Thursday, November 12, 2009

Go ahead...Raise the roof (sort of)

Moving from the emotion of yesterday to today has been quite the story! This will be a short posting, but a good one! Got the results of the body scan at 4:30 pm today. The doc called and said that the scan came back and was as it should be. Meaning...the scan showed that the radiation was taken up by remaining thyroid cells as it was designed to do. Those cells were located where my thyroid was before surgery (exactly where he expected them to be) and so there was no indication or signs that the cancer had spread. That alone is a wonderful praise! I will have to have another dose of radiation in 6 months which will be used to confirm that the first dose killed off any remaining thyroid cells. The next 6 weeks I will continue my meds and will see the doctor in mid December to check the dosage of meds to see if it is at the right amount.

Thank you to all of my friends and family for your prayers, notes, and calls concerning this journey. I still have more to go, but I thank God for walking with me through this. He has carried me through alot of tough moments. He also placed each of you in my path to encourage and support me as well.

My prayer request now would be for my mother and sister as they both undergo tests, medications, and possible treatments for their thyroid issues. I'll keep you updated on the latest!

Blessings!
Jeremy

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

A hole in the armor...

Well...I must say that today may have been the toughest day to date in this whole experience. It seems I have looked at this as a small 'bump' in the path of my life when it actually has been quite big. I think maybe twice during this time I have come to tears(with one of those being a clear lesson in empathy towards the emotional roller coaster women experience) and today added another. Not quite sure what brought it on. It could have been the test in class today that I had no idea about and left knowing it was not good. Maybe it was mom calling earlier this week to say she may have thyroid issues now as she visited the doctor. Or maybe in the back of my mind knowing the results of the scan are due anytime. Could also be that I have not really grieved in this whole process and it is finally surfacing. Whatever it caused it...Thank you Lord, because I need it, and I need to continue to do it.

My sister called this morning and she heard me tearing up. Thanks for listening sis. Today was also, what I described, as the most discouraging day, like a spirit of discouragement was upon me. Thanks to my life long brothers in the faith in Central Texas and the Dallas area that responded to my text for prayers. I don't know what I would do without you guys! God has blessed me with some truly Godly friends!

I bought a new album on itunes yesterday and finally got to start listening to it today. It is Switchfoot's new album, Hello Hurricane. Great album! I think the band wrote this album to address the storm of life that we face and how they toss us around. The songs give alot of hope in those situation we face that toss us around. Exactly what I needed to hear today.

"What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul." Jewish proverb

So much more to say, but I will save it for another day.

Love you all!

Jer

Monday, November 9, 2009

Oh...the Queso...with a capitol Q!!!

Well, this morning started early and I didn't sleep much, so I was tired. In fact, I had three alarms set this morning and I somehow turned off all three of them and fell back asleep. Thank God for Hwy 75 morning traffic!!! Up and out by 6:45 to drive up to the hospital for the scan. Made it with time to spare (don't worry mom...traffic was light, yeah, I couldn't believe it either)! Got right in. They walked me in and had me lay down on the scanner. I forgot to get a photo, so I found one on the internet.

(There was supposed to be a big picture of a plastic donut shaped machine here, but it won't show up now, so you get this lame description instead.)
They had me lay down on the plastic stretcher, which by the way was actually pretty comfortable. I ended up laying on it for almost 3 hours. And when I said I was cold they brought out a blanket that had been in a heated box. Wow!!! I may have to plan to have my own blanket warmer someday!!! The stretcher raised up and the two arms enveloped me like a pair of tongs. They lowered the top one to what seemed millimeters from my nose and explained that I needed to stay still. My only response was "Can I sleep?" Unfortunately, the machine is a loud machine! So no sleep, but it was nice to just lay there with my eyes closed. I figured I would eventually go through the machine, but no. The two arms, starting at my head, scrolled down to my feet and then returned to my head. I think that one was a 45 minute test. Then they mentioned doing one more, don't quite remember it as well as the first one. The testing lady came in and adjusted things for another short test. Then she returned and said she would take the scans to the doctor and would return shortly. When she returned, she said the doctor wanted more scans, so another hour or so of testing. This time, the two floating arms focused on my neck area and did a complete 360 around my head, yet it took 45 minutes to do that. Then, to my surprise, the stretcher started moving and I went into the donut for a CT scan. Finally I came out of the scanner and they said I was done. I should get the results later this week, so now is the waiting game.

