 to 137 immediately, even before checking my blood work. He initially said that my blood work looked fine, and I pointed out that's good but I still don't feel well. I had been at 125 since September and wanted an increase so that is good he actually listened. What I'm still rolling around in my head...my thyroglobulin levels reveal that I still have thyroid tissue, which is a little surprising. I knew I had some post-surgery as the surgeon said that to us, but I thought the radioactive iodine treatment would get rid of that. Apparently it didn't. The endo said he will give me an order for an ultrasound at my next appointment to see what's left. So...what's left? Random thyroid tissue? A friend suggested that maybe a lymph node was missed. Ugh. Endo suggested I might get another...

Many of you know that Kenzie is the co-chair for the Wounded Veterans Project as part of the Student Government Association at her high school. They are collecting items to put together bags to give to service men and women who are returning from the Middle East injured and needing hospitalization prior to returning home. They have had an overwhelming response from the community and school donating items. The picture to the left is just a sample of what they have collected. Kenzie and I went to the American Legion last night to collect items from there as she left a collection box there last week, and we loaded several boxes into the car of items for this project. It's a great thing when your kids get involved to giving to someone else. I am proud of what she is doing and the example she is setting for Morgan and others.

We made it home from Hampton in time to see Morgan's last soccer game of the fall season, a Storm win in Annandale. It was a great game for the Storm! Kenzie drove 1/2 of the way to Hampton and 1/2 of the way home, giving her some great experience to document prior to her receiving her license. I guess you are supposed to have so many hours documented of driving. In VA, you can get your first license at 16 years, 3 months, which will be March 28th for Kenzie. I saw my endocrinologist today with the best results so far. If you read this blog, you know that I have struggled in communicating with him thus far regarding my thyroid medication/cancer. I expressed that frustration today to him in a very constructive manner, and he was receptive. Even better, he upped my dose of thyroid meds so we'll see if this helps me to feel better.

On the way down here to Hampton, VA, for Kenzie's meeting, it was fun to hear how much 80s music Kenzie had on her ipod. We listened to some Journey, Heart, and Run-DMC and more than even having them on the ipod, SHE KNEW THE WORDS! Lots of mother-daughter fun. On a side note, I had to look for my favorite RUN-DMC song on YouTube and found it. I present to you my favorite "Tricky": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C2b8XWJnfE . For those of you who don't know RUN-DMC, do you watch Run's House on MTV? Look how young the Rev. Run is...you'll find him in the video. I went to Jones High School in Jones, OK, a million years ago...OK, class of 1985. I can still hear the cheer:"We're the best, that's no lie, we're the class of 85!" I was a cheerleader all four years, and these things stick with you...but I digress. There were approximately 75 kids in my graduating class. It was such a small school compared to Kenzie's high school! Last year, ...

Sounds like a Boston song we know and love from the 80s (or 70s?), doesn't it? It has been such a long time since I have posted anything on my blog. Here's the short version of what's been going on lately around here: I traveled to Denver last week for business and was gone Tuesday through Friday. Business travel is tiring anyway, but with my current state of always feeling either bleh or not right, it really wasn't so great. Kenzie has injured her elbow doing a back handspring. Saw the doctor on Monday, said to rest it for six weeks. Dancing is over for her now. Chris is almost finished with the building and painting in our room. He painted it chocolate brown (it looks delicious!) with white trim and built an amazing cabinet for (mostly) me. He gets a shelf of it. :) Morgan continues to love soccer with her team the Storm. Most recently she scored three goals and had a great assist in a 6-2 win. She is disappointed that her last soccer game is this Sunday. The good new...

Here's a photo from Kenzie's cheerleading competition from this past weekend. She has red hair, is front and center on her knees, making a V with her arms. Her squad took 2nd in this competition and have another competition this weekend. Last weekend we missed the cheer competition for the soccer tournament. This weekend, we'll miss one soccer game for the cheer competition (thanks to our good friends the Karps for offering to get Morgan to the Saturday game). Ah, these things happen. Morgan has another soccer game on Sunday to catch. Saturday will be the first soccer game both Chris and I both have missed in a LONG time. For those of you keeping score from the last blog post, I finally did get my test results from Dr. Crantz...in the mail today (after I requested them via fax twice). Now I have to figure out what they mean...and find another endocrinologist. Ugh.

