Still Low

Argh. Why can't my body just work right?? Calcium is still low. Probably not dangerously so, but definitely below normal. It's happening more frequently now and it's taking a lot more calcium to fix the tingling. SO I guess I need to call the dr. I'm just so sick of dealing with calling and bloodwork and yada yada.

I'm pretty fatigued too again. Perhaps it is just the calcium...I dunno. I would just love to curl up and sleep all day if I could. ZZZZ. Scar is still tender and I cannot wear any shirts that are crew neck or that don't hang lower than the incision. This calcium thing just has me irked. WHY?? You know? Damn.

Calcium, calcium...where for art thou calcium??

Hmm, well apparently my parathyroids aren't working on their own yet. I'm really REALLY hoping they eventually kick into gear because having to rely on calcium supplements in addition to the Synthroid is going to be a PIA the rest of my life. The fact you cannot take calcium within 4hrs of the Synthroid is what is so problematic.

I got completely tingly in my limbs the other night but remedied it with OTC supplements thankfully. I freaked out thinking I might end up back on the IV drip again...which still is a possibility if the OTC stuff ends up not working. It's depressing sometimes.

For now though, I'll just keep taking the 1800mg+ supplements and hope they work. I feel a little tingly still though and keep eating Tums but I think my levels are hovering around 8 or so based on how I feel. Still under normal but normal enough to keep me out of the hospital! LOL

Here is a pic of the scar tonight. Still tender but the redness looks better. It's becoming more raised. Almost 6 weeks post surgery...

Hmm...not so sure how this is looking...

It's 4 weeks post-op today and this is how my scar looks. Not sure if this is supposed to be this red.

Results

Ergh. Um. Well my TSH numbers were a shocker. For both me and the doctor----
.07

Very off the "norm". And I asked her about all my symptoms and she said that because my numbers have swung to the other extreme of normal that I will have the increased appetite, etc. and feel miserable. So she moved my Synthroid down from .125mcg to .112mcg. She said she didn't want to move it any lower because it might be too little amount of hormone.

On a good note, my calcium levels are back up to a normal 9.1! I'm still taking the OTC calcium with vit.D but not the Calcitrol anymore. Good to see that my parathyroid glands are finally working again!

My weight is up even higher. She told me not to worry about it...easier said than done! It's not like I'm a size 4 and can just forget that my jeans are tight and golly, have to go up a size. When you are bigger to begin with, those extra few pounds really count! It's frustrating. She said to try and get some exercise in. Yeah, and how can I do that with a back injury that prevents me from even walking to the mailbox without pain?? I have an elliptical so we'll see if I can slowly get on that thing.

My scar is very red the last few days. I am not sure what that means but the doctor even poked at it and seemed a little curious as to why it is still so tender. Hope it's not infected. That is just one more damn thing I don't need.

I'm really getting into the "retro-housewife" that I started working on a couple of months ago. I'm saving a ton of money in coupons, cooking constantly, baking my own bread & still managing to clean and homeschool. Whew. All with no thyroid and messed up hormones! I feel the urge to brag a little bit ;o)

Testing...testing!!

My first TSH results are in tomorrow. I am so anxious to see the results! I'm sure it's high...4 maybe?? I felt "good" at 1.7 so they need to adjust my Synthroid until I'm down around 2 or lower.

The scar is healing pretty nice. I am keeping the Vit. E oil on it every night and today it looks much better than yesterday. I honestly forget it's there when we go out...until people stare. There is a small amount of hardness under the skin...guessing it's just still healing?

My middle son went for lab tests last Thursday. Apparently he's showing all the signs of hypothyroidism too. I need to call his pediatrician and get the results. I've already got one child on Synthroid...good chance I'm about to have another join me! Ugh.

What was I saying again??

Luckily my endocrinologist appt. is tomorrow for my bloodwork because I'm really having issues functioning lately. It's obvious my thyroid med's are totally messed up but I am really hoping that they fix it quickly! I cannot think straight, I'm SO fuzzy headed, the fatigue is unlike anything I've ever experienced before and yet I have insomnia. WTF is that??

The incision is doing really great healing. I'm using Vitamin E oil on it at night. Hubby says it just looks like a thin red hair across my neck now. I need to get the camera out and get a pic for comparison.

