March 22, 2013 - First Endo Appt and Ultrasound of the year!

Been so busy I had to reschedule my normal January appointment to March, so I'm running a little bit behind this year. But....

So had good news on the cancer front! Ultrasound was good, the one node of interest was still unchanged from the last 3 ultrasounds and its last biopsy came back clean so as long as it stays as it is it's nothing to worry about. So, since that all came out well AND the thyroid-goblins are still in hiding I get to go another year without taking those beautiful blue radioactive pills and doing a radioactive iodine scan. Whoohoo!!!

My labs were so good I get to cut one of my other medication doses in half or if the situation is right, skip it altogether. Yea! That's one more step to getting down to only one medication, my thyroid in a bottle Synthroid, balancing my body back from cancer and a lifetime of undiagnosed Hashimoto's Disease. All in all, life is pretty damn good.

Because ALL my lab work was so good I don't have to go back until September, which is AWESOME!!!

Writing this post was kind of hard, I have a life long friend  who was getting his biopsy results the same and and unfortunately didn't get similar good news. I've been on that bad news side and it sucks royally. But if the universe allows that could change for him at least I greatly hope so. ♥

Continued huge thank you to all the friends and family who are my rocks and my rolls!

Love you guys!!!

2013 - Welcome! - Moving into year 3

So far 2013 is looking pretty good. 

The second half of 2012 was kind of wild, extremely busy at work, the majority of our management team jumped ship all at the same time. Several of us stepped up to help pick up the slack, there were some days I wanted to blog but was just too exhausted to do so. But I thought about you guys!

Because of this "management opening" I applied for a new job, didn't get it because the two they gave it to had been HERE longer than the other two of us, but yet, we both had more experience in Medicaid as a whole, and the two of them have as many years with the state together as I do on my own but that is that. Their beds have been made and what is is. I will continue on rockin' it with my awesome self.

All in all, things are going well.  My TSH levels have remained steady through out the year. I am still on 224mg of Synthroid.  I have an ultrasound and an endo appt scheduled for January 30.  So I'll let you know how that goes.

Considering doing Ladies Rock Camp again this year. It's funny, a year ago I longed for a bass of my own. Today, I have three.  My two Lunas posted about previously, and Jeff gave me one of his basses, a Jaguar Jazz bass, in red. I had been looking to get the exact same bass in silver to be my "goofy" bass I was gonna put Hello Kitty on it and such, but since he'd bought a fretless, and had been playing it along with his Getty Lee Fender Jazz he didn't really need it so passed it on to me. Yea!  I'm seriously considering doing it again, but which bass to use. Boy, I'm a Libra, this could take a while.  LOL!!!

Other than that life is good. Sorta started back on South Beach again, kind of more of a "soft" start.  Not being OVERLY strict at this point but starting to cut stuff out. Details on that can be found over on the Beach Bum blog. 

That's it for now. Hope all is well with you and that you had an awesome holiday season and a happy new year! 

Rock on!!!

Dawn

2012 London Olympics

OMG OMG OMG OMG the Olympics start in 9 hours 34 minutes and 27 seconds...26...25...24...23...22...21...you get the picture!  LOL

So excited I LOVE the Olympics!

GO TEAM USA!!!

July 2012 Endo Appt

Had an appointment with the endos office Monday.  Things are still rockin' along awesomely.  No thyroidgoblins to be found and TSH still holding at 0.3. My weight is 11 pounds down from my surgery weight. And while that might not seem like a big deal to me it is. Having no thyroid adds a new battle on the weightloss front, I only gained 10 pounds after my surgery before doing my treatment and starting my Synthroid and reaching a stable TSH level. To have lost that 10, plus an additional 10 is a good thing. Oh sure, I could go on a "diet" and loose a lot more even faster, but while rapid loss is great for the "I want to see it all now!" ones, I want to make changes that are permanent healthy changes for myself and my family. I'm not perfect, I know that, hello life long fat kid, and I'm not always going to make the best choices, sometimes life just needs chocolate ice cream. A scoop or two is one thing, half a gallon is another.

For the most part I've been feeling okay.  My back has been a little buggie, the SI joint or piriformis is acting up. All I know is at times, it's a pain in the buttocks! I have stretches and such from my chiro that help, and spending time on the SI wedge that I bought help a lot. I need to be better about my stretches. There is a little summer cold/bug going around, not to mention with all the rain we've had lately that the mold count has exploded, in the 16,000's the other day.  Jeff had the cold/bug last week and I started with it over the weekend.  I think it's starting to move out because as I've been writing this both my ears have popped and stuff seems to be clearing out.

