So I think I am gonna have to make this whole blogging a once a month thing...I cant seem to keep up! Maybe now that I am done with school for the semester (kinda) I can start to write again. November seriously FLEW by! I cant believe that we are already about to start the second week of December! Where did November go?! Well, we had a great time with family and friends for Thanksgiving, but it really didnt feel like Thanksgiving this year for me...and I am still trying to get in the Christmas spirit....I am usually really into Christmas, but this year it just feels different. I am not sure why, maybe its because I am not working at Outback and serving, and having people say Merry Christmas or just enjoying all of the people out for the holiday season..whatever it is, I better snap out of it quick! We finally set up our Christmas tree on Friday night and having it right in our living room has been nice...we have a 71/2 footer! We got it last year on a whim cause it was really cheap at Wal Mart...we were thinking about a real tree last year, but Matt saw this one and we could not pass it up! Ill have to post pictures of our Christmasy living room and kitchen. I think once Christmas gets closer, and it actually gets COLDER, I will be in a better spirit...its also really hard to get in the spirit when the people here are SO RUDE! I mean everywhere..driving, in the stores, even when you go to get a cup of coffee! Come on people lets practice our patience!
As far as Christmas this year, Matt and I are really good about splitting up the holidays between our two families...Last year we did Christmas with my family and went up to Flag about a week later to see his family and celebrate. This year we are going to Disneyland first! Then we are driving back on Christmas Eve and celebrating that night with my family, then heading up to Flag Christmas morning to celebrate the weekend with his...I am soooooooooooo excited to go up there for Christmas because more than likely there will be snow on the ground! I cant wait to make a snowman! We might even try to go snowboarding the day after Christmas if its open. Disneyland is going to be awesome at Christmastime too, Mickey wears his holiday sweater and downtown disney is all decorated and it snows at night. I CANT WAIT! If that does not get me in the Christmas spirit I dont know what will!
So I am sure most of you know that on Black Friday, I crashed my car into a transformer box.....yeah...embarressing I know...but honestly it happened so fast I dont even really know what happened. All I know is that I get my car back this week! There is a lot less damage than originally thought, but I still needed a new bumper and inner frames and stuff...the estimate was 3,300 dollars! Thank goodness we only have a 500 dollar deductable! I honestly can say that I miss my satellite radio!!!!!!!!!!!! haha i cant wait to get that back...in the mean time I am driving my moms car, and she is driving a rental that the insurance is paying for as well.
Well I guess this is it for now...my health is great...oh!! and speaking of my health, Matt was at the gym the other day, and he added me to his account! I get to start going back to LA Fitness!! Hopefully I can get back into shape and really hit it hard this time.....easier said that done! Other than that, my thyroid stuff has been good, I go back for bloodwork next week and then I go to my endocrineologist in January to make sure all is well. My anxiety has been super calm too, I am starting to realize that the things I flip out about and worry about really do not need to be that big of a deal...it helps that I am not as stressed with school and everything, but really I do not need to freak about little things like I have been!
I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!!!! I will write and post pictures of our Disneyland adventure and our time in Flag!
Love, Em
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Why Hello There!
Ok so I know it has been FOREVER since I have last posted anything...sorry for all of you who actually take the time to read about my life, and the happenings in it :) Things have been going pretty well for Matt and I. Life is starting to feel like it is normal again. We were talking today, and realized that my surgery was 4 months ago! It all happened so fast, its weird to think that it even happened in the first place! Life just seems to be going faster and faster each year.....with all of the normal routines coming back into our life, a lot has been going on and a lot is coming up, so brace yourself cause this might be a long blog!
First off, since I have last posted I have figured everything out with my school. I talked to the director of the program, and she said that the teacher I talked to was mistaken, and I had only missed one class, with the second one being for the wedding that we went to. I am on a probation type thing, and I basically had to sign something saying that I wont miss anymore classes blah blah blah. I knew that going into the program, and it was just unfortunate that I had to miss for SURGERY! dummies. Oh well, I guess if I am ever throwing up sick on a Saturday that I have class, Ill have to go! Besides all of that, class has been going well, I feel like I should be doing more work than I actually am though! I dont think that its that hard of an internship as far as the actual classes go, but then again, I do have a degree in Education, so I have a little bit of a background on how to study and write papers and all that junk. I am just excited to have another certificate in May :)
We also went to Minnesota, and the weekend went by just as fast as we could blink! We had so much to do there, and it was cold! It rained on Alysia's wedding day, but seriously it was so pretty and fall like, that I dont think it bothered her (her wedding was supposed to be outside) she handled everything really well, and we kept telling her that there was kind of a romantic feel to the day. I love the rain and of course was in heaven. It was so good to see family, and it was the first time in a very long time that I actually just let go of everything, all of my worries, anxiety, and everything just went away. I had so much fun, and realized that I dont need to worry all of the time about things, and that I am in fact going to be OK!
The weekend after the wedding, Matt and I took Sadie to the Halloween carnival at her vet/daycare. Oh man what a riot! There was a dog there dressed as the Chik-Fil-A chicken! They had the agility course set up, bobbing for carrots for the dogs, and food for the owners :) It was fun, we dressed Sadie up in her Halloween pajamas that looked like a onesie for a dog....too funny. On Halloween, we went to the Cardinals game and sat in my uncle's seats...they were amazing! We had a lot of fun there too, Matt of course was sucking down the Fat Tire, and got a little too drunk..he looked at the score in the 4th quarter, turned to me and said, "When did we score 35 points?!" hahahah, needless to say I drove us home that night!
We are getting super excited for Thanksgiving too...I cant beleive that is only 3 weeks away!! My parents are having a Thanksgiving thing at our house with most of our family, and my mom is making 2 giant turkeys, and a ham! I am excited to just hang out and watch football alllll day! We are doing our Thanksgiving thing on the Saturday after Thanksgiving cause it just worked out better for everyone, but on Thanksgiving day, me, my mom, and Amanda (my friend from college that just moved back from Austin, TX) are going to do our own little Thanksgiving and find a fancy restaraunt that is open. That will be fun too!
Matt and I have also started a little tradition with Christmas decorations. I of course have to decorate for every holiday and every season, so last year when Christmas came around Matt and I decided we were going to get a real tree. Well, we were at Wal-Mart one day walking around the Christmas stuff, and Matt found a 7.5 foot fake tree that was so nice! The best part, it was only 80 dollars! We figured we would be spending about 50 on a nice real tree and then would have to toss it. So we bought that tree, plus we knew we could put it up sooner and leave it for a few days after Christmas! We decided that we were going to put our tree up on the day after Thanksgiving, and we bought some winter beer and watched old Christmas movies! Its hopefully something we will do with our kids someday, and its something that we really enjoy, so I cant wait for Thanksgiving to get here so we can start decorating!
As far as my health goes, I am feeling a lot better, and losing weight! haha today we went to lunch with Matt's mom and stepdad and the first thing his mom said to me was you are getting so skinny! That made me feel so good, cause she knows what I have been going through with all of the changes to my body and everything the past few months. I love his mom :) I went to my surgeon about two weeks ago, and my calcium levels are still a little low... I was concerned, but he told me that it is normal and they dont usually come back up until about 6 months after surgery. He told me I wont be on tums forever haha..I am acutally so used to taking them they dont even bother me anymore. About a week after I saw him (last Wednesday) I woke up with a pain in my jaw/face. I seriously felt like I got punched in the jaw! I joked to Matt and asked him if he socked me in the middle of the night ;) I called my mom and she said it was probably nothign to worry about, so I went to work like normal. It was still hurting at work, and one of the ladies I work with in the morning said it was really swollen and she could see it from far away. I called my mom again, and she told me to call my surgeon in case it was anything related to my thyroid thing or not...he was in surgery, so his medical assistant told me I should come in. I made the appointment and went in after work, and he told me that I had a salivary gland infection! GROSS! I dont even know how I got it, but he said they are kinda common. I have never even heard of it! He told me to massage it when it swells up, and he put me on an antibiotic. Well its been about 4 days on the antibiotic, and it has not gotten better. The swelling goes down, but whenever I eat, it pops right back up! I guess I just have to finish out the antibiotic and pray that it goes away. If it doesnt I gotta go back in. I looked it up online (I know stupid move, more worrying) and it said it could also be an abcess, and I would need a CT scan to determine that....I DREAD the thought of another CT scan! If you remember that is how they found my cancer in the first place because they thought I had an abcess in my throat! AHHH, haha I guess I just have to keep telling myself its nothing and it will go away.
I think I am just at the point where I am ready to not have anymore health issues! It seems like it is always one thing after another! I guess I need to stop stressing :)
Well, I think that is it for now. I really need to update this thing more often so that I dont have to write so much next time! Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a great start to their November!
