Project Life - Week 31

The first few days of this week were spent traveling home from South Carolina.  We took two days to drive home, and on the first day, we stopped in Tennessee at the Museum of Appalachia to eat lunch and walk around a little bit.  While we were inside the little store, my mom found this bonnet for Maddie.  A worker saw Maddie in the bonnet and suggested a coon-skin hat for Drew.  My parents bought each of the kids a hat, and they wore them while they ate their lunches.

 There are peacocks that roam around the grounds, and they were very interested in our food.

 We were surrounded by peacocks!

 Maddie watched some Curious George on her portable DVD player for part of the trip.

 That evening, we stayed in a hotel just north of Cincinnati.  We decided to got to Ikea that evening for dinner and to do a little bit of shopping.  Drew tried out a bed and watched a little bit of baseball.

 Once we got home, my parents stayed with us for a night, and then they drove up to northern Michigan to see some friends for the weekend.  We spent the rest of the week and weekend unpacking and running errands in preparation for my surgery and whatever recovery time I would need after my surgery.  I was able to get a hair appointment one morning, and Jim and I went out for a little date night one of the evenings.  Jim bought me a couple of new scarves that night.

 We also took care of getting all of Drew's school supplies.

 Drew got some new Batman underpants and some new socks and undershirts (not nearly as exciting as the Batman underpants).

That Saturday morning, the children and I went to Ace hardware store to get some paint (they were giving away free quarts of paint).  Drew found a cane while we were waiting, and he was pretending to be The Penguin (one of the Batman bad guys).

 Here's what I did for Project Life this week.  I kept all the pictures at 3x4 inches, and I even did a simple collage about our trip to Ace.  I found the little paper bag in my shopping cart, and thought it would be fun to include it, so I cut it down a bit and then added a bit of the paint chip.

I am linking up again this week at The Mom Creative.

Project Life - Week 30

This week was the week that we spent in South Carolina with my family.  I already blogged the first part of our week here.  Today I am sharing the rest of our week and how I documented it with Project Life.

My parents have a piano, and Drew and Maddie enjoyed playing it several times.

 Everyone went over to my brother and sister-in-law's house after dinner one evening.  Drew had lots of fun with his aunts and uncles.

 My nephew, Ryan, loves cars and construction.  He wore this helmet most of the evening.

 Maddie loved her new baby cousin, Avery!  She kept going over to the swing to check her out.

 I was holding her, and Maddie wanted to be right there, holding and hugging the baby.  She was just fascinated by her!

 We went swimming one afternoon at my parents' subdivision pool.  Drew wore his floaties and was much more confident than he was last summer.  Maddie loved the water!

 My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew met us there.

 My dad took Maddie for a walk one morning, and she fell asleep in the stroller.

 My dad is a college professor, and this past Christmas, David, one of his students (who was from Hawaii and wasn't able to go home for the break) stayed with my parents for about a week.  Drew met David while we were there for Christmas, and the two of them played many hours of Wii together.  David and his mom have now moved to South Carolina, and David came over to see Drew one day while we were in town.  The two of them played many hours of Wii together again!

 My sister was a nanny for a family with 5 children for the past several years, and one of the children is the same age as Drew.  They enjoy playing together when we are in town visiting, so my sister and brother-in-law invited them both over for a sleep-over one night.  They ate pizza for dinner, and then they went home to play Wii and watch a movie.  Drew had so much fun!

 My sister and I met one of my friends and her little girl at a French bakery on Saturday morning.  We had a great time catching up and eating pastries.

 Here's what I did for Project Life this week.  I made a two-page spread!  This was definitely our fullest, most photographed week of the year so far, so I decided to embrace it and go ahead with two pages for this week.

I am linking up at The Mom Creative again this week.