I figured out how to convert movies from DVD to play on my enV. I've had this phone for a year...you'd think I'd have figured this out sooner. But this means that at tomorrows appointment, my 3yr old can sit quietly in his stroller watching his choice of Cars or Garfield. Sweet. No screaming child at this one! Woohoo!

Post-Post-Op

Had my post-post op appointment on Thursday. Went fine. Said I was doing great and my incision is healing nicely. My calcium seems to be doing ok also but I'm also still taking the Calcitrol and Tums twice a day. I'm able to move my neck pretty well now. They did tell me it would be another 3 weeks or so for complete healing of the incision, but not to be worried at this point that it will reopen or anything.

I'm having my first weekend without hubby to help. He took a pioneer camping weekend with his brother and dad out of state. Hope he's having fun because it's been really hard with the kids without him here to help.

I'm completely and totally worn the hell out from the thyroid meds not being adjusted right. It is a fatigue until that of which I've experienced before and I don't like it. I go in on Tuesday for my lab work to see what my levels are. Can't wait to get on the road to fixing this crap because it is just exhausting. And the weight gain sucks too. Ergh.

11 days post-op

Had my sons 3rd birthday party today :o) This is my first big get together since the surgery. I think it went pretty good all things considered. My husband cleaned and decorated the house for me so that was super nice of him! After a houseful of people and party clean-up (which my husband also did most of) I was exhausted! I ended up getting a horrible migraine and I fell asleep from 5-8pm. It is like my body has a limit now on just how much I can take before I have to take a nap. I guess that is a good thing in a way.

Started to put pure Vitamin E oil on the scar today too. Hopefully it helps it to heal nicely. I can move my neck pretty much completely now so that is good!

It's hard to explain how I can be so exhausted at times now...yet so energized to get up and do things too? I feel like there is a part of me that is waking up. The part that is "supposed" to regulate mood and energy...which I suppose is the thyroid. I guess since mine was so messed up, removing it has helped. Time will tell how this all unfolds though.

Un.Freaking.Believable.

Oh yeah, guess where my ass ended up Thursday afternoon after about oh, 30 seconds in my post op appointment?? Well, considering that all the symptoms that I *thought* I was having of low calcium were indeed right...and much worse than I ever expected...I was immediately admitted back into the hospital for hypocalcemia. The past week has been quite a blur mentally and I knew something was wrong but didn't quite know what to do about it.

Anyways, when I got into the office yesterday for my appointment, I had to sign in...and my hand was so shaky that it looked like a kindergartner signed me in. As soon as the nurse called me back and began to ask me how I was doing...she stopped and realized something was wrong. My vision had been off and blurry, I was shaking horribly and the most obvious sign was the feeling like I had my entire body poked with millions of pins and needles. She had me sit on the table and ran to get the docter who came in right away and tested me for Chvostek's Sign. I apparently failed that one miserably which prompted him leaving the room, filling out an admission form and sending me back to the hospital. As soon as they did my vital signs at the hospital...I failed Trousseau's Sign also.

Normal blood calcium levels are 8.5-10.5mg. Mine were 7.3mg. Anything below 7mg and it's considered critical and you can go into cardiac arrest at any time. Seeing how fast the staff was working to get my IV started and get things going made me really realize just how serious this was. My husband and my mom were there for me and keeping me laughing...but little things, like when the nurse started the IV, made me sob like a baby because of how hypersensitive my skin was.

So they got one small bag of calcium into the IV just fine and my levels didn't do a thing. Then came the super huge bag that they let drip all night. By 4am my levels had only risen to 7.9mg. Argh. I was totally thinking I was stuck there for a while at this pace. But surprisingly, by about 9am my levels were up to 8.6mg and I got to go home. I'm on Calcitrol .5 twice a day in addition to 1000-1500mg of calcium with each dose. I'm really hoping this works because I look like a pin-cushion from all the needle sticks and IV's.

My incision in my neck looks icky too. He removed my steri-strips and now it's all covered in adhesive and puffy. My labs came back clear with NO cancer though! Yay! And he did say my thyroid was inflamed and I was suffering from thyroiditis and it is a good thing that stupid gland is out. Overall I'm glad I did get it removed...even with this latest near death experience LOL!