Love, Em
First off, since I have last posted I have figured everything out with my school. I talked to the director of the program, and she said that the teacher I talked to was mistaken, and I had only missed one class, with the second one being for the wedding that we went to. I am on a probation type thing, and I basically had to sign something saying that I wont miss anymore classes blah blah blah. I knew that going into the program, and it was just unfortunate that I had to miss for SURGERY! dummies. Oh well, I guess if I am ever throwing up sick on a Saturday that I have class, Ill have to go! Besides all of that, class has been going well, I feel like I should be doing more work than I actually am though! I dont think that its that hard of an internship as far as the actual classes go, but then again, I do have a degree in Education, so I have a little bit of a background on how to study and write papers and all that junk. I am just excited to have another certificate in May :)
We also went to Minnesota, and the weekend went by just as fast as we could blink! We had so much to do there, and it was cold! It rained on Alysia's wedding day, but seriously it was so pretty and fall like, that I dont think it bothered her (her wedding was supposed to be outside) she handled everything really well, and we kept telling her that there was kind of a romantic feel to the day. I love the rain and of course was in heaven. It was so good to see family, and it was the first time in a very long time that I actually just let go of everything, all of my worries, anxiety, and everything just went away. I had so much fun, and realized that I dont need to worry all of the time about things, and that I am in fact going to be OK!
The weekend after the wedding, Matt and I took Sadie to the Halloween carnival at her vet/daycare. Oh man what a riot! There was a dog there dressed as the Chik-Fil-A chicken! They had the agility course set up, bobbing for carrots for the dogs, and food for the owners :) It was fun, we dressed Sadie up in her Halloween pajamas that looked like a onesie for a dog....too funny. On Halloween, we went to the Cardinals game and sat in my uncle's seats...they were amazing! We had a lot of fun there too, Matt of course was sucking down the Fat Tire, and got a little too drunk..he looked at the score in the 4th quarter, turned to me and said, "When did we score 35 points?!" hahahah, needless to say I drove us home that night!
We are getting super excited for Thanksgiving too...I cant beleive that is only 3 weeks away!! My parents are having a Thanksgiving thing at our house with most of our family, and my mom is making 2 giant turkeys, and a ham! I am excited to just hang out and watch football alllll day! We are doing our Thanksgiving thing on the Saturday after Thanksgiving cause it just worked out better for everyone, but on Thanksgiving day, me, my mom, and Amanda (my friend from college that just moved back from Austin, TX) are going to do our own little Thanksgiving and find a fancy restaraunt that is open. That will be fun too!
Matt and I have also started a little tradition with Christmas decorations. I of course have to decorate for every holiday and every season, so last year when Christmas came around Matt and I decided we were going to get a real tree. Well, we were at Wal-Mart one day walking around the Christmas stuff, and Matt found a 7.5 foot fake tree that was so nice! The best part, it was only 80 dollars! We figured we would be spending about 50 on a nice real tree and then would have to toss it. So we bought that tree, plus we knew we could put it up sooner and leave it for a few days after Christmas! We decided that we were going to put our tree up on the day after Thanksgiving, and we bought some winter beer and watched old Christmas movies! Its hopefully something we will do with our kids someday, and its something that we really enjoy, so I cant wait for Thanksgiving to get here so we can start decorating!
As far as my health goes, I am feeling a lot better, and losing weight! haha today we went to lunch with Matt's mom and stepdad and the first thing his mom said to me was you are getting so skinny! That made me feel so good, cause she knows what I have been going through with all of the changes to my body and everything the past few months. I love his mom :) I went to my surgeon about two weeks ago, and my calcium levels are still a little low... I was concerned, but he told me that it is normal and they dont usually come back up until about 6 months after surgery. He told me I wont be on tums forever haha..I am acutally so used to taking them they dont even bother me anymore. About a week after I saw him (last Wednesday) I woke up with a pain in my jaw/face. I seriously felt like I got punched in the jaw! I joked to Matt and asked him if he socked me in the middle of the night ;) I called my mom and she said it was probably nothign to worry about, so I went to work like normal. It was still hurting at work, and one of the ladies I work with in the morning said it was really swollen and she could see it from far away. I called my mom again, and she told me to call my surgeon in case it was anything related to my thyroid thing or not...he was in surgery, so his medical assistant told me I should come in. I made the appointment and went in after work, and he told me that I had a salivary gland infection! GROSS! I dont even know how I got it, but he said they are kinda common. I have never even heard of it! He told me to massage it when it swells up, and he put me on an antibiotic. Well its been about 4 days on the antibiotic, and it has not gotten better. The swelling goes down, but whenever I eat, it pops right back up! I guess I just have to finish out the antibiotic and pray that it goes away. If it doesnt I gotta go back in. I looked it up online (I know stupid move, more worrying) and it said it could also be an abcess, and I would need a CT scan to determine that....I DREAD the thought of another CT scan! If you remember that is how they found my cancer in the first place because they thought I had an abcess in my throat! AHHH, haha I guess I just have to keep telling myself its nothing and it will go away.
I think I am just at the point where I am ready to not have anymore health issues! It seems like it is always one thing after another! I guess I need to stop stressing :)
Well, I think that is it for now. I really need to update this thing more often so that I dont have to write so much next time! Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a great start to their November!
Love, Em
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Busy Busy Busy!!!
Hey there!!! So I realize it has been almost a month since I last posted...sorry!!! Life is sooo busy right now!! I am ok with it though considering that a few months ago I was laying around with nothing to do....I actually like being busy. Everything has been going so well...I saw my surgeon about two weeks ago, and he said that my levels are all starting to come back to normal. I got my medication upped for my thyroid hormones (that is a good thing) and I dont go back to the endocrineologist until JANUARY!!! Yay!!! I do have to go back to my surgeon on Oct 27th though and get more blood drawn to make sure that my parathyroid really is coming back to normal. Your parathyroid is what makes your calcium and magnesium levels stay stable in your body....I am still on tums 3x a day, and have a prescription vitamin D pill and take a magnesium supplement everyday..He literally had to take my parathyroid out and put it back in so its taking some time to repair itself. Kinda weird...but as long as I am ok and my body is recovering then good deal!
Last night Matt and I went to a wedding where we saw allllll of my mom's old nurse friends that I grew up seeing and knowing. It was so cool to see everyone, but they kept asking me how I was feeling and all that stuff...I was thinking oh Im great, but I forgot they were talking about my thyroid cancer...I just cant believe how long ago it seems!!! I still think its weird to say that I had cancer, but I also know how much of a tremendous feat it is...such a blessing that we are done with that chapter of my life. It has made me stronger!
So on another note, my Montessori classes are going well.....except one thing. My teacher (who is AMAZING!) called me yesterday and asked if I was still planning on missing a day in October..I said yes because I am the maid of honor in my cousin's wedding..I told the Montessori teachers about this in April and they told me then that it wouldnt be a problem...you are allowed to miss 3 days..no more than that...if you miss more than 3 days even if i were to miss 3 days and be late for a class I would get kicked out...Well I knew all of this going into the program and was so ready to get my classes and start everything....Well who knew back in April that I was going to have cancer...thankfully with the way the surgery was and the schedule I only had to miss ONE class through the whole program! I told my teacher this and everyone was very supportive..I had all my work done early and got A's in both of my summer classes....Well I was talking to my teacher again about the wedding and reminding her that it was coming up and I would like to turn all my work that is due that day early..she was supportive and asked how many days I had missed already..I told her one, and the wedding would be my second..she was ok with that..Well when she called me last night to double check about me missing in OCt..she told me that I had already missed 2.2 days..meaning 2 days and 2 hours...UM NO! I only missed one day and I have all of my notes with dates on them to prove it...she told me she would call her supervisor and get back to me about that....well I still have not gotten a phone call and I am super stressed about this...because of course I cant miss the wedding, and if they do say that I have 2.2 absences then missing for the wedding will get me kicked out....SO ANNOYING! I am totally going to fight this because I know for a fact that I have only missed one day! I was late one day because some lady ran into me at a red light, but even then there was no damage and I was only a half hour late!! I am just praying that all of this gets worked out quick because I have been through way too much and have worked way too hard to jsut get kicked out cause they cant get their ppl or hours straight. GRRRR!! sorry if that last whole thing was very confusing, I am just kinda writing out my frustrations.
Matt is still super busy with school, he is usually there from 8am to about 8pm, so when I do get to see him, we usually just lounge around. We have been trying to go golfing again or just go to the driving range, but its been too hot and too hard with our schedules. We did have a lot of fun at the wedding last night, its rare when he gets a Friday or Saturday night off of work :) Speaking of it being too hot to go golfing, what is this?!?! its October 3rd and its still in the 100's! I so cannot wait for Minnesota!! I saw on the weather channel yesterday that they were under a frost/freeze warning last night...that gets me super excited!! I love the cold weather! I just wish it were cold enough here to actually enjoy the things that fall has to offer..I plan on making homeade chili in the crock pot on Tuesday because its actually going to be in the 80's. So sad that we think the 80's is cool.
Well I guess that is it for now..I dont really have many other updates, I hope that everyone is enjoying October so far! Have a happy Sunday!
