Beginning a new chapter
May 31, 2008 09:30AM
- 3 comments
This week was my wedding anniversary.....following my birthday 2 weeks ago.....following my RAI a week before that....plus I went back to work last week. A lot of milestones for me, and I am starting to feel as if things are looking up!
I am back to work and not wanting to fall down with exhaustion each night. I am tired, don't get me wrong, but it's not debilitating. I even worked 9.5 hours yesterday (thanks to half of my department being out!), and I still was functional. That felt great. The girls threw me a belated birthday/welcome back party last Friday - it was so sweet. There were lots of questions about surgery and RAI, and it felt good to talk about it. My bosses said they are now having their necks checked each doctor visit - I am glad!
My birthday was very low-key....my friends were away for a wine-tasting weekend (it was too soon after my RAI to go), so Mike and I just relaxed and had dinner with my dad and brother. It felt good to know that I made it to another one, I survived this past year, and that the next one will be easier. It was a really big deal for me.....the doctor says that I can start trying to get pregnant, too (next year), so I am feeling very hopeful.
We also called our foster care workers to get put back on the list. Now that I am done with treatment and no longer radioactive, we can safely (!) take children in again, as well. We worked SO hard getting our certifcation - it will feel great to put it to good use. Besides, this is all their fault - I had not yet had my yearly physical when we started our foster classes. We had to have one to be certified, and it was then that my doctor discovered my enlarged thyroid! Karma!
Our anniversary was pretty much nil, due to Mike's horrid cold. We normally have dinner at the restaurant where we had our wedding reception. This year we ordered Chinese and stayed in...we'll go out another time. We've been through more than most in 4 years of marriage...at least as far as "in sickness" goes. Mike has had five surgeries (plus contracted Hep C through one of them - stage 1, asymptomatic), and just when we were starting to feel like it was all getting better...my stupid thyroid jumped in!
Now I feel like I'm turning the page in the thyroid cancer story. I will take my medicine like a good girl, have my levels checked, and hopefully not ride the side effects roller coaster through dosage adjustments. I will be checked out regularly and follow the doctor's orders. I will be pro-active in my own health. I will stay informed about all things thyroid. I will tell others to have their doctors check their neck. I will (hopefully) give back to this forum what it gave to me during my darkest hours. (Thanks, friends.) I will tell people that while thyroid cancer is a terrifying diagnosis, there are positive stories out there....I feel as if I am one. I have had some rough times, and I know I still will.... but overall, life is good. Life is good.
I am back to work and not wanting to fall down with exhaustion each night. I am tired, don't get me wrong, but it's not debilitating. I even worked 9.5 hours yesterday (thanks to half of my department being out!), and I still was functional. That felt great. The girls threw me a belated birthday/welcome back party last Friday - it was so sweet. There were lots of questions about surgery and RAI, and it felt good to talk about it. My bosses said they are now having their necks checked each doctor visit - I am glad!
My birthday was very low-key....my friends were away for a wine-tasting weekend (it was too soon after my RAI to go), so Mike and I just relaxed and had dinner with my dad and brother. It felt good to know that I made it to another one, I survived this past year, and that the next one will be easier. It was a really big deal for me.....the doctor says that I can start trying to get pregnant, too (next year), so I am feeling very hopeful.
We also called our foster care workers to get put back on the list. Now that I am done with treatment and no longer radioactive, we can safely (!) take children in again, as well. We worked SO hard getting our certifcation - it will feel great to put it to good use. Besides, this is all their fault - I had not yet had my yearly physical when we started our foster classes. We had to have one to be certified, and it was then that my doctor discovered my enlarged thyroid! Karma!
Our anniversary was pretty much nil, due to Mike's horrid cold. We normally have dinner at the restaurant where we had our wedding reception. This year we ordered Chinese and stayed in...we'll go out another time. We've been through more than most in 4 years of marriage...at least as far as "in sickness" goes. Mike has had five surgeries (plus contracted Hep C through one of them - stage 1, asymptomatic), and just when we were starting to feel like it was all getting better...my stupid thyroid jumped in!
