Skip to main content

Multiple choice: lazy, exhausted, or thyroid

Basking in the thrill of being cancer free for a whole six weeks now, I continue to be tired. I hate tired. It sounds like whining...it sounds weak. People give you blank looks when you say, "I'm tired." And yet, most days I could, and sometimes do, climb in my bed about 6 PM for a nap or at least some vegitating.

It all feels like a never-ending circle since last summer...major cancer surgery is sure to make you exhausted. Your body has to recover. It never really did as two weeks post-surgery, I'm on this amazingly horrible low-iodine diet in preparation for thyroid cancer treatment and taken off of all thyroid meds. Then treatment....then continued recovery and adjusting thyroid meds. A mere three months later, more cancer...more surgery...more tired.

But now, I am through with cancer (rockin' the positive attitude here), and the tiredness lingers. I mentioned this to my family doc on a routine visit lately, and she did some blood work (everyone wants my blood these days...) to discover that I have a Vitamin D deficiency. A friend told me how her lack of Vit. D solved her energy problem so I thought, "Ah ha! There it is...mystery solved."

Six weeks after starting special Vitamin D supplements, I'm still tired. Like some days wanting to go to bed shortly after getting out of bed tired. Other days, it catches up to me by the end of the day.

I should get out and walk, you know, exercise...but I'm truly too tired. I'm afraid I would have to call Mackenzie or Chris to come pick me up as I'm curled around a stop sign on Lawyers Road (Vienna reference...sorry non-Vienna folks).
So I guess I'll blame my lack-o-thyroid just because blaming it on something makes me feel better. But really, I just want it to stop. I don't want to be "too tired" and miss Morgan scoring a goal or miss a performance (vocal, dance, or otherwise) of Mackenzie's.

My endo, whom I really like, is actually dropping my thyroid medication in the direction that would make me more tired because my #s aren't right. (Program note: When they surgically remove your thyroid, you are forever on daily medication to replace what your thyroid does, which is maintain energy and metabolism. It's a constant battle to get these medication levels right.)

So it's multiple choice: lazy, exhausted, or thyroid...and I don't even know the correct answer.

Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 20, 2009 at 8:01 AM

    Did they check your iron levels too? Since I have anemia, I am tired all the time too.

    Another thought: does Vitamin D interact with anything negatively? I know I have to be very careful and avoid taking my iron suppliments with any calcium or they cancel each other out.

    You can come nap with me anytime until they get you figured out -- now that I am on bedrest, I would love the company :)

    jennifer

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kairol RosenthalJuly 21, 2009 at 3:36 AM

    This past weekend I was a guest on a cancer radio show about thyroid cancer in young adults. In preparation I was reading up on a recent article written by endos and oncologists at MD Anderson. They said that thyroid cancer patients report fatigue 50% more than any other kind of cancer survivor. All this to say, you are not alone honey!

    For me succumbing to the exhaustion worked better than trying to fight it, which only took more energy. Easy to say - I don't have kids!

    Best,

    Kairol
    blog - http://everythingchangesbook.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your HusbandJuly 21, 2009 at 9:46 AM

    Another contributing factor could be that you switched your work hours and are going in an hour or two earlier then you used to .. not that you're getting up earlier but perhaps your body is missing that hour or two of morning leisure it used to have.

    And hey! It's ok to be lazy, exhausted, tired, whiney, and a whole host of other things so no worries :-)

    I love you my sleepy wife

    ReplyDelete
  4. Daugter #1July 22, 2009 at 2:55 PM

    I'd pick you up on Lawyers :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. robsAugust 6, 2009 at 11:03 AM

    Hey Charlcie,
    I just came across your blog on Dear Thyroid. Try not to get too frustrated by being so tired; especially after two surgeries in a year, and with them still fiddling around with your meds! I don't even remember the summer after my second surgery... I slept all the time, woke up for dinner, and went back to bed. Then one day I just sort of snapped out of it. I'm still a bit off, but things have gotten better!
    -robin

    ReplyDelete
  6. Russell MorisAugust 11, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    I had a slow metabolism, my family physician put me on a well balanced diet and recommended I try desiccated bovine thyroid to help me speed up my metabolism. I have lost weight AND it increased my vitality. I haven't felt this good in a very long time. I am thankful for my doctors advice.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quite a pay raise!

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
2 comments
Read more

On my soapbox about "the best cancer to have"

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know I was on my soapbox this morning after reading yet another article about the dreaded subject of how thyroid cancer is "the best cancer to have." Think about that...the best cancer? Why would someone say that? In an attempt to make you feel better about having thyroid cancer, some health care profesionals try to convince those of us who have or have had thyroid cancer that it is "the best cancer to have" because it has a high survival rate. An aside here, that high survival rate applies to papillary carcinoma, one of the three types of thyroid cancer out there. Survival rates are lower for medullary carcinoma and anaplastic carcinoma, the other two types of thyroid cancer. Back on topic...OK, so tell us that papillary carcinoma has a high survival rate. Truly, that is good news. But because of this "best cancer to have" statement, and the fact that I was told my thyroidectomy would most likely be just an easy, ove
13 comments
Read more

More about batting a thousand...

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.
11 comments
Read more