Love- Em
Last night Matt and I went to a wedding where we saw allllll of my mom's old nurse friends that I grew up seeing and knowing. It was so cool to see everyone, but they kept asking me how I was feeling and all that stuff...I was thinking oh Im great, but I forgot they were talking about my thyroid cancer...I just cant believe how long ago it seems!!! I still think its weird to say that I had cancer, but I also know how much of a tremendous feat it is...such a blessing that we are done with that chapter of my life. It has made me stronger!
So on another note, my Montessori classes are going well.....except one thing. My teacher (who is AMAZING!) called me yesterday and asked if I was still planning on missing a day in October..I said yes because I am the maid of honor in my cousin's wedding..I told the Montessori teachers about this in April and they told me then that it wouldnt be a problem...you are allowed to miss 3 days..no more than that...if you miss more than 3 days even if i were to miss 3 days and be late for a class I would get kicked out...Well I knew all of this going into the program and was so ready to get my classes and start everything....Well who knew back in April that I was going to have cancer...thankfully with the way the surgery was and the schedule I only had to miss ONE class through the whole program! I told my teacher this and everyone was very supportive..I had all my work done early and got A's in both of my summer classes....Well I was talking to my teacher again about the wedding and reminding her that it was coming up and I would like to turn all my work that is due that day early..she was supportive and asked how many days I had missed already..I told her one, and the wedding would be my second..she was ok with that..Well when she called me last night to double check about me missing in OCt..she told me that I had already missed 2.2 days..meaning 2 days and 2 hours...UM NO! I only missed one day and I have all of my notes with dates on them to prove it...she told me she would call her supervisor and get back to me about that....well I still have not gotten a phone call and I am super stressed about this...because of course I cant miss the wedding, and if they do say that I have 2.2 absences then missing for the wedding will get me kicked out....SO ANNOYING! I am totally going to fight this because I know for a fact that I have only missed one day! I was late one day because some lady ran into me at a red light, but even then there was no damage and I was only a half hour late!! I am just praying that all of this gets worked out quick because I have been through way too much and have worked way too hard to jsut get kicked out cause they cant get their ppl or hours straight. GRRRR!! sorry if that last whole thing was very confusing, I am just kinda writing out my frustrations.
Matt is still super busy with school, he is usually there from 8am to about 8pm, so when I do get to see him, we usually just lounge around. We have been trying to go golfing again or just go to the driving range, but its been too hot and too hard with our schedules. We did have a lot of fun at the wedding last night, its rare when he gets a Friday or Saturday night off of work :) Speaking of it being too hot to go golfing, what is this?!?! its October 3rd and its still in the 100's! I so cannot wait for Minnesota!! I saw on the weather channel yesterday that they were under a frost/freeze warning last night...that gets me super excited!! I love the cold weather! I just wish it were cold enough here to actually enjoy the things that fall has to offer..I plan on making homeade chili in the crock pot on Tuesday because its actually going to be in the 80's. So sad that we think the 80's is cool.
Well I guess that is it for now..I dont really have many other updates, I hope that everyone is enjoying October so far! Have a happy Sunday!
Love- Em
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Updates!
Why hello there! Its been almost two weeks since I have blogged last!! I thought I would write about some updates going on in our lives. First of all, I am on my thyroid medication and I feel great!!! I went to the doctor on Friday, and he upped my dose on my medication...this is definitely a good thing. For those of you who do not understand anything about the thyroid (which I did not until all of this happened to me) when you get your thyroid taken out, you cant start any kind of thyroid medication until the radiation part is over. So basically your body is very "hypo-thyroid" which is equivalent to an underactive thyroid..the symptoms of this are, gaining weight (worst symptom of them all!!!!!) sleepyness, no energy, muscle cramps and twitches, constipation, bloating, and moodiness...all these which I have experienced in the last two months....So when the radiation part was over and I was able to start the medication I was very excited...I was told I would start to lose weight, and just feel better overall. Well apparently they are supposed to start you at a low dose and take you up from there.. I didnt know that...I thought I was just going to start the medication and BAM I was better....definitely not the case. I mean I felt a lot better than I had, but all of those symptoms had not gone away yet...So when I went into the doctor on Friday I told him this and he upped my dose!!! I have to take this amount for two weeks, and then he will probably up it again...My thyroid, or lack there of, is finally getting back to normal!!
As far as work and school goes, its been great!! Like I had said in the previous blog, we have such a great class this year..they are starting to test us a little bit and get comfortable, but overall it has been really easy at work. I have a huge year long project that I have to do for my Montessori training, and we are supposed to pick a topic of study that we will teach the students and provide lessons throughout the whole year. I finally picked a topic after much debate! Its supposed to be something you know a lot about and can get a lot of information on, so I thought what better topic to teach than Arizona?! I mean we live here, and the kids need to know about their awesome state, so I am preparing some awesome lessons for them about this great state and what it offers. I know I know a lot of people hate Arizona and think its too hot, but I really think its cool and there is so much to learn about the different regions and animals and plants...Kindergardeners and preschoolers ask so many questions on these things too, so I cant wait to fill their little brains with knowledge about Arizona. Speaking of children asking questions..I have a little guy who is 4 that always asks questions when he does his work...like today...we were doing some language work and he looked at me and said "Why do we have eyes?" I told him "So we can see" then he continued to ask why we have necks, backs, arms, etc. He knew all the answers to these questions, but it was like he was confirming it with me. I LOVE THAT! I love being someone that these children go to when they have questions like that...and they are just too darn cute! I cant even begin to blog about all the little cute things they do on a daily basis, but its a pretty awesome job. (especially when they tell you their poo is about to come out......) :)
As far as Matt and his school goes....he is doing so well!! We both have been super busy, but we knew that this was going to happen this semester with me being back in school and him having so many editing projects. We were finally able to get away this weekend and go up to Flagstaff for the Coconino County Fair...talk about redneck!! We had so much fun!! I have never been before because when I lived up in Flag, my sorority always had rush the same weekend the fair was in town, so I was never able to go. It was sooooooo much fun!!! They had pigs, sheep (the first place sheep being named Emily) chickens, turkeys, llamas, all the fun farm stuff. They also had rides...I didnt think that the coco fair had rides, to be honest I was surprised at how big the fair actually was! I dont even know what I was expecting! Of course Matt and I ate way too much...we love food...and when we got there we knew that we were going to be eating a ton that day...you have to at the fair!! The one thing we regret not doing is trying a fried oreo...we forgot about that and had funnel cake instead. Matt also played some games and won me 100 dollars!! haha JK it was just a stuffed 100 dollar bill, which we brought home to the puppy..overall the fair was such a fun experience!! It was nice to just get away and enjoy our time up in Flagstaff.
Life has been pretty good to us so far since everything has happened. I have learned to have a lot of patience for things, and not get so angry so fast. I also have calmed my anxiety down quite a bit...it feels good to not worry about things for a change. Life is such a blessing, and I am blessed to have Matt to share it with!! Hope everyone has a great week and weekend!! Until next time, Happy Tuesday!!!!
As far as work and school goes, its been great!! Like I had said in the previous blog, we have such a great class this year..they are starting to test us a little bit and get comfortable, but overall it has been really easy at work. I have a huge year long project that I have to do for my Montessori training, and we are supposed to pick a topic of study that we will teach the students and provide lessons throughout the whole year. I finally picked a topic after much debate! Its supposed to be something you know a lot about and can get a lot of information on, so I thought what better topic to teach than Arizona?! I mean we live here, and the kids need to know about their awesome state, so I am preparing some awesome lessons for them about this great state and what it offers. I know I know a lot of people hate Arizona and think its too hot, but I really think its cool and there is so much to learn about the different regions and animals and plants...Kindergardeners and preschoolers ask so many questions on these things too, so I cant wait to fill their little brains with knowledge about Arizona. Speaking of children asking questions..I have a little guy who is 4 that always asks questions when he does his work...like today...we were doing some language work and he looked at me and said "Why do we have eyes?" I told him "So we can see" then he continued to ask why we have necks, backs, arms, etc. He knew all the answers to these questions, but it was like he was confirming it with me. I LOVE THAT! I love being someone that these children go to when they have questions like that...and they are just too darn cute! I cant even begin to blog about all the little cute things they do on a daily basis, but its a pretty awesome job. (especially when they tell you their poo is about to come out......) :)
As far as Matt and his school goes....he is doing so well!! We both have been super busy, but we knew that this was going to happen this semester with me being back in school and him having so many editing projects. We were finally able to get away this weekend and go up to Flagstaff for the Coconino County Fair...talk about redneck!! We had so much fun!! I have never been before because when I lived up in Flag, my sorority always had rush the same weekend the fair was in town, so I was never able to go. It was sooooooo much fun!!! They had pigs, sheep (the first place sheep being named Emily) chickens, turkeys, llamas, all the fun farm stuff. They also had rides...I didnt think that the coco fair had rides, to be honest I was surprised at how big the fair actually was! I dont even know what I was expecting! Of course Matt and I ate way too much...we love food...and when we got there we knew that we were going to be eating a ton that day...you have to at the fair!! The one thing we regret not doing is trying a fried oreo...we forgot about that and had funnel cake instead. Matt also played some games and won me 100 dollars!! haha JK it was just a stuffed 100 dollar bill, which we brought home to the puppy..overall the fair was such a fun experience!! It was nice to just get away and enjoy our time up in Flagstaff.