I left the hospital and headed straight to work. I also started my medication back except at a height dosage. My new doc had given me samples that would last until I see him in 6 weeks. I got to work and was greeted by my coworkers eager to say hello and welcome me back. As I updated them on the past week, I mentioned to them that I wanted to have the queso from Matt's, called the Bob Armstrong dip.
It is probably one of the best queso dishes to have ever been created. It is the perfect blend of ground beef, queso, guacamole, and sour cream in a bowl. You mix those ingredients and...a taste of Heaven!!! Here are a few photos of sheer pleasure!















Unbelievably good! Once the work day was over, I attempted to find a local laundromat as all the clothes, sheets, towels, and anything I used during the week that could be washed, needed to be washed. Finally found one, but didn't have time to do the laundry, so tomorrow after work, I will be at the laundromat washing and studying for class. Well, it's after midnight and I am exhausted! Good to see people, hug them, and say hello in person! God is good!

Goodnight!

Jeremy

Friday, November 6, 2009

Counting down to a bowl of queso...mmmmm...good!

Well, two more days, then I can enjoy the foods I have missed for so long. This hasn't been too bad of an experience. I haven't seen a person since 11 am on Monday, so tomorrow I think I will venture to the front porch to do some studying. I have felt OK over the past week. Much more tired than I thought. Wednesday, the area around where my thyroid used to be swelled up and has remained that way. That was explained to me that that would probably happen, so on Wednesday, I described it as that I can no longer see my Adam's apple. I know many of you have wondered, "so what is it like to have radiated iodine in your body?" Well, let's see...for me, my taste buds taste less. I have to suck on lemon drops to try to get any radiation out of the saliva glands. My appetite is down which is a good thing as I have gained about 15 pounds over the past weeks. I do have to be honest and say that I was not glowing. That would have been cool, but nope, didn't happen. Mostly this week I spent my time on the computer working online, catching up on email, studying, reading, watching some movies and TV. It has been an interesting experience to say the least. thanks to those friends and family that called to check in on me. It was always nice to chat. I am sorry I didn't get to catch everyone. I have greatly improved my cooking skills, so I may have to invite some of you over when I get back to normal for a home cooked meal. Who knows, maybe the family will let me fix a dish for the holiday get togethers.
Like I said, two more days and then on Monday, I will head in to have the body scan and once that is done, start my meds and can eat those prohibited items. I have started to hallucinate giants bowls of queso and ice cream, so Monday will be a GOOD day indeed!

That's all for today. Catch up with you later! Thanks for your prayers, calls and messages. They really have encouraged me.

Blessings,
Jeremy

Monday, November 2, 2009

Glowing like a neon light...


Well, today was radiation day. How exciting! I mean, I could plug in my refrigerator, laptop, and tv, and power them from the remnants of my thyroid. Who knows...maybe I could also be a night light at the local airport too. Anyway, I arrived at the hospital around 8am and checked in. The nurse called me back and they took a blood draw to see how my TSH levels, kidney's, and white blood cells were. Then back to the waiting room. About 1 1/2 hours later, they called me back for a consultation on the procedure, paperwork to sign, etc. Then they brought me to the nuclear doctor who went back through everything one more time. Then...radiation time. I had been under the impression that it was a drink, but instead it was a pill. The guy helping me sat me down, copied all my paperwork and gave me a copy. He left for a few minutes. I noticed that there were three cups of water on the counter next to me. He walks in with white jar about the size of a large can of facial cream. When he placed it on the table, it landed with a thud sound. It was a lead lined container and pretty heavy from what he said. For the size of the jar, I was surprised that it only had enough space to hold the single pill for my treatment. Along with the container, he also brought a Geiger counter. Yes...Geiger counter. Now I was thinking this was pretty cool. He removed the pill, actually he poured the pill from the container in to a cup and then handed me the cup. I took the pill and drank two cups of water. He then took the Geiger counter and starting at my neck, started to search up and down my chest for the location of the pill. You could hear the clicking noise like on tv shows when they use one. He then asked me to wait for another five minutes and then I could go. He handed me one more glass of water, used the Geiger one more time to see if it had reached my stomach. He stepped out, so I quickly took a snapshot with my camera phone.
He then showed me the way out, and I left wondering how would I explain my condition if I were to get in a wreck or get a speeding ticket..."I am sorry officer, but you need to step back from the window as I am emitting radiation waves." That would be a cool story if it had happened.

Once I got home, I started emailing, texting, and letting folks know the latest on treatment. Well, that's the gist of things for now. I'll try to keep the blog updated...better than I have in the past!

Blessings,
Jeremy