My Total Thyroidectomy

I had my thyroid surgery last Tuesday, and it went very well.  I thought I would share my experience for anyone who might be facing thyroid surgery in the future.  The surgery was scheduled for 7:30 in the morning, and we were told to report at the hospital at 6:00.  I was taken right back to be prepped, and during the prep, I had the best iv experience I have ever had.  They numbed my hand before inserting the iv, and it was so quick and painless that way!  Many different members of the surgical team came through to talk to me, and I had to answer a lot of questions (many of them multiple times).  As I talked to the anesthesiologists, I expressed my strong desire to avoid nausea (after a bad anesthesia experience in the past), so they gave me something called "triples" - two pills and a bitter drink and told me that they would also give me something in my iv during surgery.  I was taken to the OR shortly before 7:30, and the last thing I remember was my nurse arranging my arms for surgery.  I wasn't expecting to fall asleep before my surgeon even arrived in the OR, so it was kind of surreal to wake up in recovery afterwards and know nothing of what went on, who was present, or how long it had taken.

My surgery ended up being more tedious than anticipated.  My thyroid was wrapped around my trachea on both sides, so it was difficult to remove.  My nodule was also bigger than expected.  My surgeon said that is was about the size of a golf ball.  He told Jim that it had the word, "Titleist" written on the side.  :)  He was confident that things had gone well, though.

In the recovery room, I got very hot at one point and was feeling a bit panicked, but the nurse removed some of my blankets and fed me a few ice chips, and I started feeling better.  Two of the main possible  thyroidectomy complications are vocal cord damage and calcium deficiency.  I was quite encouraged to find that my voice was pretty strong in recovery.  After a while in recovery, I was taken to my room (I had a nice little private room), where Jim was waiting.  As soon as we got to my room, I climbed off the gurney and went straight to the restroom.  While I was there, I started feeling nauseated.  I got sick once, but I really think that it was more breathing tube related than stomach related.  After that initial sickness, I didn't have any more nausea.  My throat and neck were sore, but it wasn't horrible.  I rested throughout the day, and I used an ice pack on my neck and sipped ice water for my throat.  I ate soup and ice cream for lunch and dinner.  My parents and one of the pastors from our church came up that evening to visit for a little while, and after they left, I was feeling good enough to send Jim home for the night.  I was able to get several hours of sleep that night.

My view from my hospital bed

Wednesday morning, I had a low-grade fever, so the nurses encouraged me to keep drinking lots of water.  My surgeon came in late morning and told me that I could go home.  He encouraged me to take deep breaths and to try to cough.  He said that the fever was because my lungs were trying to readjust after having the breathing tube in there.

Flowers from my parents

I came home from the hospital Wednesday afternoon and have been doing a little better each day since then.  I've managed the pain with Motrin, ice packs, and a heating pad.  My throat pain went away after a couple of days, and my neck pain has gotten considerably better.  I haven't had any calcium issues, but they have me taking Tums 750 three times a day for a month, just to be cautious.

My parents were here for the week of my surgery, and they were a huge help to us!  They cooked, cleaned, ran errands, and took care of the kids and me.  They left Sunday morning, and since then, we've been on our own.  My neck was feeling pretty good by Monday, but I was starting to feel the effects of not having a thyroid.  I was very tired and emotional.  I had not been able to start my hormone replacement medication immediately after surgery because we were waiting on the pathology report.  I was thrilled when my surgeon called Monday afternoon to tell me that the pathology was back and that I did not have cancer!  Later that afternoon, my endocrinologist called to tell me that he had called in my prescription and that I could start my medication Tuesday morning.  I have been amazed at how much better I have felt since I started the medication!

Happy mail from my sister and brother-in-law

I went back to see my surgeon yesterday.  He removed my remaining bandages and told me that everything looks good.  He told me that I could go back to being a normal person.  :)  My neck looks kind of rough, which is to be expected 10 days after surgery, but I have hopes that it will end up looking pretty good after a few months.  Until then, I will be covering my neck with scarves (to hide my scar and to protect it from the sun).  I had bought a few new scarves before my surgery, and my sister and my cousin had each sent me one this week in the mail.  My friend, Kristen, stopped by my house on Tuesday with a big bucket full of scarves that my friends at church had gotten for me.  I was so touched that they would support me in this way!  Their gift made my day week!

Scarves from friends at church

I'm sure I will have more to share about my thyroid journey in the weeks to come, but I wanted to update on my surgery and recovery so far.

Project Life Week - 29

This week was another fun and busy week for us.  Drew helped me make a banana pudding poke cake.  We all liked it a lot!