Life has been pretty good to us so far since everything has happened. I have learned to have a lot of patience for things, and not get so angry so fast. I also have calmed my anxiety down quite a bit...it feels good to not worry about things for a change. Life is such a blessing, and I am blessed to have Matt to share it with!! Hope everyone has a great week and weekend!! Until next time, Happy Tuesday!!!!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
School
Well, school has started and is in full swing. My students have started, and I have started as well on my 9 month internship. Matt also started school today for film editing. He has about 3 semesters left, and I will be done with my Montessori training in May. It is going to be a crazy year for the both of us!!! Matt came home today after a long day of class and talking to professors, and found out that he is probably going to get dropped from one of his classes because he is not allowed to take two editing classes at the same time...Lame because now he could be dropped from financial aide and everything because it will put him below the full time student hours. He is doing everything he can to find another class or stay in the one he has signed up for...SCC messed up on that one!!! He is doing so well with film and he is going to be an amazing film editor!!! My class was totally overwhelming on Saturday with too much information in one day!!! I am looking forward to my internship and working with the kids and actually giving lessons in the traditional Montessori way, but its going to be so much work!!! So worth it in the end though. We have the best parents and kids this year, I seriously could not ask for a better class to work with for my internship, so that is a blessing in itself. If any of you saw our class last year...you would understand why this is such a blessing and relief to us!! I actually enjoy going to work and feel as though work is my stress free zone because the class is so quiet and the kids are actually doing what they are supposed to be doing! I should probably knock on wood at this point, because now they are all going to settle in and get super comfy with us, and get fussy......
We have a few things coming up this Fall that we are looking forward to...Its actually going to be pretty busy. On Labor Day weekend Matt and I are going up to Flagstaff for the Coconino County Fair (whoooo hooo!) and to see his parents and hang out in cool weather. I am excited to just get away for the weekend. We are also super excited for Minnesota in October for Alysia (my cousin) and Dan to get married. We need a vacation so bad after everything we went through and Minnesota is going to be so nice! Especially in October where we can actually experience Fall!!! We are also trying to plan a trip to either Disneyland or Vegas, we cant decide which one because we will prob spend the same amount of money at either one, so its just basically picking where we want to go and a weekend we can actually do it where I dont have class and he doesnt have a ton of homework or projects. He is a very busy boyfriend :) As far as updates go, that is about it!! I am still trying to eat healthier and live a healthier life so I can get back to feeling really good. I am also really focusing on not stressing so much and that seems to be working well :) I love you all, Happy Tuesday!
We have a few things coming up this Fall that we are looking forward to...Its actually going to be pretty busy. On Labor Day weekend Matt and I are going up to Flagstaff for the Coconino County Fair (whoooo hooo!) and to see his parents and hang out in cool weather. I am excited to just get away for the weekend. We are also super excited for Minnesota in October for Alysia (my cousin) and Dan to get married. We need a vacation so bad after everything we went through and Minnesota is going to be so nice! Especially in October where we can actually experience Fall!!! We are also trying to plan a trip to either Disneyland or Vegas, we cant decide which one because we will prob spend the same amount of money at either one, so its just basically picking where we want to go and a weekend we can actually do it where I dont have class and he doesnt have a ton of homework or projects. He is a very busy boyfriend :) As far as updates go, that is about it!! I am still trying to eat healthier and live a healthier life so I can get back to feeling really good. I am also really focusing on not stressing so much and that seems to be working well :) I love you all, Happy Tuesday!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
TRULY BLESSED!
Ok guys, so here it is....im sure you have all already heard, but if not....I AM CANCER FREE!!! My body scan results came back, and there is no more cancer in my body! The radiation took the rest of it out!!! whoooo hoo!!!! My family and I could not be happier!!! Yesterday I went to see my surgeon just for blood results (I am still taking a ton of tums everyday for calcium levels) and we went in to see if I could lower the intake, and he found out that my scan was last week, so he called over to radiology, got the results, then told us! I think he was dying to know as well, he has been pretty amazing..I think we got the best surgeon around!! Not only did my results come back amazing, but I do get to lower my intake of the tums..I can only chew on so many of those chalky tablets a day...I was taking two tums 4 times a day, and now I only have to do it 3 times a day!! In a month I go back for more bloodwork and then back to my surgeon to see if I can lower it even more at that point. I am still getting back to normal and getting healthy again, but I feel great!!! Work has been so fun and easy this year!! The kids are great and the class pretty much runs itself! My body also seems to be adjusting to the thyroid medication OK so far..its been about a week and a few days on it, and I dont go back to the endocrineologist until the beginning of September so until then lets hope its still smooth sailing :) Another good thing is that I finally have some of my appetite back! I am totally craving junk food though...I am doing pretty good about my eating habits and adjusting to a healthier lifestyle, but every now and then I need a french fry or a wing! Haha last night after we got our good news we went to Applebees for happy hour to celebrate...mmm wings and nachos were amazing..the only sad thing?? My taste buds are not the same and I have really, really sensitive teeth....I could barely taste the nachos, and the wings....all I tasted was spice, not flavor..lets hope that goes away and that I didnt ruin that for life :( I guess it would be a small price to pay though considering everything we have gone through. My prayers were truly answered and the Lord has given me this challenge for a reason. I took the challenge, rose to it, and beat it! I am stronger because of it!! I have total faith in Him that he is protecting me and guiding me. Life is truly a blessing, and my family is truly blessed! As for now, I am living my best life, with my amazing boyfriend. I couldnt have done this without him, and we will rise to many more challenges together and get through them together! I love him so much I cant say it enough! Life is good! Love you all! Happy Thursday!
Friday, August 13, 2010
The Body Scan, Sadie, and My Students
Ok so its been a few days since I have updated this thing. I was going to wait until we found out what the whole body scan told us, but I felt like I needed to update before that too.. Dont worry I'll let you all know. So today was the official body scan to see if there is any more bad thyroid tissues in my body. Can I just say that I was so anxious last night, and all day today. I went to bed at like 8 last night because I was so exhausted from going back to work, thinking about the scan, and just stressing out in general. I know I gotta learn to lower my stress cause in the end that is what is going to make me sick. The girls I work with tell me this on a daily basis and to be quite honest once all this is done that is going to be my focus. There is no reason to stress out over the little things!!! Especially after everything I have been through this summer!! So with that being said my experience today went like this...
I got to the hospital having a fricken panic attack (what is new I hate that place! haha its the same hospital where I had my surgery, biopsies, etc.) I registered in the admitting room, they know me in there, and made my way over to radiology. The man that works the desk knows me too, he calls me Yeager. Kinda makes me feel comfortable in a weird way lol. I turned in my paperwork and waited. I HATE waiting. It gives me too much time to panic some more and think about things. The radiology guy came and got me and told me to take off my jewlery and lie down on a conveyor belt type thing. He told me it would take about 20 minutes, that they were going to scan me from head to toe...this is because the thyroid tissue can be found throughout the body, and they want to make sure that the iodine radiation did its job and killed off the rest of these cancerous cells. He told me that 99% of people are OK, and that the scan is just to make sure. OF course immediately I thought ok what if I am the 1% that has to go through this all again...I have been seriously stopping these thoughts the minute they come into my head..I have been focusing on positive thoughts and praying everyday. The Lord has his plan for me, and he tells me I am going to be OK :) But I am only human and these bad thoughts do cross my mind...anyways after sitting in a tube and having a camera basically on my face for 10 minutes, I was done with the anxiety and done with the scan. Remember how I said before that during my radiation and isolation that I had to suck on hard candy and sour candy???? Well apparently its supposed to get the iodine out of your salivary glands and taste buds so you dont lose them. I was told that I really needed to focus on this during isolation and really eat a lot of candy, well the candy made me sick and I kept thinking I wasnt doing it enough...My instincts were right. The guy asked me if I had sucked on candy and I said yes and that I had sunflower seeds too...he told me that I didnt do it enough and that all he saw was a lot of the iodine in my salivary glands...:( He asked if I had any pain or swelling, and I said that my jaw still kinda hurts but I thought it was the TMJ that I have (when I chew a lot my jaw gets sore basically) He said it was prob the iodine and that I needed to keep chewing gum and suck on more candy like crazy, so on my way home I stopped at the gas station and got some warheads and gum. Great more tummy aches :( but hopefully its not too late and I didnt mess anything up in my mouth, because it will be messed up for life. I also noticed that my food does not taste the same, which I was thinking was because I didnt suck on enough candy...so we will see if in this next week I can be super good at this, and get the iodine totally out of my glands. After he told me about the salivary glands he also said, it could be that you still have a lot of iodine in your glands, or you had a really good surgeon that really got all that thyroid tissue out of your neck area because I dont see any....good sign?? I dont know but I would like to think so :) Lets just pray that everything else is gone, and all the tissue is out of my body. I will be getting a body scan once a year for the rest of my life because EARLY DETECTION IS KEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am 24, never thought I would have cancer at this age, so please be aware of your bodies!!!!!!!!