I'm feeling pretty alone, emotional, weird about my current state of thyroid cancer or lack of it or lack of a functioning thyroid. It feels as if my endocrinologist has abandoned me. He doesn't explain things to me, just barks orders. I need to find a new one but don't have the time or energy or just drive to follow up on any one of the many wonderful recommendations I have received from doctors to friends who are local. I placed my third call yesterday to Dr. Crantz's office yesterday asking (feels like begging) for a copy of my labs. I'd like to know what my TSH levels, etc. are. They have promised to fax twice (only after I pay $3 via credit card). Hasn't happened. Now I would be happy to just get these in the mail. I'm unmotivated with so much to do. I'm overwhelmed. It sucks.

A quick post: a show of hands (or comments on the blog...), how many of you saw my Oklahoma State Cowboys beat the Missouri Tigers on Saturday night courtesy ESPN2? It was quite amazing. I was shocked and frankly didn't think they could do it on the road! OSU has not been ranked in the top 10 since 1988, which was my junior year at OSU and Barry Sanders' Heisman year. Now THAT was fun times all the way around. Next week: Baylor in Stillwater for Homecoming weekend, the most fun time of the fall semester! OSU has one of the biggest homecoming celebrations in the nation. Fun for the students, alumni, etc. In two weeks, on the road to Austin to play the #1 Texas Longhorns. Hmmm...now that might be an interesting one, no?

It's been a while, I know. Between work, keeping up with the kids, and being exhausted, I haven't blogged much. I'm going to try to get back in the swing of it as I really enjoy it! Big weekend around here...and in Richmond. Morgan's soccer team was in a tournament there. We had a blast, and the girls got 2nd place. They had two wins on Saturday, a tie Sunday morning then lost the championship game. Lots of good passing, great goals, but just came up a little short. Morgan scored four goals this weekend, had a few assists and just overall played so well. Energy wise, I'm still struggling but slugging through it as best I can. Like this weekend, Saturday was good, but i was able to get in a nap after the two games and before the team dinner. Today, I was wiped out PLUS got stung by a bee. That was so random, at the awards ceremony after the championship game. It's on my hand between my thumb and first finger on my right hand. It hurts but hey, not as bad as a fiv...

Well, the scan was rather uneventful on Monday for those of you wondering. They did the same scan that I did pre-radioactive treatment, and the folks at the hospital said that Dr. Crantz (or as Deb and I like to call him, "that doctor that I/you don't like") would interpret the results for me. But they did show Chris and I informally that really, all the scan was supposed to do was show that the treatment is working/still going on, and that is happening. So...I guess we did find that out, that it is working, the radioactive iodine is still eating the thyroid tissue that is left as well as the thyroid cancer cells left. I'm more exhausted than ever, which is something I also have to address with "that doctor that I don't like." I have an appointment with him on Monday. I just hope that he doesn't tell me for the millionth time that "I'm lucky to have thyroid cancer" and "I won't die from it." Grrrr.... Fall is finally here ...

I am a bit perplexed about how I feel the past few days, which is more exhausted than ever. I thought once I did the radioactive iodine treatment and got started on my thyroid replacement medication (Levoxyl) that I would start feeling better. I actually feel worse than before I started my treatment. Worse in that...I have no energy and the cough continues. I'm very tired...exhausted. Anxious...about tomorrow's scan at Inova Fairfax. I have a follow up scan at 10 AM to see how effective the radioactive iodine treatment was. It's been almost two weeks since I was in the hospital and took the dose. I'm hoping I'm among the majority who have thyroid cancer for whom it is highly effective and I don't need another round or dose of it. And soccer news, as promised. It was a big win for the Storm today, 5-0. Morgan played well, had several great passes and at least one assist on a goal that I saw. It poured rain right before the game during their warm ups, just enough ...