 Maddie loves to look at books and have us read to her right now.  She likes to sit in her little chair and read.

 We stopped at Dairy Queen after church on Wednesday night, and Jim got a smoothie.  Maddie loved Jim's smoothie and pretty much stole what remained in his cup when we got home.

 Maddie gets herself into all kinds of trouble.  I heard her crying and came into the living room to find her stuck, feet up, between the couch and the end table.

 We ate dinner at Applebee's on Thursday with a gift card that Jim's cousin sent us, and it was an evening of discoveries for my children.  Drew declared their grilled cheese sandwich to be the best ever.  He said, "I'm not trying to be mean, Mommy, but this grilled cheese is better than the ones you make."

 Maddie discovered ketchup that evening, and she is a huge fan now.  She likes to dip things in ketchup and then suck the ketchup off whatever she dips.  She might never eat a french fry again - just use it as a vessel for ketchup.

 Drew had VBS at our church every morning this week, and he loved it.  Here he is with the prizes he earned with the points he got throughout the week.

 We decided part-way through the week to take a last-minute trip to South Carolina before my surgery, so I rushed around to get my pre-op appointment at the hospital taken care of and to get everything packed.  Maddie entertained herself by getting into things, as usual.  One of her new favorites is emptying her sock basket.

 Jim had to run an outing Saturday morning, and I had a baby shower to go to, so we weren't able to leave for our trip until Saturday afternoon.  That morning, as I was getting ready for the baby shower, Jim called to say that he had burned himself as he was lighting a big, old grill at work.  He made it sound like it wasn't too bad, just some singed eyebrows and slight burns.  I was shocked to come home from the shower and find him with his arm all bandaged up.  He had a second-degree burn on his hand and some burns on his arm and nose.  He had to go to urgent care and get bandaged up.  He also had to have a tetanus shot, and we had to stop at CVS on our way out of town to pick up an antibiotic and some burn cream for him.  He did fine on the trip, and is pretty well healed now, thankfully.

 The kids slept for a good part of the afternoon, and we made it to Cincinnati in time to meet my parents for dinner.  We stayed in a hotel in Cincinnati on Saturday night, and then Jim left Sunday morning to come back home, and we went on to South Carolina with my parents.

 Here is what I did for Project Life this week.

I am linking up again at The Mom Creative.

Project Life - Week 28

I got this first picture by text from a friend who was working in Maddie's nursery during church.  These two are just a couple months apart in age, and they play together in the nursery a lot.  They were taking turns pulling each other around in the wagon. 

 I had two doctor appointments this week, and Jim's mom kept the kids for the first appointment.  Drew spent the night and most of the following day at her house, having what he called, a "dude and grandma night."  He had lots of fun!

 Maddie has been waking up from her naps before she really should lately, and she is sometimes still tired and cranky.  She will often fall back asleep on our laps.  She isn't usually a very cuddly girl, so we enjoy the extra snuggles.

 Drew and Maddie can play great together sometimes, and then, sometimes, they really fight!  Maddie was pretty upset at Drew and kept pushing him away.

 Drew lost another tooth this week.  Maddie was wearing some pants that have pictures of ice cream and candy on them.  Drew was pretending to eat them, and Maddie somehow knocked his loose tooth out in the process.  He keeps telling people that Maddie knocked his tooth out with her bottom.

One night after Maddie went to bed, Jim, Drew, and I played several rounds of Uno.

 Friday was Chick-Fil-A's "Cow Appreciation Day," where if you dress like a cow, you can get a free meal.  Our only Chick-Fil-A is about 30 minutes away at Oakland University.  I had never been to this Chick-Fil-A before, but I decided to dress us all up as cows and drive up there for lunch.  Since it is summertime, there weren't very many people on campus at all, but I still felt a bit conspicuous as we walked across campus in our cow outfits.  When we arrived at the food court, the workers were so excited to see us.  We were the ONLY cows that had come that day.  We got our free lunch (it was SO good to eat Chick-Fil-A!), and we enjoyed it very much.  Drew did not enjoy being called, "cute" and and "adorable" by all the women there.

 We continued our cow theme by driving out to a dairy farm to see the cows.

 The kids loved seeing the little calves.