Life on the home front is good, busy, but good.  I got one of the two kitchen garden boxes that my late husband built me back into working order, planted way too many tomatoes in it, with some herbs and a pepper plant. Between the deer eating the plants, the normal Texas heat, and the mother loving, stupid squirrels STEALING my heirloom tomatoes...muttermutter...it's been great having fresh tomatoes and herbs, for what I've been able to get.

My brother is getting married to his long time girlfriend.  Yea! Wedding is set for March 16, 2013. I"m a bridesmaid and I even like the dress.  Already have it ordered too.  Jeff is a groomsman. This I can't wait for, I've never seen him in a suit. We've been together for 5 years next month and I've never seen the man in a suit, let alone a tux. It could get dangerous.  LOL!!!  I'll be taking the pink out of my hair for the wedding. I decided it on my own, no one has said anything or asked me about it, it's out of respect for my brother and Tiffany.  Plus, I really need to have the sections redone professionally so I'll get that done after the wedding.

Jeff is working on a new music project.  I think it's going to be good for him, will defiantly push him to grow. I'm not really sure how you'd classify it, physco-surfer-rockabilly? I think it's going to be fun. Band practice makes for a long day, from the house to the studio it's 100 miles one way. The toll roads make it nice as there isn't much, if any, traffic on them. We don't mind the travel and I will do whatever we need to for the band. With the Humiliators he was always having to travel to South Austin and that's like 50-60 miles from the house.  We just rock on!

My new bass came in. I've named her Ruby, in honor of my granny, plus she's a beautiful red. She is as awesome and perfect as Lucky (my other bass) is. I know some may think that it is silly to have two basses, identical in every way except for their color.  All the guys said it was good to have a back up, and we learned that first hand one night when Jeff broke an E string on stage. We'd brought the 5-string bass but hadn't taken it in, luckily we'd parked right in front of the bar. I had to run out and grab the other bass.  Many things I learned that night, always take a back up, take your heels off before trying to run through a bar with a sloped floor(especially if you are wearing blinking heels, and yes I was), and never miss the bands opening number. I had gone to the bar across the street with two of the other band wives, being the newbie I was trying to be social, we could hear the sound check, but there was no lighten a fire under them and they were in no hurry, I learned when it's time to go, it's time to go, close out and go (if running a tab). If I have any control I will never miss an opening note again.

And to make things even sillier, I'm already considering a third bass.  LOL I know, I know! I love my Lunas. But I want a Fender too, so I've been considering a silver Fender. It's for...range of motion and fretting dexterity. (oh that sounded good LOL) I fear I have contracted GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) from my husband.  LOL  I think it's time to seriously consider building a music/photography studio.  LOL!!!

Jeff's brother came to visit for a few days at the end of June.  They are both HAMs and Justin came down to do Field Day with Jeff. I think they had a good time.

And on a sad note, we had to put our 15 year old lab to sleep. Licorice Whips was the last of the three pups that we kept from the litter our yellow lab had just 15 days after we moved to our property. We had only planned on keeping 1 pup from that litter, but ended up keeping three.  It was an extremely hard decision to make and to live with for a few weeks. I found myself being mad at my late husband. Mad at him for leaving me to have to make this decision. It wasn't like he had a choice in leaving, lung cancer didn't give him much choice, and it only took me seven years to get mad at him for it finally.  It's a normal widow experience they say we will all have at some point, I guess some sooner than others.  I wasn't alone in the decision, Jeff, and our vet, who delivered that litter by C-section that cold, wet, November night, were all there along with me. It's been just over a month and I still find myself going to the door to get her, or if I hear clicking or scraping on the floor going to help her stand up.  I know with time I will learn to live without her.

Okay, now that I've brought everyone down... time for goofy man-ness

"Tell me which is better? 1 or 2? How about 3 or 4?"  LOL!!!

Rock on!

Two Year Endo Appt & Ultrasound

Had my two year endo appointment and ultrasound.

The ultrasound came out good.  That same lymph node was still visible, but it had shrunk some, so since we biopsied it last year and it is remaining basically unchanged then it's just a lymph node doing what lymphs do.  

