Thankful=)

On August 11th, I had to go in to have my entire thyroid removed plus about eight suspicious lymph-nodes. Tim and I dropped Micah off Wednesday night at Chris and Joanne's because we had to be up at 4 am to head to UCLA for my 7:30 am surgery time. I was a little nervous because I had never had a major surgery done before but God calmed my nerves and I just wanted it DONE!! The surgery took about three hours and by 11 am the Doctor came out and told everyone that the surgery went well and I would be staying over night because they had to get a few more lymph-nodes than they thought and I would be very sore but they wanted to be thorough and make sure they got EVERYTHING! Which I was thankful for! After I finally woke up after feeling pretty out of it, my neck and upper chest were very sore, but I knew the hard part was over. I was only sore for about five days and by the following Tuesday, I was feeling great. Today is Monday and this Thursday will mark two weeks post surgery and I have to say I'm doing pretty darn well. My scar is only about 1 1/2 inches and still has the bandage strips but those will probably come off in the next few days.

The surgery is done but I still have to undergo radiation. Luckily with this kind of cancer I don't have to do scans or chemo, I just have to be quarantined in a hospital room for three days while I take radioactive iodine pills to make sure they get those last few remaining cancer cells (if there even are any). As of September 7th, I have to be on a low iodine diet and as of 9/12 I have to be off of my thyroid medication to prepare for treatment. They have to make sure my hormone levels are low before I can start the radiation. This causes one to be extremely exhausted and fatigued among a few other temporary symptoms that won't allow me to work. If levels are where they should be I will be starting radiation on 9/26 and hopefully will be done and well by Micah's first birthday on 10/5. Micah will be getting a healthy mommy for his birthday.=) This sounds like a lot and I feel like I am prepared but I don't really know what to expect and I am just praying for peace through all of this and I am so excited to be cancer free and healthy!

I truly appreciate all of the prayers...please keep 'em coming and I will try to update as best as possibly as I go through this. God has a plan for everything and I know that He is making me stronger through what I am going through. Even though this is a VERY treatable Cancer, it's still Cancer and it's still scary but I know God is doing and will continue to do great things through this! And for that I am thankful!

God Bless!=)