I don't want to spend my life jaded, waiting to wake up one day to find that I let all these years go by....wasted. --Carrie Underwood Yesterday was my first day back in the office after my radioactive iodine treatment. Although I worked from home Monday - Wednesday (my boss and employer have been very supportive/terrific during this time....), I had not drove to the office in over 10 days since my treatment. On the way in yesterday, I heard one of my favorites, Carrie Underwood, on the radio. Not only do I love American Idol, but I certainly love my Checotah, Oklahoma girl Carrie Underwood! This song, Wasted, is about a woman who makes a decision to leave a bad relationship and a man who is an alcoholic who both have this same sentiment, they are tired of wasting their lives on things/people that bring them down or aren't worth it. Neither of these scenes are my situation...I have a terrific husband and family, and I don't drink to excess. However, I just experienced two ...

I'm out of hospital isolation after radioactive iodine treatment. How did it work? Like this: I took my bags and bags of magazines and reading material (it was crazy, people...thanks to all who contributed!) to my room, got settled. Then I went down to the Nuclear Medicine Dept. to talk to the radiologist about what was going to happen. We did this the Friday before as well, but she needed to do it officially again. I had a few questions so we went over those then back to the room. A few hours (yes, hours...took too long) later, a Nuclear Medicine technician brought the dose of radioactive iodine to me in my room in this nifty little protective container along with a radioactivity reading machine. I took the dose, it was a capsule like any other pill, being careful not to touch it with my fingers and washed it down with some water. And that was it! Funny thing...the tech took the radioactivity reading machine and within three minutes had a reading on me (that's how fast it work...

More good news in the cancer department and believe me, that’s a new event for me, to have the words “cancer” and “good news” in the same sentence. My blood test results came back positive that I am ready for the radioactive iodine treatment. I needed a score of over 45, and mine was 65. Hit it out of the park! Very exciting. Next bit of good news: my pre-treatment scan on Friday showed no evidence of cancer in my lungs or bones, the two most likely areas besides the lymph nodes that the cancer could have been found outside of the thyroid. Whew! Was planning on the worst and was pleasantly surprised by this good news. The “big dose” and 72-hour isolation starts this morning. A quick trip to the 7-11 produced $20 worth of Hollywood magazine that I will burn through in one afternoon. What to do with the rest of the time? I’ve had others contribute magazines I’m collecting in a bag by the front door. I’m going to pick a book or two that I don’t care if I bring home. Plus, just hoping for ...

I have been preparing now for weeks to have my radioactive outpatient treatment on Friday. After visiting with my endocrinologist's office yesterday, that has changed. My scan is now Friday the 12th and treatment on Tuesday the 16th...but that isn't the biggest change of all. The doctor has decided that instead of taking the radioactive iodine as an outpatient that I need a larger dose so I will be in the hospital for two nights/three days in isolation. I have mixed emotions about all of it. Many of you know I appreciate a good plan and then like to stick to it. So just the change in dates was unsettling to me at first, but then to have to be in isolation for 72 hours as well? But I'm also glad in a way for the isolation. The potential post-treatment radiation exposure to the family had bugged me. It was minimal and something doeable, but I was worried...what if we slipped up? An accidential hug? Now with the isolation, that takes care of that, at least during the greatest ...

It's back to the fall routine for all of us...sort of. At least for now for me. Everyone now is back at school and work. I lasted six hours the first day back. When I arrived home, I went straight to my room and slept for 1.5 hours. Yesterday, I stayed five hours at the office and then rested/laid down but did not sleep when I got home. I'm just working as long as I can for now each day. I'm definitely tired from being off of my thyroid medication in preparation from my treatment a week from today but not in the "I can't function" kind of tired I thought I would be and had heard about. I hate to say/write that with my outside voice as I could feel that way at anytime in the process (later today, tomorrow, next week) and don't want to jinx it. I do "hit the wall" mid-afternoon most days. This is when I know I'm not my sharpest/most effective and really just need to rest/take a nap. There's a lot of talk around here about Hurricane Hanna...