All my thyroid lab worked looked good, all right where it should be.  I asked about whether or not I have to do another yearly scan and he confirmed that not this year.  He said that they are starting to move away from doing yearly radioactive iodine scan in patients who have had clean scans.  Most likely will do one next year, but we will see when the time comes.  

So for now, just keep on keepin' on! 

I'm currently taking 112mcg Synthroid, 2 tabs in the morning.   This dosage is holding my TSH levels steadily at 0.3.

And life on the Rock front?  We spent some time with Leon out at the Leapin' Lizards Studio.  Keeping my fingers crossed that a new project will come Jeff's way.  After SXSW we've not really been out a lot, but we have been to a few shows.  The long await Skrew show at Hardtails in Georgetown ended just as I expected it.  I was born and raised in Georgetown, Hardtails is basically in my great aunt and uncles back yard.  I kid you know, where her kennels were is their side parking lot.  Half way (if even that far) through Skrew set the stage went dark and silent. Skrew is an industrial metal band, silent is not in their vocabulary.  The industrial metal crowd is not Hardtails normal clientele. We've been there a few times, and I have plenty of friends who are regulars there.  Some of the looks we got when we walked in you would have thought we were chewing on newborn babies or something.  The sound guy claimed he was told by management that it had to be shut down at a certain time.  If that's the case then the sound guy sucks as a time keeper, and allowed all the other bands to run over and take too long getting on and off the stage.  Shutting the headlining act down...not cool man.

I have a new bass coming.  Same brand and model as my current one but this one is in the merlot flame.  The style I had originally wanted. I found it for about a 1/3 or the original price so I couldn't pass it up.  The guys kept telling me I needed a back-up, so after watching it for 4 months, I got it.  Yea!  She should hopefully be here tomorrow.

Cloud 9

After the Ladies Rock Camp Showcase we went over to The Blind Pig Pub to catch two of our favorite peeps (Will and Amy) son-in-laws' band Cannon. I was still floating on Cloud 9, I might have even been on 10 by that time. LOL

I don't think there is any way of measuring just how much love and total happiness that was bubbling out. Jeff said if I wanted to get some ink to commemorate the night I could, but since I'd had a couple of gin and tonics at Lucky Lounge it was going to have to wait until another night. It was so awesome to finish off the night with Will and Amy, Justin and Zara, and Jenna and Joey. And most of all, my Bou, Jeff.



I did think about what I wanted for my new tattoo and I decided on something that I'd wanted for a long time, but I changed the location. I've been wanting a bass heart (made from bass clefs), but I decided to put it on my left wrist. That way, one, I can see it, and two, I can see it when I play to remind me of how awesome this night has been.

When we met with Mike at True Blue Tattoo on Red River I decided to go with a coloration similar to the orange sunburst colors on my bass. The surprise for the night, was that Jeff decided to get a matching tat in black and white to match his bass. I love my man. Mike did an amazing job.

I realizing something that night, the muscle "twitches/spasms" I've had since my thryoid surgery, when they are bad are almost exactly the same as the sinsations I have when getting a tattoo. My other ink was done a few years before I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer so the sinsation was long out of my mind, but now, I deal with that feeling somewhat frequently, more ink should be a piece of cake. LOL!!!

What's next in life? Who knows! SXSW is in a few weeks, we'll see what that brings for this rock girl.

Ladies Rock Camp 2012

February 2012

This entry has been hard to write. Where to begin? Where oh where....eh how about the beginning.

One day, when I was...14-ish the Sears Wishbook (catalog) came. Yes, it was back in the day when major retailers actually sent out these things called...cat-a-logs. There was a black on black bass. Black body, black neck, black head and I wanted it. I asked for it and was told, "no." I asked again a year or two later and was told, "NO!" So, being the good girl, I gave up and happily went on playing my saxaphone. There were a few times in high school when I was a bit jealous of friends who got a bass or an electric guitar. I think I even asked once more in high school and of course the answer the the same.

Fast forward 24 years. Well, I couldn't have a bass so I'll be happy being the bass player's girl. Jeff always said that if I wanted to play any of his guitars that I could. And while I greatly appreciated that, I didn't want to break them. He'd always laugh and said I wouldn't break them, but knowing me, I'd drop his Geddy Lee Fender Jazz and break it and I'd never forgive myself. Which always made him laugh more condering the number of times he's dropped it. Oh well, if he drops and breaks it, that one thing, he did it. But if *I* drop and break it I would feel absolutely horrible and honestly never forgive myself. It's his favorite bass. I always declined the offer, but was doing a little searching for maybe a bass of my own. Something that would be suited to my stubby little fingers.

