Charlcie

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...