Today was the first day of school around here. Kenzie miraculously made it back last night from a trip to South Texas see her dad. She tells me she was the last one they let on the plane and were paging her in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. I can hear it now: "American Airlines paging...Please come to gate C22. Your plane is about to depart." Good old American giving her 40 minutes to get from the 30th row of one plane to another one two terminals away. Anyway, back to school. Kenzie is off to her sophomore year with chemistry, Algebra II, cheerleading, and SGA awaiting (oh yes, driver's ed too). However, first priority I'm sure in the next week will be a dress for the Homecoming dance. A girl has her priorities... Morgan started 6th grade today, her last of elementary school. They were both excited to go...well, sort of. Morgan was excited until yesterday when she might as well put the back of her hand to her forehead (in "old school" movie fashion) to say,...

Here's the update on the second weekend of soccer with Morgan's new team, the Storm. First game on Saturday morning they lost 6-3 to a good team they were well-matched to. Good news...Morgan got her first goal! Between games, her coach said he felt like the "monkey was off of her back" to score with the Storm. She proved she could do it, which we all knew so it was more for her than anyone. So much so, she went out in the second game and scored two more! They won that game 7-4, which put them in second place. Sunday morning they had to play the 1st place team from the other flight to get to the championship. We found out once the girls were on the field warming up that the Storm's Sunday AM opponent had beaten their opponents the previous day 10-0 and 10-0 AND were the #1 team in Virginia! It wasn't pretty but it was somewhat competitive (a loss). No championship game. However, Morgan's teammate did score a goal, which made their goalie fairly mad. Morga...

One of the things about preparing for the radioactive iodine treatment is I have to be off of my thyroid medication until the treatment AND I have to eat a low-iodine diet. I had no idea what this meant until I delved into the internet and the materials my doctor gave me, but here it is in a nutshell: No dairy of any kind (milk, cheese, yogurt, butter). With really no suitable substitutes either. No commerical bread products. No bread from the grocery store. No sea food of any kind. No iodized salt, which at first seems simple (replace the salt in the shakers with non-iodized salt). However, that also means that you can't have salt in the products you buy too, which means practically everything. For example, I found out this weekend that red licorice has salt in it....grrr. I'm a constant food package reader now. No chocolate These two things (no thyroid meds and the new "diet") are sure to make me crazy. At the soccer games yesterday, the team went to Subway between ...

Hi all. I'm trying to get in the habit of writing on my own blog. I was on a good roll of blog writing for the CureSearch blog before I left on my leave for thyroid cancer surgery. Feel free to remind me from time to time (hey Charlcie, when are you going to write again?) if you'd like. Since the 19th, the last time I wrote on the blog, hmmmm.....Mom and Gary left after being here for three weeks (well, Mom for 3 weeks, Gary for 10 days) following my surgery. That was a big change for all of us. She was the nurse, cook, cleaner, laundry doer. Besides that, she's my mom, and I miss her a bunch. She was and continues to be one of my biggest cheerleaders in this cancer stuff. Other happenings.... Morgan had her first soccer tournament with the Vienna Storm, her new team. Although I think she did well for this being the first time she plays with a new travel team EVER (been with her other team almost 3 years), she was critical of herself. Actually, she is hard on herself when ...

Many of you know that I write posts for the CureSearch blog ( www.curesearchnccf.blogspot.com ). I've been meaning to start my own blog so here it is... I'm not sure exactly what my blog will be about but myself, my family, things I find interesting, etc. I think I'll start with thyroid cancer. Lately, I've not been doing much anything but preparing for, having, and then recovering from thyroid cancer surgery. I was diagnosed on July 14, 2008. I had a feeling the diagnosis was coming after the initial ultrasound. In fact, I asked Chris to go with me to the biopsy. When the pathologist walked in the room to deliver the results, I knew. When he said "you have papillary carcinoma," I looked at Chris and said, "I knew it!" He knew I had a bad feeling as well. On July 16th, I met with Dr. Enoch Sanders, my surgeon who would navigate me through all of this. I had a wonderful experience with him, not so much with the cancer. He took an hour with Chris and I...