Hello Luna!

My research brought me to Luna Guitars. Guitars ideally designed by women for women (and men) The founder had watched her mother, a petite bass player, rare in the 60's, physically struggle everytime she strapped on a heavy bass to play the music she loved. So she began designing instruments with her mom in mind.

I fell in love with the Andromeda bass . Oh how I loved the merlot flame style. But could never bring myself to actually buy it. That "responsiblility" gene kept kicking in... don't be silly, you are a grown woman, you have no NEED for a bass, there are more responsible things you need or can put that money towards... and so I couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger. But I still followed every Ebay auction and online listing I could find for it.

Then late last October or November I got a message from my PR friend that I used to work with, Dean Lofton, promoting a Ladies Rock Camp to support the Girls Rock Austin, which has been empowering girls of all backgrounds through music education. Three days of camp to let loose and play rock music together. No experience required. Sounded awesome! AND they'd provide instruments, all I'd have to do is show up? I could have instrument of choice, well, there would be only one option there. LOL There would be instrument lessons, as well as songwriting, recording, stage equipment setup (being the widow of a professional roadie, and the wife of a rockstar I kind of had a clue on that part), and merchandising and more. In addition, in those three days, we'd also form bands, write an orginal song, and then perform it in a special showcase on the third night. OH MY!

So I talked to Jeff about it later that evening. He too thought it was an awesome idea and said that if I wanted to do it we'd make it happen. I think he may have been a little more excited about it than I was. LOL He even said that if I wanted to use Jag (his beloved bass) that I could. Again, I declined for that whole breaking, never forgiving myself thing. LOL He offered if I wanted my own bass then by all means I could get one. YEA! So you know those Ebay autions from earlier... yeah I started watching them even closer, and wouldn't you know it, when I finally could bring myself to pull the trigger, the bass I SO wanted was sold. There was one other exactly like it, but it was in Great Brittian. I don't have an issue with shipping across the US, but shipping an instrument across the pond? That, while I'm sure would be fine, I just didn't really feel comfortable with it. So now, the hunt was on!

We began the great search for MY bass. We hit the music stores, watched craigslist (found one that I like but the guy sold it the night before...figures), watched auctions, had the great debates of what brand and style of bass did I want. I really wanted a Luna, but had kind of put it on the back burner. We had wittled it down to either a Fender Jazz or a Cort. Couldn't really find any Corts locally to lay hands on, and all of the Fender's, while they were the right style, they just didn't speak to me, and honestly, I really just found them ugly. Then one day, I again did a search on Ebay a Luna bass, and there she was. A little music store in Brooklyn, New York had an amber Andromeda....and cheaper than I'd ever been able to find them.

After a few days of talking it over (have a meantioned before we both "research" things to death before we buy them? LOL) we decided to go for it. When I got to the office the next morning I figured Jeff would be too busy, so I was going to buy it, but then I got busy with a few pharmacies, and by the time I got back over to buy it, it was gone! Someone had, once again had beat me too it. I was almost in tears. I couldn't even tell Jeff. A little while later he asked me to send him the link to the auction, I did and told him it didn't matter cause it was sold already, and he was like "oh really." and I sniffled "yeah" and he fed the sad puppy for a little while before he reveled that HE was the one who had bought it. Yea! Our offices are just under 2 miles apart, he could hear the squealing from there.

I had a bass! My very own bass! After a couple of weeks she was here! AAAAAAHHHHH {insert chorus of angels and rock girl screams} She was here, she is beautiful, and she is perfect! Jeff checked her out for me, she needs a little tweeking (like any guitar out of the box would need) but luckily we now the best bass man in town, so when we get the chance she'll be going in for a set-up and a little adjusting.

Jeff bought me cables, gave/loaned me his favorite tuner, the little Fender practice amp, and he let me borrow a strap. I went on the search for a strap worthy of my guitars' awesomeness and found one in, of all places, North Yorkshire. Oh sure, I'm not comfortable with my bass traveling the pond, but a strap, pfft, no problem. LOL! I also found a few little beginner videos online and began fumbling around till the big day came.

