Like Mother - 38

Since my last post, my niece had her surgery. Janina stayed with her in the hospital, and as everyone had hoped, she did beautifully. It was, of course, no surprise that her postsurgical biopsy confirmed papillary carcinoma. Although we had hoped otherwise, the odds were certainly stacked against her. Okay, that makes five…so far.

I had my postop nuclear scan. I’m not much for lying still for a long stretch, unless I’m sleeping, but it was one of those non-negotiable tasks.

Everything else has pretty much gone back to normal. Well, at least as normal as things can be for my family. We are all back at our jobs, managing well on our Synthroid, and appreciating the fact that it’s still cold enough outside to get away with wearing a turtleneck or scarf (to keep that scar under wraps for as long as possible). All of our scars are healing at different rates, so we tend to compare them. I’d say collectively we have about one foot of scar line – Wow!

I am thrilled that both my sister and niece will not need radioactive iodine treatment as their surgeons feel that because the cancer was caught so early, the operation was curative. That’s the good news—actually great news.

On the downside, my follow-up scan revealed a possible metastases. I sort of got into that “sticking my head into the sand” mode and avoided posting because I just didn’t want to write about it. But there it is. I’ll know more on Friday when I see my endocrinologist.

I celebrated my 54th birthday two days ago. I was surrounded by those that I love and that love me. It was a great day. As I blew out my candles (or rather as my grandson blew out my candles), I wished for the best gift of all…good health. I wish that for you too, my friends.