Ok on another positive note, I started my thyroid medication on Tuesday. So far so good. No weird reactions or anything like that (yes I am that bad and I get anxiety about taking new medication for fear that I will go into the allergy shock that sends me to the hosp.) I really need to stop lol. Hopefully my body will regulate to this medicine soon and I will be well on my way to feeling better.
Now onto Sadie. Our crazy little dog. She is considered "our daughter" and is seriously our pride and joy!! I dont know if you all knew but when Matt and I went to San Diego a few weeks ago, we left Sadie with Matt's twin brother Mike. Mike was great!! Mid-week though we got a phone call...."I found a worm in your dog's poop." OHHH great. ok here we were in San Diego and our dog has worms. I immediately called the vet, set up and appointment and told them I would pay when I got back. They were happy to take her, tested her poop, gave her a de-wormer and started her on heart worm. All was well beside the 180 dollar vet bill...well two days ago Sadie got into something or ate something that made her face swell so big that you could barely see her eyes!! I noticed it when I took her outside, came running in, woke Matt up and told her we needed to take her to the vet. He took one look at her and agreed. We took her in, they gave her two shots, and then she played at day care all day. All was well right?? WRONG...we got her home about 6 hours later, after a long day at day care, and she swelled right back up!!! what the heck???!?!?! So i frantically called the vet, and she had no idea what was wrong. They were closing, and she didnt want me to have to go to the Emergency vet...big bucks....so she said to give her 2 benadryl every six hours until the swelling went down. Easy enough, we did that..she puked two hours later. She ended up puking all night, and itching and spazzing. Matt called the ER vet at 2 in the morning and they told us to wait it out as well. She had to of eaten something. They told him to give her a bath and that might stop her itching. So at 2AM my amazing boyfriend told me to go to bed (I had to get up for work at 5am) and not worry about a thing. He gave her a bath, made a bed for her and him in the living room, and he stayed up with her allllll night!!! Such and amazing man. Makes me think how good he is gonna be with kids :) JK that cannot happen for at least a year according to the radiologist :) She ended up being ok in the end, but it was the longest night!!! Lets just say our dog has put us through a lot, and of course she would eat something the day before I go back to work.
Now as for going back to work and my students?? THEY ARE AMAZING THIS YEAR! I mean they have always been amazing, but oh my goodness we could not ask for a better class!!! All the new 3 year olds are soo good! Except for the occasional accident and a few little ones crying for mom, they are so cute! I am so ready to be back into the routine of being at work and seeing them everyday. Everyday is so different and they are so innocent!! I love working with them and teaching them about life and school and watching their faces when you answer their questions. So amazing. As for the parents of my kids. They are great too! One of my sweet sweet parents got me a necklace that says peace and has cute little jewels on it for everything I am going through, She also wrote a sweet card from their family about my recovery and being their child's teacher. I also had another parent seek me out on the playground my first day back, point to his neck, and say "Welcome to the club." He had the same thing! I wanted to cry, but of course held it in :) I am so thankful that we have such caring parents, and I love teaching their babies. I look forward to another amazing year.
Alright so this has been another long blog, I promise to try to update more, but now that I am back in school, and teaching 8 hours a day its gonna be hard. Thanks again friends and family for all your support and prayers. I love you all, Happy Friday!
I got to the hospital having a fricken panic attack (what is new I hate that place! haha its the same hospital where I had my surgery, biopsies, etc.) I registered in the admitting room, they know me in there, and made my way over to radiology. The man that works the desk knows me too, he calls me Yeager. Kinda makes me feel comfortable in a weird way lol. I turned in my paperwork and waited. I HATE waiting. It gives me too much time to panic some more and think about things. The radiology guy came and got me and told me to take off my jewlery and lie down on a conveyor belt type thing. He told me it would take about 20 minutes, that they were going to scan me from head to toe...this is because the thyroid tissue can be found throughout the body, and they want to make sure that the iodine radiation did its job and killed off the rest of these cancerous cells. He told me that 99% of people are OK, and that the scan is just to make sure. OF course immediately I thought ok what if I am the 1% that has to go through this all again...I have been seriously stopping these thoughts the minute they come into my head..I have been focusing on positive thoughts and praying everyday. The Lord has his plan for me, and he tells me I am going to be OK :) But I am only human and these bad thoughts do cross my mind...anyways after sitting in a tube and having a camera basically on my face for 10 minutes, I was done with the anxiety and done with the scan. Remember how I said before that during my radiation and isolation that I had to suck on hard candy and sour candy???? Well apparently its supposed to get the iodine out of your salivary glands and taste buds so you dont lose them. I was told that I really needed to focus on this during isolation and really eat a lot of candy, well the candy made me sick and I kept thinking I wasnt doing it enough...My instincts were right. The guy asked me if I had sucked on candy and I said yes and that I had sunflower seeds too...he told me that I didnt do it enough and that all he saw was a lot of the iodine in my salivary glands...:( He asked if I had any pain or swelling, and I said that my jaw still kinda hurts but I thought it was the TMJ that I have (when I chew a lot my jaw gets sore basically) He said it was prob the iodine and that I needed to keep chewing gum and suck on more candy like crazy, so on my way home I stopped at the gas station and got some warheads and gum. Great more tummy aches :( but hopefully its not too late and I didnt mess anything up in my mouth, because it will be messed up for life. I also noticed that my food does not taste the same, which I was thinking was because I didnt suck on enough candy...so we will see if in this next week I can be super good at this, and get the iodine totally out of my glands. After he told me about the salivary glands he also said, it could be that you still have a lot of iodine in your glands, or you had a really good surgeon that really got all that thyroid tissue out of your neck area because I dont see any....good sign?? I dont know but I would like to think so :) Lets just pray that everything else is gone, and all the tissue is out of my body. I will be getting a body scan once a year for the rest of my life because EARLY DETECTION IS KEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am 24, never thought I would have cancer at this age, so please be aware of your bodies!!!!!!!!
Ok on another positive note, I started my thyroid medication on Tuesday. So far so good. No weird reactions or anything like that (yes I am that bad and I get anxiety about taking new medication for fear that I will go into the allergy shock that sends me to the hosp.) I really need to stop lol. Hopefully my body will regulate to this medicine soon and I will be well on my way to feeling better.
Now onto Sadie. Our crazy little dog. She is considered "our daughter" and is seriously our pride and joy!! I dont know if you all knew but when Matt and I went to San Diego a few weeks ago, we left Sadie with Matt's twin brother Mike. Mike was great!! Mid-week though we got a phone call...."I found a worm in your dog's poop." OHHH great. ok here we were in San Diego and our dog has worms. I immediately called the vet, set up and appointment and told them I would pay when I got back. They were happy to take her, tested her poop, gave her a de-wormer and started her on heart worm. All was well beside the 180 dollar vet bill...well two days ago Sadie got into something or ate something that made her face swell so big that you could barely see her eyes!! I noticed it when I took her outside, came running in, woke Matt up and told her we needed to take her to the vet. He took one look at her and agreed. We took her in, they gave her two shots, and then she played at day care all day. All was well right?? WRONG...we got her home about 6 hours later, after a long day at day care, and she swelled right back up!!! what the heck???!?!?! So i frantically called the vet, and she had no idea what was wrong. They were closing, and she didnt want me to have to go to the Emergency vet...big bucks....so she said to give her 2 benadryl every six hours until the swelling went down. Easy enough, we did that..she puked two hours later. She ended up puking all night, and itching and spazzing. Matt called the ER vet at 2 in the morning and they told us to wait it out as well. She had to of eaten something. They told him to give her a bath and that might stop her itching. So at 2AM my amazing boyfriend told me to go to bed (I had to get up for work at 5am) and not worry about a thing. He gave her a bath, made a bed for her and him in the living room, and he stayed up with her allllll night!!! Such and amazing man. Makes me think how good he is gonna be with kids :) JK that cannot happen for at least a year according to the radiologist :) She ended up being ok in the end, but it was the longest night!!! Lets just say our dog has put us through a lot, and of course she would eat something the day before I go back to work.
Now as for going back to work and my students?? THEY ARE AMAZING THIS YEAR! I mean they have always been amazing, but oh my goodness we could not ask for a better class!!! All the new 3 year olds are soo good! Except for the occasional accident and a few little ones crying for mom, they are so cute! I am so ready to be back into the routine of being at work and seeing them everyday. Everyday is so different and they are so innocent!! I love working with them and teaching them about life and school and watching their faces when you answer their questions. So amazing. As for the parents of my kids. They are great too! One of my sweet sweet parents got me a necklace that says peace and has cute little jewels on it for everything I am going through, She also wrote a sweet card from their family about my recovery and being their child's teacher. I also had another parent seek me out on the playground my first day back, point to his neck, and say "Welcome to the club." He had the same thing! I wanted to cry, but of course held it in :) I am so thankful that we have such caring parents, and I love teaching their babies. I look forward to another amazing year.