Then finally came the day of Ladies Rock Camp. I was so excited, a little nervous, but mostly excited. Would there be others as with as little experience as me? Was I really ready for this? Could I really do this? Pfft...was I really asking these questions? LOL

Day 1 started awesomely. Once we got started we had a little "warm-up." As a facilitator and event planner (retired lol) I know and understand the importance of warm-ups, but the introvert in me still doesn't like them. LOL! We got a little run down of the day then split up into our intrument classes. I can't say what took place in the other classes, there was guitar, drums, keyboards, and vocals, but the bass class, WAS DA BEST! I'm a little biased maybe...LOL

There were four of us, Kaitlynn and Shelly had experience on guitar and maybe some bass, and Steph and I were the "true" beginners. We had the best instructor, the AMAZING Heather Webb (of Adrian and the Sickness, BugGiRL, Princess of Darkness). The whole keys to strings, staff to tabs, being new, and while yes frustrating, I love it. And I felt a little better that the look on Steph's face at times matched how I felt, so I wasn't alone. LOL

After lunch we had a pleasant performace by Melissa Bryan,then they gave us our

band assignments. I got Kathy on guitar, Gladys on keyboards, Betty on drums, me on bass, and our band coach....Heather and Eva! Score... for me and Kathy! LOL! We had a song writing workshop, then we jumped right in to the whole band thing and by the end of the day, we had a band name, The Underwires, the title of our song, I Found It!, and for the most part, the songs rhythem and key. When we initally started messing around I REALLY enjoyed and like, no loved the sound. By the end of the day, not so much. I don't remember where or why we had the change but the "sound" just lost me, but I was still open to the process. Oh, AND we had homework!

Our homework was to write lyrics. Um....oh gawd, what to write?

Day 2 started out pretty much the same, intrument instruction in the morning, lunch time entertainment by Agent Ribbons (cute!) and the afternoon spend with the band working on our song.

The late afternoon workshop was on merch and screen printing. We made our own Ladies Rock Camp tshirts and/or patches.

We made some cord changes to our song so when I went home, I asked Jeff for help. I wanted something "new" for the section that we changed. I played him the recording that I had made and the bass line that I had been using and he instantly said "This is what I hear..." and he played me another bass line and I liked it. A nice simple driving line with a simple octive change. Score!

Day 3 was going to be a BIG day. We had just the morning to finish working the kinks out of our song, because after lunch, we had our on stage run through and then that was it. I was pumped! I got to the school early (just as I had been). LOL

We got busy working out the final lyric s and rehearsing. Over and over and over again we ran through the song. The other bands would stop in to check it out and they said it was sounding great. It was kind of funny to suddenly look up and have a full audience. It was sounding great and to me, we were nailing it. Even after Heather erased all our notes from the board. LOL Then the hour finally came, it was time for lunch. Dund-dun-duuuuuuunnnnnnn!!! We were as ready as we were going to be. I'm not sure Kathy agreed with me. LOL Our lunch time entertainment was provided by Amy Cook. She was a really nice wind down for the morning. Our afternoon workshop was on stage set-up/sound.

Then it was time for the stage rehearsals. OMG...okay, I've been here before. But man, when you aren't in front of your amp, and the monitor's not really where you can hear, and the drummer doesn't have a monitor and everyone is lost by the fact that they can no longer see each other...yeah, that first one I felt like a train wreck. LOL I'm sure it wasn't THAT bad but it was frustrating for me. Poor Kathy, she was so nervous. The second run through was better, but still, not as perfect as we had been. But it gave me things to remember for that night, check and crank that bass amp up and get more feed through the monitor.

After the last band had their last run through, even though we wanted more practice time, that was it. Technically rock camp was over. All that was left was the showcase at Lucky Lounge that night and we had to be there at 6pm for set-up and sound check, with the show at 7pm.

Here it was, not yet 3pm and I didn't have to be downtown until 6pm? The other girls were going to go home, to chill and practice, but concidering it would an hour drive each way, that wasn't an option. So...what to do? Well, do exactly what the bass player in my house does, be the first to the gig. LOL

I went and picked up Jeff from work, we made a few stops and headed downtown to the Lucky Lounge. It would give us time to find decent parking (hopefully), a bite to eat, take some pictures and just chill before the showcase.