Now I feel like I'm turning the page in the thyroid cancer story. I will take my medicine like a good girl, have my levels checked, and hopefully not ride the side effects roller coaster through dosage adjustments. I will be checked out regularly and follow the doctor's orders. I will be pro-active in my own health. I will stay informed about all things thyroid. I will tell others to have their doctors check their neck. I will (hopefully) give back to this forum what it gave to me during my darkest hours. (Thanks, friends.) I will tell people that while thyroid cancer is a terrifying diagnosis, there are positive stories out there....I feel as if I am one. I have had some rough times, and I know I still will.... but overall, life is good. Life is good.
Wow, what a month of celebrating your LIFE you've had. Thank you for all your support through TT, LID and RAI- I honestly could not have done it without your messages and positivity. I'm so glad that you're looking towards the future with hope yet keeping your feet grounded in helping others. It's been such a crazy couple of months, but knowing that the toughest part is behind us is such a good feeling. Been there, done that! I go back to work on Tuesday and I hope that I don't collapse from exhaustion (I work a 9 hour day, plus my hour-long commute- it's a loooong day). This whole thing has really made me reevaluate my life and what I want to do with it. Namely, I want to get my yoga teacher certification and get my studio open as soon as I can. This is what I am meant to be doing, sharing healing and wellness with others...interesting that it's a career that uses the voice and that my cancer was in my throat, eh? Probably NOT a coincidence :)
All the best to you and yours KelDC and thanks, again, for everything!
All the best to you and yours KelDC and thanks, again, for everything!
Thank you so much for sharing; you are, indeed, beginning a new chapter of your life and have done so with such poice and elegance. The road taken has been bumpy; never a smooth one dealing with thyroid cancer, but one you have ridden and now find a new path to travel. I am so pleased you will stick around to help the others on the community. THIS is what it is all about .. THIS is the reward at the end of the journey. Knowing what you have endured is now going help so many others as they begin their quest, too.
I am thrilled about the foster care update .. thrilled thrilled thrilled and I know only good things will happen for you there!
Cheryl
I am thrilled about the foster care update .. thrilled thrilled thrilled and I know only good things will happen for you there!
Cheryl
What an inspiring journal entry.!!
Hi, I have seen you posting on the thy site but we never 'spoke' as such !
I live in the UK and found this site whilst trawling the net for information after a lump came up on my neck and I was told it needed biopsy. (Long story, but FNA inconclusive, PT done, nodule turned out to be benign but MPC found in lobe of thyroid - now waiting CT scan to determine whether remaining lobe must also come out- yuk!)
I am still in the middle of my journey and it is proving to be a rough one at times. I feel some days like giving up.
I have 3 adopted kids - all now in their early 20's and just gorgeous - and a 12 year old - also gorgeous!!
It is so good to hear of someone willing to take kids into their lives even though you have been 'through the mill' so to speak. Well done to you both!!!
Reading your journal entry has given me a bit of hope today, (not feeling too bright but getting on with it.....!),
I am so pleased to hear you say that your energy levels are good - that is exactly where I want to get to. It is so much easier to cope with the world and what it throws when you have just a bit of spare energy!
Thanks for letting us in on your thoughts.
Jacqui
Hi, I have seen you posting on the thy site but we never 'spoke' as such !
I live in the UK and found this site whilst trawling the net for information after a lump came up on my neck and I was told it needed biopsy. (Long story, but FNA inconclusive, PT done, nodule turned out to be benign but MPC found in lobe of thyroid - now waiting CT scan to determine whether remaining lobe must also come out- yuk!)
I am still in the middle of my journey and it is proving to be a rough one at times. I feel some days like giving up.
I have 3 adopted kids - all now in their early 20's and just gorgeous - and a 12 year old - also gorgeous!!
It is so good to hear of someone willing to take kids into their lives even though you have been 'through the mill' so to speak. Well done to you both!!!
Reading your journal entry has given me a bit of hope today, (not feeling too bright but getting on with it.....!),
I am so pleased to hear you say that your energy levels are good - that is exactly where I want to get to. It is so much easier to cope with the world and what it throws when you have just a bit of spare energy!
Thanks for letting us in on your thoughts.
Jacqui
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