Pathology Report

Just got off the phone with Pathology and my report is back from surgery. It basically just confirmed what the surgery suspected. There were multiple areas on both sides of my thyroid that showed signs of papillary tumors and cells. The right side had the dominant tumor (which was the one they originality found and diagnosed, so that's no surprise) out of the 14 lymph nodes they removed 11 were positive for papillary carcinoma as well. The majority of which were also on the right side. this means it was a locally invasive tumor. There are likely some cells that they didn't see, so the next step will be to see the endocrinologist once I'm healed and we'll discuss my options for the radioactive iodine, which will mop up the rest of the cancer cells in the area! I've also donated my thyroid to cancer research since I wont be needing it, and hopefully it can help them to help others going through this!

It's hard news to take, but it's what we were expecting. But the good news is that its now mostly out, and I still have the same great odds of a full recovery. I'm also feeling better and better every day! And my scar is giving me some great opportunities for Halloween costumes! We've got my post-op on the 26th, and my endocrinology appointment on the 4th, so we'll take it all as it comes.

Recovering

I've officially been thyroid free for 4 days! I'm still very drained and not feeling all that great, but I've been recovery much faster than i ever would have imagined! I've already been able to eat solid foods and have been moving around the house pretty freely. I even got my bandage off and have an impressive but not all that massive scar! I've been getting some great ideas for stories for it too! everything from bar fights to saving orphan kittens from burning building, or that I'm a robot and they needed to reboot me!

the surgery was much easier than i anticipated and i got lots of funny stories from the nurses. I was surprisingly calm and just knew deep down that it was going to be fine. Apparently i was laughing and telling jokes the whole time going under and waking up from the anesthesia. And I don't really remember, but i know i had a wonderful dream while under that involved a beach, my grandfather(who passed away from cancer, but has been with me through this whole thing) and a lot of people trying to talk me into eating a roast beef sandwich! very odd but somehow soothing.

The Hospital stay wasn't all that bad either. I ended up staying on the Transplant floor and everyone was extremely friendly and competent. Although they did try to give away my liver at one point in the night on accident. They took very good care of me and were clearly very happy to have such an easy patient. And they got me well and out of there as quickly as they could! i was barely even in the hospital for 24 hours!

I'm also extremely grateful for everyone's wonderful support and love! I could never have gone through any of this without it! I can literally feel all the wonderful vibes and loving energy around me and it is truly magical. It has actually been a wonderful blessing in disguise to allow me to reconnect with so many wonderful people! and I even get my best friend Frankie to come visit!!! the best gift ever!!!! I am so excited!!! I can't thank everyone enough and I love you all!!!

calcium good - going home!

Katy's calcium level is 9.1 - right in the middle - everyone is amazed and happy at how well Katy is doing! They say they would be the best hospital ever if all there patients were like Katy. She is tired and feeling a little more pain - but enjoying Jackie Chan in Around the World - Arnold Swchrtznagger is playing some weird Sitar thing - good to laugh. Thanks for all the love!

In Katy's Room

We're all up in Katy's room, she is peppy and looking great!  Aside from a little band-aid on her neck and a little hoarseness to her voice she's already good as new.  She is up on the transplant floor because they are short on general surgery rooms and the nurses are incredibly competent!  The room is huge and has a nice view to the South, there are some nice details that make it feel soft and light.  They even have room service!  Right now Mike, Karen, Bob, Laurie, Gram and I are all chatting and laughing with Katy, who's talking as much as anyone else.  Tomorrow morning if her Ca++ levels are normal she can go home, but we'll still ask for short visits while she's healing.  She will need a lot of sleep, and probably to rest her voice for a while.

Thanks for all the love! 

Katy is out of surgery!

The surgeon just came out to update us on Katy:

• She is out of surgery and in recovery, the first set of people (Karen and Bob) will get to see her in half an hour or so when she's more alert.
• The tumor was larger than they expected and many of the surrounding lymph glands looked abnormal so they removed everything.  It took a bit longer than expected and she probably has a pretty good sized scar.
• Her vocal chords were monitored by a neurologist during the surgery and they look unaffected, which is fantastic!  We'll see how she feels in a couple days, until then she'll be hoarse from the ventilation.  They used a really cool system for this that we'll try to write more about when we have more energy.
• The surgeon had to mess with her parathyroid more than he wanted, but as he expected.  So she needs to spend the night while they monitor her calcium (Ca++) levels.  Ca++ is an ion important for nerve function so low levels can cause that terrible pins and needles sensation and even some painful muscle spasms.  They'll monitor it closely overnight and supplement as needed.
• She may need to wait six weeks before starting the radioiodine instead of starting in four due to the extent of the surgery, but we will know more later.

We'll update again in an hour or so, whenever we learn more!

Katy is in Surgery

Everything looks great, Katy is in great hands and we are waiting patiently for the next few hours. We will update as soon as we have any news!