It is OVER! I am ready to close the chapter on my thyroid drama and open my life to the new normal. You see, once I  accepted my diagnosis, I didn’t want to accept that level of pain and discomfort as the new normal. I knew that the diagnosis was temporary, but I couldn’t resolve it within to be okay with all.

So to say the least, the last 6 months have been physically and emotionally draining. Thyroid disease itself causes me to feel like I’m going crazy. I suffered with hot flashes, night sweats, irritability, moodiness, a sore throat, itchy skin, weight gain, and heart palpitations. None of those are fun. At all.

The 8-hour surgery was successful. Geesh…that’s a long time. What should have been 4 hours was 8 hours. My friends and family were about to become unglued. I’m glad they held it together. From what I hear from the residents and medical students, it was stressful inside the operating room. Apparently the thyroid came out without any problems, but tumor #1 was difficult. It was the shape of an eggplant and large. Once they got that out, they then found tumor #2. It was the size of a tennis ball. So all in all, I had two tumors and the thyroid itself.

Since my surgery, I have felt better…MUCH better. The big tumor interfered with my breathing and caused a lot of asthmatic-like symptoms. Even though I am recovering from the surgery itself, I am so glad to be rid of that. All that wheezing, coughing, and sneezing was ridiculous!

So the next step is Wednesday. I go for my follow up appointment and we review the pathology findings. My hope is that the malignancy had not spread and was confined to the tumors in which they removed. If that’s not the case, then we will have a new plan. But either way, I’ll let you know here!