 We were going to get ice cream at the dairy, but I hadn't thought to bring cash, and all they took was cash!  We had to get some ice cream closer to home.

We had a fun week, and here's what I did for Project Life this week:

I am linking up at The Mom Creative.

I would appreciate your prayers this week.  I am having surgery to have my thyroid removed this morning.

My Thyroid Story, So Far

I have blogged about some bits and pieces of my thyroid situation during the last several months, but since I am approaching another step in the whole process, I thought I would share my whole thyroid story, so far, all in one place.
Until last fall, I had never really thought a lot about my thyroid.  I knew I had one, but I didn't really know much about what its purpose was.  I have learned a lot about the thyroid and all the different thyroid problems since then!  The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in your neck that produces hormones that control your metabolism.  Problem thyroids can be over-active, under-active, enlarged, or lumpy.

I went to see my doctor last fall, and while I was there, he noticed that my thyroid was enlarged.  He told me that is is quite common for women to develop a thyroid problem after having a baby (Maddie was about 6 months old at that time), but he sent me for an ultrasound to check it out.  My ultrasound showed that I had a 5 cm nodule (growth) on the left side of my thyroid.  My doctor referred me to a surgeon, who recommended removing the left side of my thyroid (a partial thyroidectomy).  My surgeon sent me for a biopsy, because though uncommon, nodules can be cancerous, and if cancer is found in the thyroid, the entire gland must be removed.  I had my biopsy in November, and the results showed that I had a benign follicular nodule.  When I saw my surgeon again, he said that though my nodule was large, it was benign, and since it wasn't causing any breathing or swallowing issues, we could wait 6 months and reevaluate it.
In the meantime, I saw my doctor again.  He sent me for a second ultrasound, and he referred me to an endocrinologist for a second opinion.  The second ultrasound showed that my nodule had grown to 6 cm.  I saw the endocrinologist for the first time in May.  He ordered a bunch of blood work, and he sent me for a second biopsy.  The blood work said that my thyroid levels were in the normal range, but my second biopsy showed that I had a follicular lesion of undetermined significance.  My endocrinologist felt that just by the nodule size alone, I should really have the left side of my thyroid removed, but with the atypical biopsy results, he recommended getting it done this summer.

After my second biopsy

I set up another appointment with my surgeon, and Jim and I went to see him a few weeks ago.  As we talked through the surgery with him, he recommended my getting a total thyroidectomy - removing the entire thyroid.  With a partial thyroidectomy, there is a chance of not needing hormone replacement medication afterwards.  However, if I got a partial thyroidectomy, and cancer was found, I would have to go back and have a second surgery to remove the rest of my thyroid.  A total thyroidectomy would require me to be on thyroid medication for the rest of my life, but after the surgery, I would be able to just move on with treating the cancer (if needed) and recovery, without having to go through another surgery.  After some research and prayer, I have decided to go ahead with a total thyroidectomy on August 6.
We were able to fit in a little trip to South Carolina to see my family last week, and my parents have come back to Michigan with us to help with the kids during my surgery and for a few days after I come home.  From what I have read, the surgery should not too bad, as far as surgeries go.  I will have a scar on my neck, which should fade to almost nothing after a year or two.  I have been adding some scarves to my scarf collection and pinning scarf-tying tutorials on Pinterest in hopes of covering up my scar as it heals.

My current scarf collection

If I do end up having thyroid cancer, I will probably have to go through a radioactive Iodine treatment a few weeks after my surgery, which will kill all of the remaining thyroid tissue (and hopefully any remaining cancer cells).  That would most likely involve another hospital stay and at least several days of being quarantined from my family since I would be radioactive!  It would also delay the start of my hormone replacement therapy, which would cause me to feel pretty rough for those weeks between the surgery and the radioactive Iodine treatment.  We are obviously hoping that I do not have cancer, but we are praying for grace and strength to get through these next few weeks, whatever they hold.
I will update about my surgery and whatever the following weeks hold for me as I can.  It is difficult to go through the uncertainties of medical procedures, and I hope that by sharing my experiences, I can be a help and encouragement to others who face this situation in the future.  I would appreciate your prayers on Tuesday morning as I have my surgery!