Alright so this has been another long blog, I promise to try to update more, but now that I am back in school, and teaching 8 hours a day its gonna be hard. Thanks again friends and family for all your support and prayers. I love you all, Happy Friday!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Let's pray this is it
Ok so they say that bad things always come in three's. So that being said, my family has gone through so much this year..My Grandpa Yeager in Minnesota passed away last night. We are all sad for our loss, and we knew it was coming, but it happened so fast! I know that we will get through it as a family but it is still hard to take in when everything has been happening. Like I said everything comes in three's..first my Grandpa Godfrey passed in March, then I found out about my cancer, and now my Grandpa Yeager is up above with our Father in Heaven. Let's pray that this is it. No more bad things can happen to my family this year! My cancer is gone, (we find out Friday) and everything else is going to fall back into place. Positive thinking is key. Also with that being said, I now have two more guardian angels up in Heaven watching down on me and my family and getting us through all of these tough times. MY family is very strong and we can do this, we just have to keep sticking together.
On a little bit of a lighter note, I am able to have a little bit more human interaction today!! It is day 5 of my isolation, and all of my paperwork says that after 5 days I can start to interact and be around people. If I wanted to I could go back home and stay with Matt and my doggy again, but I dont want to push it so I am going to stay here one more night. Matt brought Sadie over to my parents today (she loves her grandmas house!) and we played pool and hung out. Of course the first thing Sadie does when she gets here was find a scorpion. She has a way of doing that. I looked over and she had something in her mouth. I thought it was a leaf, but I jokingly turned to Matt and was like hey is that a scorpion?? He walked over to it and was like "yeah it actually is!" haha so he got a cup scooped it up and took it outside. Our pup gets into EVERYTHING so we werent surprised. She didn't get stung though, even though it was in her mouth. Pretty sure it was almost dead when she was playing with it. We also went to the deli up the street and got some sandwiches to go! It was a very good day for me, but I still have my Grandpa and my family in the back of my mind, my dad is taking it kinda hard, but that is to be expected. They are going to be flying out Tuesday morning for the funeral services, and probably be back on Friday morning. I am not going because of everything else I have going on healthwise. I dont think its a good idea for me to get on an airplane right now either. Please keep my family in your prayers that this is it. No more bad news for the Yeager family! Life truly is a blessing, please dont take anything for granted as I have learned in the past few months. Cherish the people you are with, dont get mad at the small things (easier said than done, I know) and just love your life the way it is. It can be taken away from you just like that. I love you all!!! Happy Sunday, and I will be writing this week about going back to school and my crazy kiddos that I get to meet :)
On a little bit of a lighter note, I am able to have a little bit more human interaction today!! It is day 5 of my isolation, and all of my paperwork says that after 5 days I can start to interact and be around people. If I wanted to I could go back home and stay with Matt and my doggy again, but I dont want to push it so I am going to stay here one more night. Matt brought Sadie over to my parents today (she loves her grandmas house!) and we played pool and hung out. Of course the first thing Sadie does when she gets here was find a scorpion. She has a way of doing that. I looked over and she had something in her mouth. I thought it was a leaf, but I jokingly turned to Matt and was like hey is that a scorpion?? He walked over to it and was like "yeah it actually is!" haha so he got a cup scooped it up and took it outside. Our pup gets into EVERYTHING so we werent surprised. She didn't get stung though, even though it was in her mouth. Pretty sure it was almost dead when she was playing with it. We also went to the deli up the street and got some sandwiches to go! It was a very good day for me, but I still have my Grandpa and my family in the back of my mind, my dad is taking it kinda hard, but that is to be expected. They are going to be flying out Tuesday morning for the funeral services, and probably be back on Friday morning. I am not going because of everything else I have going on healthwise. I dont think its a good idea for me to get on an airplane right now either. Please keep my family in your prayers that this is it. No more bad news for the Yeager family! Life truly is a blessing, please dont take anything for granted as I have learned in the past few months. Cherish the people you are with, dont get mad at the small things (easier said than done, I know) and just love your life the way it is. It can be taken away from you just like that. I love you all!!! Happy Sunday, and I will be writing this week about going back to school and my crazy kiddos that I get to meet :)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Isolation- or whatever you want to call it!
Oh man, I knew I was going to be bored, but this is getting ridiculous!! I have been hanging out in my old bedroom at my parents house for 2 and a half days. The closest my parents have gotten to me is in the hallway asking if I need anything or if I am doing ok...Yeah im ok, just dying of BOREDOM!! I can only look on Facebook and IKEA and Target and all those websites for so long. I have to eat off of paper plates, use plastic forks, knives, and spoons, and use plastic cups. This is so the radioactive material in my body doesnt spread to the utensils in the house. I also have to shower daily-ok I do that anyway- and flush the toilet twice!! When my parents make dinner, they serve themselves then go away and I come and get my food lol, then I retreat back to my little hideaway. I actually have not been eating that much to be honest. I havent felt sick or anything, but I just dont have an appetite. I have gained 10lbs since the surgery (um excuse me they told me I was going to lose weight) but its because I have Hypothyroidism right now being that I dont have a working thyroid, and no metabolism to digest anything, so my body is holding on to EVERYTHING! I mean EVERYTHING! I cant wait to get on thyroid medication, which we hope is this week and I can start losing this weight. I mean its a small price to pay considering everything I have gone through I guess.
Besides just layin around and watching Food Network, HGTV, and the Travel Channel- My all time favorite channels, I am missing my Matt so much!!! I think the longest we have spent apart was when he went to Germany two Christmases ago for like 8 days. He has been my rock through this whole thing and is honestly amazing. I cant believe how lucky I am to have him in my life!! He just got back from Flagstaff, where he is from, and its weird because usually I am waiting for him at home with our pup, but this time he had to go home to just Sadie and not both of his girls :( He really has been solid through all of this and I thank him for everything he does for me, I dont think he realizes how much I appreciate things!!! I LOVE YOU BABE! Alright enough mushy stuff :) I am going to go back to watching 40$ a Day with Rachel Ray. Hope everyone is enjoying their time with their loved ones! Happy Thursday!
Besides just layin around and watching Food Network, HGTV, and the Travel Channel- My all time favorite channels, I am missing my Matt so much!!! I think the longest we have spent apart was when he went to Germany two Christmases ago for like 8 days. He has been my rock through this whole thing and is honestly amazing. I cant believe how lucky I am to have him in my life!! He just got back from Flagstaff, where he is from, and its weird because usually I am waiting for him at home with our pup, but this time he had to go home to just Sadie and not both of his girls :( He really has been solid through all of this and I thank him for everything he does for me, I dont think he realizes how much I appreciate things!!! I LOVE YOU BABE! Alright enough mushy stuff :) I am going to go back to watching 40$ a Day with Rachel Ray. Hope everyone is enjoying their time with their loved ones! Happy Thursday!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
First Blog-Story of my Cancer
Alright, so I decided that after everything Matt and I have been through this summer, that I wanted to start a blog. I wanted to do this because facebook and all those sites are starting to get creepy, but I also want to keep updating my family and friends on my life and how we are doing. You gotta bare with me though because all of this setting up the blog and picking out templates and pictures and all that fun stuff...not so fun! Its more stressful, because I dont know what to do!!! So dont be surprised when my layout and pictures and fonts all change just about everyday :) Also dont be surprised if I blog a lot in the next week because I am in complete isolation for 7 days!!! I probably should explain why, although most of you reading this already know...
In April, I was diagnosed with strep throat... no big thing right? I mean I teach preschool and kindergarten so its gotta be expected. Well I went to my family doctor, she said I had strep, gave me my antibiotics and I was going to get better. Well I was wrong, three days later I couldnt even talk my throat was so bad. With my mom working in the ER, I called her and asked her what I should do because clearly the antibiotics were not working. She told me to come into her work and someone would look at it, give me a stronger medicine and I would be on my way. Well, I get to the ER and one of her nurse friends looked in my throat..her facial expression made me cry! She was horrified with what she saw! She said that I needed to be seen by a doctor and that I probably needed an IV and all that fun stuff..by this time I was balling becasuse I HATE HOSPITALS and doctors and anything associated with medicine..if you know me I am VERY high anxiety when it comes to this stuff. At this point they signed me in, stuck and IV in me and we waited for the doctor. I was dehyrated, tired, and felt like crap! The doctor came in, looked in my throat and said, oh no you have an absess. A what?! A bacterial sac where they stick a needle in your tonsil and pop it to drain it. GROSS. Typical ER procedure is to get a cat scan of the throat and neck before doing the needle procedure so they can indeed identify that it is an absess. So off I go on a stretcher to the cat scan people. Of course I was freaking at this point. They said I wouldnt stop shaking. When I got back to the room and the doctor had the results, he said the absess wasnt big enough to put a needle in there (thank you!) but that I did need a stronger antibiotic. They also asked me if I knew about the Nodule or lump on my thyroid. I said no didnt know I had that. They told me to follow up on it and that it was probably nothing, but just to be sure I needed to get an ultra sound.