I'm apparently a dumbass...

...my appointment is tomorrow. Did I mention that my brain is really foggy since this surgery?? LOL

Got one whole hour of sleep last night. This insomnia sucks. And holy crap the migraines I've been getting are horrible! Luckily the migraine OTC stuff seems to be working for them. But they're freaking around the clock it seems. I think it's b/c they jacked my neck up so bad when they did the surgery. They apparently bend your neck allllllll the way back...which isn't great when you have back problems. And I REALLY wish I could go in to see the chiropractor to fix this, but I cannot see how there is anything he can do right now to help. It's gross to even think about an adjustment on my neck...ewww.

I drove for the first time today. Took the kids to a homeschool excursion to watch glassblowers. Pretty cool. I did ok driving. I'm so foggy headed though I was a bit worried about my concentration. Overall I'm actually feeling ok...even with the lack of sleep, the brain farts and the migraines. Underneath it all I have this yearning to be back to normal.

Day 6

I did end up eating a steak the other day! LOL It was so good! I've had some problems with low calcium to the point that I had to call the after hours doctor to find out what to do. I was told to eat up to 4 Tums, that they absorb the best, and keep doing that to see if I can feel better on my own. If that didn't work (which it didn't) I was supposed to go in to the ER. I'm SO not up for sitting in that waiting room for hours just to have my blood drawn.

I'm still feeling dizzy and weird today though. And I'm suffering from insomnia. I've had to take a Percocet the last two nights to get to sleep. And even then it's crappy sleep.

Luckily I have my follow up post-op appointment tomorrow though and can get my levels checked. I wish I'd known what a pain in the ass the parathyroid glands can be after a TT though. I may have asked more questions if I'd known. I will see if I can get a copy of my lab report tomorrow...I'd love to see just what they took out and what they found.

I have a weird "pouch" near the incision. You can see it in the pic. What the hell is that? Fluid? It's really tender and it is ugly as sin. I have to go out in public for the first time tomorrow. I think I may wear something to hide this. I'm not technically cleared to drive yet, but I think I'll be fine to go out. I'll take lots of calcium tonight so I'm not so shaky in the morning.

I'm able to do quite a bit...I gave my toddler a bath today after he coated himself in GA red clay :o) He loaded himself into the tub and got himself out so all I had to do was lean over and wash him. Worked out just fine :o)

Day 4

Another eww day. This scar is looking gross. It's puffy near the incision from what I think is probably fluid? Nasty yellow color. The scar itself is getting itchy, which really sucks in the middle of the night when you forget you can't scratch it...yet do anyways. Ouch.

I'm getting restless. I am sick of just sitting around doing nothing but don't have the energy to go out and do anything else. I still cannot drive which also sucks. My older kids came home today and that was nice. The tingly feeling is pretty much not an issue today, although I have been sure to take loads of calcium at night too?

My cats are all acting like they're on crack and keep getting into trouble that I physically cannot get them out of. Which means that my poor husband, whom hates the cats...all 6 of them, has to go rescue them from being stuck in the window or wherever they are. So he's agitated with me today over them.

I decided I was sick of eating sweet foods so I grabbed some pepperoni slices. Which lead to a coughing fit and HOLY CRAP that hurts. So listen when the doctor tells you to eat SOFT foods. There is indeed a reason for that.

I'm shaky from not eating balanced though so I have no clue what to eat that is a protein rich food yet isn't going to turn my stomach. A nice juicy steak is what I really want...yummm! Pretty sure that doesn't fall into the "soft" category though! LOL

Day 3

Eww, as you might be able to see, the incision area is a weird yellowish bruise. The area is quite swollen and tender today, more so than yesterday I think. As the day has gone on I've gotten tingly in my limbs again. I suppose it could be calcium since I took a bunch of supplements last night and they might be wearing off?? I dunno how all this works.

I've felt overall pretty ok today. A little tired and still sore obviously, but able to do laundry & play with my youngest son just fine today. The weight thing is bugging the crap out of me. I swear it's like I'm gaining just by breathing! I'm still hopeful that this is residual from all the IV's?? Doubt it but I cannot think of any other reason why the scale hates me so much right now.