Being that Monday, February 20, was a State holiday it was pretty dead downtown around 3ish. We got a parking spot right next to the club. I changed clothes in the Jeep, as any rock girl would do. I wished I'd grabbed my little jacket, but I had grabbed my skull vasity sweater, oh well. We grabbed a bite to eat at Franks. It was nummy, and while I was hungry, it just wasn't what I think I really wanted. And while I usually drink diet Dr. Pepper, I put a hurt on that Dublin DP. LOL!!!

We went back to the club to just hang and wait for them to open. We took some pictures and chatted and as I stood there, pumped ready to go, full of energy and excitment I realized my life had kind of come full circle.

At the time of this photo, I was the happiest girl on earth. My life had come full circle, and it was AMAZING! Six years ago, I stood, in almost, the same spot. My life had vastly changed, Rich, my love, my husband, my partner, my road dog, my other half, was gone, taken in the blink of an eye by lung cancer and I was having to figure out life without him. I felt safe there in the shadows of his WPHobby Buildings. He could watch me from his towers, as he often did of 4th and 5th street. I was safe, he was watching over me and for then Antone's was my world. It was where I went to see Butcherwhite, Velvet Brick, the Addictions (wow, life there was much different with Clifford around) and many others.

The last 6 years have been an amazing mix of ups and downs, sad tears, happy tears, failures and triumps, and after many years, life had brought me back around to that starting point. That point where I was just learning to crawl out from under the rock and stand on my own. And here, here I was standing on top of the rock, owning the world. Today, the circle was complete. Nothing can stop me now. That night Lucky Lounge was my world, and I owned it!

That night Butcherwhite was there for me. My bass player was at my feet. And my roadie shined his spot light on me. The energy that pumped through me was like no other. Well, not true, there was one other time. The afternoon I stood in a little kitchen, eating chocolate covered marshmallows, and doing tequila shots and shook a man's hand. That night, I was on cloud 9.















The showcase went awesomely. Was it perfect, no, but it was as close to perfect as 16 women can pull off in three days, who, for most, had never met before that weekend, many who had never played their instruments before, or stepped foot upon a stage. But I loved every minute of it. Would I do it again? Oh HELL yeah! I can't wait to do it again!

A huge thank you to everyone with Girls Rock Austin/Ladies Rock Camp for pulling off an awesome camp. To all the other attendees, you ladies ROCK! To Heather and Eva, thank you for all your patience, endurance, guidence, your awesomeness and laughs. To Kathy, Betty, and Gladys, thanks for deciding to come to Rock Camp, for your patience, your awesomeness, your willingness to work the process, your laughter and most of all, putting up with my coughing. LOL!!! You ladies ROCK!!!

When it's all said and done, and the memories begin to fade, this I know for fact; I will ALWAYS be an Underwire and I know I Found It! at Ladies Rock Camp 2012.

Appt with ENT/Surgeon

I relented and scheduled my appt with the ENT surgeon for March 1 . We discussed everything. All my concerns, all of Jeff's concerns, the difference between my dad and me and our cases. That they would be on top of meds from the get go. That unlike my dad I'm going into this feeling fine, unlike Dad who was in a lot of pain, not to mention a few years older than me.

Because Jeff has a couple of gigs booked already for March (March 10 & 23) and Andrea and Richie's wedding is the 20th, and I absolutely refuse to miss it, surgery is schedule for March 29, 2010 at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin. My pre-op is on March 22. So for now we live our life and wait.

The Biopsy

So on January 26, I was set up for the biopsy. The week leading up to the biopsy was hell. My second husband was diagnosed with lung cancer in May of 2005. There were months of no answers, answers of "well it just looks weird in there" or no one can figure it out, it's changing so fast. I was finally able to get after a couple of months a simple nonsmall cell diagnosis. But the thought of dealing with cancer again, evening knowing the statistics for thyroid cancer, even having been through Dad's it still did not bring up good thought. I was a basket case. I'd cry at the drop of a hat, I'm sure I was moody as the day is long. Poor Jeff. He had to remind me several times that yes I've been here, I've done this cancer thing before, but he hasn't, he's a n00b I need to let him in on some of it...and to stay off of google. LOL

So biopsy day comes. Jeff goes with me. Just knowing he was there made it a bit calmer. The doc comes in, we talk about what's going to go down, we discuss the nodules. I express that my big concern is the little one that is heavily calcified (per google not a good thing). He agrees that probably need to take a sample of it even though it's size really does rule it out. So we get started. Let me tell you. I have had some procedures done in the office before. Had a lymph node lanced as a kid and that was fun. They can only really deaden the top layer, not really down where the thyroid is or the thyroid itself. So you can feel the needle moving. It's all ultrasound guided so he can see where he is going but still...it's weird. Not in a bad way though. Until he got to that little calcified bugger.