A week later I went back to my mom's hospital and got an ultra sound on my thyroid. That was weird. They had picutres of cows on the ceiling and my mom and her friend were in there asking the ultra sound tech questions that I didnt want to know the answer to just yet! Ultimately he said the nodule was big, and that I had one big one on the right and two small ones on the left side. (Your thyroid is in the shape of a butterfly on the front of your throat) He told me to follow up with a biopsy of the big nodule and once again that it was probably nothing. Great how many times do I have to hear that its nothing, when clearly youre making me go through all this testing because you see something. My mom decided then to take matters into her own hands and find me the best Ear, Nose and Throat doctor she could find. She talked to my uncle who two years ago had his thyroid removed due to cancer. He told us his surgeon was amazing and reccomended we go and see him. A week after the ultra sound we had an appointment with the ENT at John C. Lincoln. We got to the office and met the doc, and he was pretty blunt and straight forward. He scared me. He stuck a big tube up my nose and down my throat. Weird. and then did all this rubbing around my neck and thyroid. Then he came back in the office with a BIG needle. He said ok im going to biopsy this thing, and send it to the lab. I freaked. I was not expecting it to be that day! I took it like a big girl, but of course I cried. He said he numbed it, but I felt the whole thing and boy did I make that known to him! It took him 3 needle sticks and digging around my neck to get enough cells to be sent to the lab. Lets just say he was not my friend after that.
(this is a long blog I know) About a week or two later, he called and said he did not get enough cells and that I had to go to radiology at John C. Lincoln to get ANOTHER biopsy. I was not having it, but I knew I had to do it. We made the appointment and I went in for that. It took that doctor 5 more needle sticks to get enough material too!!! What the heck was wrong with me?!?! At John C. Lincoln though they make you wait around after the biopsy to make sure they really did get the cells...so we went to the waiting room for about an hour for them to come out and say sorry didnt get enough come back and we need to do another one! I was so done at this point I didnt even care! So off I went for one more stick. This was the needle stick that actually got my cells. They told me they would send the results to my ENT and I would get a call from him to discuss them. I had already had an appoitnment scheduled with the ENT so we figured he would just tell us then.
Well a few days later, I was sitting in my Montessori training class when my doctor's office called. My teacher knew that I was waiting on results so I slipped outside to answer. They told me that they needed to see me right away, and when could I make an appointment to we could talk. I started crying. That usually means its bad. I called my mom and she had already talked to them. Apparently they called her first...weird since I was 23 years old and they usually dont do that. She told me to get my things and leave because my appointment was at that moment. They were squeezing me in...even worse. The whole way to the doctor I cried. I didnt know what to expect so I was expecting the worst.
The doctor told me that I had Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma. I didnt eve really hear the name the first time he said it, I actually had to call my mom a day later and ask her what it was called. Basically I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, June 8th 2010. Yes I do remember the date cause I had class, and my class only met on certain dates. I was so scared, I didnt even know what to think! All I kept hearing was that it was treatable, 99% survival rate, so common, women espeically get it, blah blah blah. None of that mattered. I had cancer. IM 23!!! ALMOST 24!!! I do not have cancer. Its a mistake. I am healthy, I grew up playing sports, and leading an active life! All of these things just went through my mind. I cried the whole way home, cried with Matt and thought about my life. At this point I decided, I was not going to get down on myself. In order to beat this thing I had to have a positive attitude. I had to stay positive and strong, not only for me, but for my family and friends as well. See this year, my family has been through a lot. We have had a lot of joy, baby Claire and Kendyl, and a lot of sadness. My Grandpa Jack passed away in March. Now my family was faced with this. I decided that it was going to keep us down. I was going to get through this. I am a great teacher, a great girlfriend, a great daughter, and a great friend. I love my life, I love my job, and I am making it better by getting my Montessori certification. There was NO way this was going to bring me down.
So after all that, my surgery was scheduled for June 23rd, 2010..just two weeks after we found out. They were planning on taking out my thyroid to get rid of the cancer, and to see how far it had spread because they wouldnt know that until they got in there. I had to coordinate things with work (they have been super amazing, and such a great support system through all of this by the way) and figure out the money situation for bills and rent. Everyone was right by my side through everything, and on the morning of surgery when they wheeled me back, mom and I cried. I looked at her and she had tears in her eyes. I said do not cry lol because I knew that I would lose it. Of course I did. I gave Matt and kiss and a hug (yes he was teary eyed) and off I went into the operating room. Remember when I said I had really high anxiety in medical situations??? Well, I wouldnt even let them put the anesthia mask on my face, I had to hold it myself. Its a control thing, and yes I like to control some things ;) Before I knew it I was in the recovery room throwing up. I remember the nurse saying it was gross. After that little episode I dont remember much. I remember being upstairs in room, and my cousin and baby Kendyl being there. My mom was there and my dad was there, and of course Matt was there. I was told that there were a lot more people that came in and out the whole day but I was so out of it that I cant remember. I had to stay in the hospital for 4 days!! It was the worst 4 days of my life! I had two panic attacks, two different roomates, both of them over the age of 80, with the first one being crazy!! She sat on her bed and cussed at herself or the nurses all day!!! She was in the hospital because she wanted a Big Mac, and drove into a tree at 10mph and broke her arm. Lets just say the hospital was an experience in itself. The night nurses sucked, but my day nurse who happened to be there 3 days in a row was amazing! When I finally got to go home all I wanted to do was take a bath. I was cleared by my surgeon to do that :) so I got in the big bathtub and soaked for like an hour. Once I was home and recovering I definitely felt better, but I knew I was only halfway done with treating this thing. I still had to meet with an endocrineologist (the guy who will prescribe my medication for the rest of my life) and I had to get Radioablative Iodine Therapy. Its a pill that they give you at the hospital which goes in and kills all those tiny microscopic cells no surgeon can get. I was so done thinking about everything at this point that the only thing on my mind was our annual trip to San Diego. All I wanted was to be on that beach. My surgeon said I should be ok to go by the time the trip was scheduled, and my endocrineologist didnt think I would have the energy. Trust me I didnt let that stop me. I recovered quicker than anyone thought, and I felt (still do) great! I wasnt too tired, and I was so ready to go! My meeting with my surgeon was a week before we left and he cleared me for everything, I could golf, bike ride, go in the ocean, all the fun stuff that comes with San Diego! So off we went and had an amazing trip. The only thing looming in the back of my mind was the radiation I knew I had to schedule. I put that phone call off all week. Finally I called them and they scheduled it for Aug. 2nd, 2010. Today. Yes I am now radioactive. I had to go to John C. Lincoln and get this little white pill (which packs a punch!) and sit around for a few hours. Turns out the nurse who helped me, had the same exact thing ten years ago! She knew exactly what I was going through! The mood swings, the muscle cramps, tiredness, all the fun things that come with not having a thyroid. She even had to go through the radiation, so we talked a lot today and even exchanged phone numbers. She is pretty amazing and I am so thankful she was my nurse.
So now I am in isolation for 5-7 days. I for sure cant be around children or pregnant women for 7 days. but 5 days for everyone else. I am staying at my parents house because I have my own bathroom and room here, so I can stay out ot everyone's way and let this radiation do its thing! KILL IT! KILL IT! :) I am still thinking positive and praying everyday that I will be ok, and that this is the last of it. It has been one heck of a ride this summer, and I know that I am only going to get stronger. All my life I have been told that things happen for a reason. I am meant to be on this Earth. God would not have given me strep throat if He did not want me to find this yet. I had no symptoms of thyroid cancer or anything. Just a lump looming beneath the surface. Its a blessing that I got strep and that they caught things early. I am still scared and stressed about everything because we wont know anything about the cancer and where its at until next Friday. That is when they scheduled the body scan. They are going to check my whole body for any kind of cancer. Please pray that they got it all!!! As for now I am living my life a little bit differently. I dont take small things for granted anymore, I eat healthier, and I view things differently. I also approach my world with a better, positive attitude. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I will be posting more things about my life, my Montessori training, and my Montessori teachings. I love Maria Montessori and what she did for education. Being an educator is tough, but I wouldnt have it any other way. Hopefully, with this blog we can keep in touch with family instead of posting all those really personal things on Facebook. :)
In April, I was diagnosed with strep throat... no big thing right? I mean I teach preschool and kindergarten so its gotta be expected. Well I went to my family doctor, she said I had strep, gave me my antibiotics and I was going to get better. Well I was wrong, three days later I couldnt even talk my throat was so bad. With my mom working in the ER, I called her and asked her what I should do because clearly the antibiotics were not working. She told me to come into her work and someone would look at it, give me a stronger medicine and I would be on my way. Well, I get to the ER and one of her nurse friends looked in my throat..her facial expression made me cry! She was horrified with what she saw! She said that I needed to be seen by a doctor and that I probably needed an IV and all that fun stuff..by this time I was balling becasuse I HATE HOSPITALS and doctors and anything associated with medicine..if you know me I am VERY high anxiety when it comes to this stuff. At this point they signed me in, stuck and IV in me and we waited for the doctor. I was dehyrated, tired, and felt like crap! The doctor came in, looked in my throat and said, oh no you have an absess. A what?! A bacterial sac where they stick a needle in your tonsil and pop it to drain it. GROSS. Typical ER procedure is to get a cat scan of the throat and neck before doing the needle procedure so they can indeed identify that it is an absess. So off I go on a stretcher to the cat scan people. Of course I was freaking at this point. They said I wouldnt stop shaking. When I got back to the room and the doctor had the results, he said the absess wasnt big enough to put a needle in there (thank you!) but that I did need a stronger antibiotic. They also asked me if I knew about the Nodule or lump on my thyroid. I said no didnt know I had that. They told me to follow up on it and that it was probably nothing, but just to be sure I needed to get an ultra sound.
