a huge, gigantic, THANK YOU!!!

In December, I had surgery to remove the right side of my thyroid that contained a 2.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 cm tumor. The ENT who removed it, did a great job, but I, being the super-sensitive-skinned girl that I am, developed an allergic reaction to the Neosporin used on the incision. 

YUCK! NASTY! SCARY!!

Even though I had this fun little addition to my look, I still had kids and family to care for, and things to do! So I started wearing scarves to save fellow citizens the shock and horror of my neck. (Edward Cullen did NOT do this! Ha! That was for you, Suzanne.)

 Just as things started to heal up, I found out that the tumor removed was indeed, Follicular variant of Papillary Carcinoma, more commonly known as Thyroid Cancer. I needed to have the left side of the thyroid removed in order to prepare for treatment for the cancer. Suzanne, my sister living in Louisiana, sent me this beautiful scarf to aide in round two!

During the second surgery, I needed a drain put in my neck. It was back to wearing scarves, baby!!

Before all of this happened, I had never worn a scarf. I am, by nature, a warm-woman and scarves don't mix with my already-way-too hot body. That said, friends and family gave me scarves, and I LOVED them. I wore them every Sunday to church, around town, and anytime someone might spot my fun little neck and drain scars.

Although this picture isn't the best quality, you can tell that the drain mark is pretty red, and quite distracting (in person anyway). The scarves were great to hide all of that. Plus, it didn't hurt that scarves were also the popular thing this winter. For once, I was in on a fashion trend! 

Today, my scar is looking much, much better. It's still noticable, but barely. That won't stop me from wearing my scarves though. I love them!

Last Thursday, I went to the hospital, where I was administered Iodine-131, which is a radioactive drug to kill thyroid cancer.

The following picture shows the medication inside a big lead container. That container weighed 40 lbs.! You can see the heavy lid sitting behind the bottle. The purpose of the big container is to protect the delivery man from being exposed. The tech administering the stuff to me was wearing gloves. I love how the bottle has a nice, bright, fluorescent TOXIC sign, and then a straw for me to drink. Should I have been worried? 

You can't tell, but the straw is actually coming out of a much smaller glass vile  inside that middle ring. It probably had less than a tablespoon of liquid iodine mixture in it. I drank it up, and then they refilled the contained with water 3x, which I drank to ensure all the radioactive iodine was taken in. Tasted just like luke-warm water. Afterwards, I got back in the car and drove myself home. When I got there, my kids were gone and I began my 4 day isolation.

Within a few minutes, I got a text from my sister telling me to check out a new blog she had started. I found this S-O-S blog and honestly burst into tears. Tears, and tears and more tears. It was the nicest thing ever! I was so surprised to see pictures of extended family members, old friends from high school, graduate school friends, neighbors, and all my loved ones showing their support by wearing scarves. I have been reading it all weekend and LOVE IT!

I cannot personally thank each of you enough for sending in pictures. I feel like the luckiest girl alive, with the best support team in the world. THANK YOU!

To my sweet sister, Suzanne: Thank you for putting this together. I know it has taken tons of time and coordination. You have always been my cheerleader and support and I always know I can turn to you for support--even from miles away. I love you! Thank you!

Much love,

Andrea