OMG, he had to work to get into it. Not only could I feel the pressure but it felt like he was having to grind away at it. Kind of like having to work your way through a layer of ice to get down to the water. And it hurt. Again, it's a necessary thing...suck it up and get through it. And because I'd agreed to do a research study I got double the number of samples. Yea me!

Afterwards I felt like a pin cushion. Went home, then we went out to dinner with Mom and Dad. The air seemed thick with the inevitable, but it was still a good time. The next morning I awoke with a fever. It wasn't high, I've had enough 104+ fevers in the past couple of years that my ears let me know real quick if it's high. So we obviously had upset something. I felt horrid calling in sick to work, especially unplanned. I know that puts a heavier call load on the others.

Later that might my phone rings, it's the endo. He'd gotten a call from the pathologist and the nodule on the left was suspect for papillary cancer. His recommendation is a thyroidectomy and remove the whole thing. The ENT surgeon he recommended was the one I already had. So we guess this is considered genetic now. Thanks Dad!

The Endo

So on January 5, I went to see the endo. He diagnosed me with Hashimoto's syndrome/disease. I think he said a "classic case." I'll buy that considering my round beach ball face. Based on the ultrasound the nodules didn't feel as large as what they measured them to be and that I probably having a case of thyroiditis when the ultrasound was done. He didn't think that there was much to worry about but thought it a good idea to go ahead and do another ultrasound to see where things were now that the gland wasn't so inflamed. His best tech just happened to have an opening in about 20 minutes. Sweet...I'll wait.

I'll swear that the ultrasound gel smelled like cherries. She slide around on my neck for a few minutes and that was it. There was no heavy handedness, no long time laid back in a funky position. Just a few minutes and it was done. Wait a few days and I get a phone call. The nodules have changed, one is actually larger than it was before and where there was one before now seems to be two...lovely. So he felt a biopsy was a good idea. If for no other reason than to rule the possible out.

So where to start?

I guess we start at the beginning.

I have always been an overweight person. From the time my feet hit the ground I was the fat kid. One of my most earliest memories is being in the doctors office and him saying "She's a perfectly healthy child. Except her weight." And so began 40 years of "diets." Could that be part of what has lead me to where I am...maybe...maybe not.

My thyroid history really I guess in a way begins with my grandmother. Growing up Granny had a massive goiter. When they finally removed it around 1980 it had grown up behind her ears and down into her chest. It was so large they had to go down to labor & delivery to get forceps to "deliver" it.

Then there's my dad. He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in January 2004. He had his thyroid removed and has had three rounds of radioactive iodine (I-131). He's been cancer free every since. He does have one spot that continues to light up on scans but it's been in the same spot since the beginning and hasn't moved or changed so they figure it's scare tissue.

So, back to me. In July of 2009 I had a weight jump. Over the past few years that hadn't been an unusual thing. I ended up getting really high fever (105 to be exact) and ended up at the doctor, he found nothing. A week later still nothing. Saw another one of my docs in June, he didn't pick up anything with my thyroid. In July I saw my new family pract doc and I mentioned that my weight had jumped up again...she felt that my thyroid felt a little enlarged. So she sent me for an ultrasound.

The ultrasound was not pleasant. The girl dug around on my neck for what seemed like forever. Now mind you, I was in the process of being for herniated disks in my lower back so laying in that odd position for so long really started to take it's toll, but I sucked it up and hung on cause it couldn't be much longer....oh yeah, she still had to do the other side...UGH. My throat hurt for at least two weeks. A couple of days later my doctors office call to say that there was a nodule and wanted to do a referral to an ENT (ear, nose, and throat for those who may not know). Thanks to my dad's cancer I knew exactly who I wanted, so I asked them to change the referral to him and also send me a copy of the report. When the report showed up, it had not one but five nodules noted. Five. I'm sorry, but that is a BIG difference from one. I'm sure she didn't want to freak me out but hey, I'm a strong girl. If I can survive losing a husband to lung cancer at 35, I can handle hearing I have 5 nodules on my thyroid.