A week later I went back to my mom's hospital and got an ultra sound on my thyroid. That was weird. They had picutres of cows on the ceiling and my mom and her friend were in there asking the ultra sound tech questions that I didnt want to know the answer to just yet! Ultimately he said the nodule was big, and that I had one big one on the right and two small ones on the left side. (Your thyroid is in the shape of a butterfly on the front of your throat) He told me to follow up with a biopsy of the big nodule and once again that it was probably nothing. Great how many times do I have to hear that its nothing, when clearly youre making me go through all this testing because you see something. My mom decided then to take matters into her own hands and find me the best Ear, Nose and Throat doctor she could find. She talked to my uncle who two years ago had his thyroid removed due to cancer. He told us his surgeon was amazing and reccomended we go and see him. A week after the ultra sound we had an appointment with the ENT at John C. Lincoln. We got to the office and met the doc, and he was pretty blunt and straight forward. He scared me. He stuck a big tube up my nose and down my throat. Weird. and then did all this rubbing around my neck and thyroid. Then he came back in the office with a BIG needle. He said ok im going to biopsy this thing, and send it to the lab. I freaked. I was not expecting it to be that day! I took it like a big girl, but of course I cried. He said he numbed it, but I felt the whole thing and boy did I make that known to him! It took him 3 needle sticks and digging around my neck to get enough cells to be sent to the lab. Lets just say he was not my friend after that.
(this is a long blog I know) About a week or two later, he called and said he did not get enough cells and that I had to go to radiology at John C. Lincoln to get ANOTHER biopsy. I was not having it, but I knew I had to do it. We made the appointment and I went in for that. It took that doctor 5 more needle sticks to get enough material too!!! What the heck was wrong with me?!?! At John C. Lincoln though they make you wait around after the biopsy to make sure they really did get the cells...so we went to the waiting room for about an hour for them to come out and say sorry didnt get enough come back and we need to do another one! I was so done at this point I didnt even care! So off I went for one more stick. This was the needle stick that actually got my cells. They told me they would send the results to my ENT and I would get a call from him to discuss them. I had already had an appoitnment scheduled with the ENT so we figured he would just tell us then.
Well a few days later, I was sitting in my Montessori training class when my doctor's office called. My teacher knew that I was waiting on results so I slipped outside to answer. They told me that they needed to see me right away, and when could I make an appointment to we could talk. I started crying. That usually means its bad. I called my mom and she had already talked to them. Apparently they called her first...weird since I was 23 years old and they usually dont do that. She told me to get my things and leave because my appointment was at that moment. They were squeezing me in...even worse. The whole way to the doctor I cried. I didnt know what to expect so I was expecting the worst.
The doctor told me that I had Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma. I didnt eve really hear the name the first time he said it, I actually had to call my mom a day later and ask her what it was called. Basically I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, June 8th 2010. Yes I do remember the date cause I had class, and my class only met on certain dates. I was so scared, I didnt even know what to think! All I kept hearing was that it was treatable, 99% survival rate, so common, women espeically get it, blah blah blah. None of that mattered. I had cancer. IM 23!!! ALMOST 24!!! I do not have cancer. Its a mistake. I am healthy, I grew up playing sports, and leading an active life! All of these things just went through my mind. I cried the whole way home, cried with Matt and thought about my life. At this point I decided, I was not going to get down on myself. In order to beat this thing I had to have a positive attitude. I had to stay positive and strong, not only for me, but for my family and friends as well. See this year, my family has been through a lot. We have had a lot of joy, baby Claire and Kendyl, and a lot of sadness. My Grandpa Jack passed away in March. Now my family was faced with this. I decided that it was going to keep us down. I was going to get through this. I am a great teacher, a great girlfriend, a great daughter, and a great friend. I love my life, I love my job, and I am making it better by getting my Montessori certification. There was NO way this was going to bring me down.
So after all that, my surgery was scheduled for June 23rd, 2010..just two weeks after we found out. They were planning on taking out my thyroid to get rid of the cancer, and to see how far it had spread because they wouldnt know that until they got in there. I had to coordinate things with work (they have been super amazing, and such a great support system through all of this by the way) and figure out the money situation for bills and rent. Everyone was right by my side through everything, and on the morning of surgery when they wheeled me back, mom and I cried. I looked at her and she had tears in her eyes. I said do not cry lol because I knew that I would lose it. Of course I did. I gave Matt and kiss and a hug (yes he was teary eyed) and off I went into the operating room. Remember when I said I had really high anxiety in medical situations??? Well, I wouldnt even let them put the anesthia mask on my face, I had to hold it myself. Its a control thing, and yes I like to control some things ;) Before I knew it I was in the recovery room throwing up. I remember the nurse saying it was gross. After that little episode I dont remember much. I remember being upstairs in room, and my cousin and baby Kendyl being there. My mom was there and my dad was there, and of course Matt was there. I was told that there were a lot more people that came in and out the whole day but I was so out of it that I cant remember. I had to stay in the hospital for 4 days!! It was the worst 4 days of my life! I had two panic attacks, two different roomates, both of them over the age of 80, with the first one being crazy!! She sat on her bed and cussed at herself or the nurses all day!!! She was in the hospital because she wanted a Big Mac, and drove into a tree at 10mph and broke her arm. Lets just say the hospital was an experience in itself. The night nurses sucked, but my day nurse who happened to be there 3 days in a row was amazing! When I finally got to go home all I wanted to do was take a bath. I was cleared by my surgeon to do that :) so I got in the big bathtub and soaked for like an hour. Once I was home and recovering I definitely felt better, but I knew I was only halfway done with treating this thing. I still had to meet with an endocrineologist (the guy who will prescribe my medication for the rest of my life) and I had to get Radioablative Iodine Therapy. Its a pill that they give you at the hospital which goes in and kills all those tiny microscopic cells no surgeon can get. I was so done thinking about everything at this point that the only thing on my mind was our annual trip to San Diego. All I wanted was to be on that beach. My surgeon said I should be ok to go by the time the trip was scheduled, and my endocrineologist didnt think I would have the energy. Trust me I didnt let that stop me. I recovered quicker than anyone thought, and I felt (still do) great! I wasnt too tired, and I was so ready to go! My meeting with my surgeon was a week before we left and he cleared me for everything, I could golf, bike ride, go in the ocean, all the fun stuff that comes with San Diego! So off we went and had an amazing trip. The only thing looming in the back of my mind was the radiation I knew I had to schedule. I put that phone call off all week. Finally I called them and they scheduled it for Aug. 2nd, 2010. Today. Yes I am now radioactive. I had to go to John C. Lincoln and get this little white pill (which packs a punch!) and sit around for a few hours. Turns out the nurse who helped me, had the same exact thing ten years ago! She knew exactly what I was going through! The mood swings, the muscle cramps, tiredness, all the fun things that come with not having a thyroid. She even had to go through the radiation, so we talked a lot today and even exchanged phone numbers. She is pretty amazing and I am so thankful she was my nurse.
So now I am in isolation for 5-7 days. I for sure cant be around children or pregnant women for 7 days. but 5 days for everyone else. I am staying at my parents house because I have my own bathroom and room here, so I can stay out ot everyone's way and let this radiation do its thing! KILL IT! KILL IT! :) I am still thinking positive and praying everyday that I will be ok, and that this is the last of it. It has been one heck of a ride this summer, and I know that I am only going to get stronger. All my life I have been told that things happen for a reason. I am meant to be on this Earth. God would not have given me strep throat if He did not want me to find this yet. I had no symptoms of thyroid cancer or anything. Just a lump looming beneath the surface. Its a blessing that I got strep and that they caught things early. I am still scared and stressed about everything because we wont know anything about the cancer and where its at until next Friday. That is when they scheduled the body scan. They are going to check my whole body for any kind of cancer. Please pray that they got it all!!! As for now I am living my life a little bit differently. I dont take small things for granted anymore, I eat healthier, and I view things differently. I also approach my world with a better, positive attitude. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I will be posting more things about my life, my Montessori training, and my Montessori teachings. I love Maria Montessori and what she did for education. Being an educator is tough, but I wouldnt have it any other way. Hopefully, with this blog we can keep in touch with family instead of posting all those really personal things on Facebook. :)
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