Skip to main content

Blogger intimidation & lack of turtlenecks...oh, and swine flu

WARNING: This should probably be three posts. Unfortunately, I'm just not that creative these days.

My dear cousin has a wonderful blog, All Things in Moderation, as does a friend of mine, Soup is not a Finger Food. Both have interesting lives and are VERY funny, witty, and charming. Yes, All Things and Soup, I'm buttering you up...happy? :)

But me....my life has just not been that funny OR interesting lately. That's OK, just kinda new for me, what with all of the thyroid cancer fun of late! I think I'll take it. As a result, just nothing much to say lately except....

I have gone six straight days without wearing a scarf! I kid you not...the April 90-degree weather forced it upon me. Couldn't justify it. So my chapstick-looking sunscreen stick is my new best friend. I whip it out on the Metro, at the grocery store, on the soccer fields. My scar is my new badge of courage, and anyone can stare or comment. I don't care now! It's really been liberating.

Oh yeah...swine flu. Kinda freaked about it as lots of others are. Wash your hands, people, or use lots of hand sanitizer. But shouldn't we be doing that anyway?

Comments

  1. Congratulations on joining the exposed thyroid scar club. It's definitely a good idea to use that sunscreen stick. I don't even notice my scar anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for stopping by and introducing yourself! I am sorry we have to meet under suffering circumstances, but I am thankful to have another friend along the journey. My initial surgery was June 05, RAI August 05, my second surgery April 13th, 09. I refuse to ruin a good summer, so my RAI will be in September. I wore a scarf for one week this time, then decided if I have to have the scar, others can look at it. Love the sunscreen stick tip, Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Charlcie-

    You looked, sounded, acted...WERE fabulous (as always) at our little corporate reunion happy hour last week, it was great to see you! Congrats on losing that scarf, we all love you either way, you know that. Just don't start wearing tube tops or using a fanny pack or anything cheesy of that sort. I would have to call you on that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aw, shucks, thanks for the blog love! I just discovered this. I should pay more attention. I have a husband who is trying to distract me with hockey playoffs every single night.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "badge of courage" indeed. and it is you know. it really is.

    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 ...

Third time is a charm? Third time stinks.

So....unfortunately it seems my gut (and the thyroglobulin blood test) was right. Ultrasound showed two "metastatic" lymph nodes. Same right side of the neck where I had four cancerous lymph nodes in 2008. Radiologist said we could biopsy them but he showed me...."here is what a normal lymph node looks like. But here is what this one...and this one look like. Not normal....with metastatic characteristics." Third time is a charm? Third time stinks. First diagnosed in 2008, recurrence in 2009, and now a recurrence in 2012. About 30% of thyroid cancer survivor struggle with recurrence, and I am in that 30%. What's next? A procedural biopsy next week. Surgery next month. Those are the facts. I'm still sorting through the emotions of it all so more on that later. Thanks for your prayers and positive thoughts.

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...