He Was There!

So I began my battle with cancer. Mine was not so long as most, it seems. I was diagnosed within 4 months, and began treatment just weeks later. I headed to surgery to have my thyroid and tumor removed. Before going under, the surgeon was unsure if I would lose the whole thyroid, or maybe just half. So under I went, and again, God was soo in control and blessing me!! Turns out the surgeon I had was the #2 guy in the country, and worked with the #1 guy!! AND I found out that this surgeon had studied under a dear friend of mine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. This professor had been the top ENT in the NATION for the past number of years!!!  Okay, so does God set us up for success - or what?????   After the surgery, I could see a bit of nerves settle in on his face as, after I was awake again, asked me to speak.  "why?" I asked. "Because the thyroid sits on the vocal nerves, and you have the smallest vocal nerves I've ever seen!"  Whew!!! I am sure I will share later my love affair with singing and music, but suffice it to say, I had a bit of a rough upbringing, and God used music to literally save my life!  So vocal nerves were in tact!! whoohoo!!!  and, by the way, the surgeon said the other half of my thyroid had been dead for years. I had been sustained on just the half, and wowsers! I felt sooo blessed!

Next I was given a radiation ablation; that is an iodine uptake, and an enormous dose of radiation. It was in a hospital setting, and the room was like the "Twilight Zone" or something!! Everything wrapped in plastic wrap, brown paper on the floor where I was supposed to walk..... willd!
Unfortunately, this was not a cancer specialty hospital, so I had to prod, plead, and study to find out what this could do to my children if they should come in contact with me.  Turns out, if I had "exchanged bodily fluids" that is, kiss, hug, sweat, on them, the radiation from my body would have transferred and entered theirs, killing their thyroid!!  Research, ask questions, never settle for the first answer, research again until you find all the answers possible!!!! is what I took away from that experience! So two weeks away from my 2 year old twins... that was really the hard part!

Next was recovery, testing, body scans, the works. Sailed through those! The scariest part was the recovery. After a few weeks, when I was home alone with the kids, I  realized I was unable to stand or walk, I could only crawl. I could not make a grip to pick up a crayon to color with them, and I felt a droop in my face, and my speech became slurred. I felt the Holy Spirit wash over me in warning....."you are not safe, you must call for help" So I called. My mother and mother -in-law came, and I was rushed into the endocrinologist. He just smiled and patted my head.... so off to my internist. Turns out, I had not been given any thyroid supplement for 6 weeks after surgery. Do you know  how dangerous that is?  Pretty darn! One percent of calcium goes to muscle contraction.... without thyroid, you cannot keep calcium in your body, and lifting weights may not be so scary, but then my Mom says " your heart is a muscle..... it;s about to stop"!   

Yeah, that made me quiet for a little while.....  So, again, there was God, saving my life - once again!!! He MUST have a reason!!!