My goal is to begin exercising as soon as I can. Which may be difficult to do with my back problems. I have spondylilothesis, which means the two small bones on the L5 vertebrae in my back are broken from the rest of the spine. So seeing how L5 is no longer connected to my sacrum this might make exercise a little more challenging. But from what I'm reading is necessary to rebuild your metabolism after a TT. I have some time to figure it out though since I won't be doing a whole lot of anything for a while.

Day 2

I'm feeling weird today. My limbs are tingly which seemingly indicates low calcium levels due to possible damage of the parathyroid glands during surgery. My calcium tested low the first day and I was given Tums in the hospital. The next test came out fine, they said. And as a precaution I've been eating Tums and taking calcium supplements...so why the tingly feeling?? Argh. I did get to shower today so that was nice :o)

Pain is ok today. Started my new dose of 125mcg of Synthroid today. Let's see how that goes. My weight is up even MORE today!? WTF is that? I swear this weight gain better come off once we get the med. dosage right...I'm not looking like an Oompa-Loompa my whole life. I had lost 50lbs before all this mess and gained back about 40 of it now! I keep looking for information on losing the weight with no freaking thyroid but I'm not seeing any great plans or advice so far.

I'm still very tired yet having bursts of energy. I'm afraid to be in the same room with my almost 3yr old son alone for fear he's going to whack my incision. He's tried once already. I haven't even seen my older kids yet since my mother has kept them for me at her house. I'm anxious to see how I handle all of the kids and all the kid stuff that goes along with being a mom. I suppose you could say that there is a bit of depression post-operative for me. It's just hard to see myself physically with this gash in my neck and to also feel so limited as to what I can do...it is quite depressing.

After Surgery...Day One

I feel like the Joker. I have this slit in my throat and totally feel like asking everyone "Why So SERIOUS?". If you have this scar I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling this way. Blech is the only way I'm feeling right now. I cannot move my neck, everything freaking hurts & for god sake I need a damn shower something awful. Ah, yet I must wait another day.

I didn't have any trouble speaking right out of surgery. I did vomit...alot...first thing out of recovery. Which is really fun when you are still drugged up and cannot move. I had my surgery yesterday morning and stayed one night in the hospital. My calcium levels were low last night and so there was concern that I may need to stay longer to monitor them...but yay...they went up today. I'll take Tums to be safe though. They've started me on 125mcg of Synthroid.

I suppose the only perk to all of this is that I have a pre-made costume for Halloween. The kids keep asking me what I'm going to be...Frankenstein perhaps? I'll figure out something creative :o)

How did I get here exactly?

Day after surgery and I want to hurt anyone who says that having a total thyroidectomy...a "TT"...is "not such a bad recovery". What the hell are they smoking and can I have some??

Last year I went into the endocrinologist for my usual check up for my PCOS (Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome) and the endo. felt my neck and casually mentioned that I have a goiter. Ok...no big deal. TSH levels were in the normal range-no reason to even give it a second thought. She says we'll "watch it".

4 months later, goiter is still there and this time is "more prominent" than before. If it grows any more, I'll need an ultrasound on the thyroid to see what is going on. Well of course it grew and so in I headed for my first thyroid ultrasound.

Relatively painless procedure, if you don't count the look on the ultrasound technitians face. I know something is up when she nervously tells me that I need to see the doctor afterwards. I tell her that I didn't have an appointment...to which she tells me that I do now. Great.

Lo and behold...a 2.5cm complex nodule deep on the right side of my thyroid. In addition to a goiter that is twice the normal size of a thyroid. A complex nodule is one that is mainly solid with a bit of fluid surrounding it. Solid usually= cancer.

I went in expecting a simple goiter and now I hear that I have this huge nodule that may be cancer. They want to "act fast".

In February 2008, I get to have 5 fine needle biopsies in my neck guided by ultrasound just a couple of weeks later. These come back "inconclusive" because the samples weren't of the solid material. I'm advised to have a totaly thyroidectomy or repeat the biopsies. Anyone that has ever had fine needle aspiration can tell you why I easily opted not to do that again.
I started on thyroid replacement hormone instead to see if we could shrink the goiter and the nodule. In September, after getting my TSH to 1.7 and nothing had shrunk...I decided to stop playing this stupid game and just get the damn thing out.

And so I'm here.