A return to normalcy...part 2?

My Thursday night class is a little better than I thought it would be. With all the snacks and such that I brought this week, I stayed awake, and the lecture was much more enjoyable and fruitful for application. In fact, we raced through the book of 1 Samuel. There is a lot of good stuff in there that is very relevant to today in our global community. It is amazing to see just how patient David was after being anointed as the king of Israel. Saul, the first anointed King of Israel, pursued and tried to kill David many times to keep David from the throne. David, throughout Saul's pursuit of him, was faithful to God's promise to be the next king and never tried to take the throne himself by force. He had so much love for God, love for the king, and for the king's son Jonathan, that he waited for God to bring him to the throne.

As we studied that story, it reminded me how patient I need to be with regard to returning to work. Yes, the FMLA story continues from the last posting to this one. And again, I have to find humor in this situation. I also have to thank God for allowing humorous situations while dealing with this cancer and the steps I have to go to while trying to rid my body of it.

First, I want to acknowledge and say thank you to the many members of Porch Club from Camp Sanguinity! If any of you are reading this blog, the years of sitting up late after the kids went to bed and telling stories, jokes, and pranks (sorry Vance) have prepared my humor to deal with many situations with laughter and a smile. I do think of you often when I think about or deal with the cancer issues! Thank you for giving me the ability to laugh in the moments of darkness! Sander, Webb, Robert, and many others, I have opened my mailbox very slowly everyday expecting a thyroid, or some other body part, to be in my mailbox with a funny note attached! Thank God it hasn't really happened!

I find humor in alot of things, so this one story continues. I think I left off last time about sweet Pat escorting me from the premises, and finally returning when I got a note from the surgeon saying I could go back to work. I still laugh at that thinking of High School and walking the halls without a hall pass...gotta laugh at those days!

Anyway, since that last posting, sweet Pat has asked me everyday about the FMLA papers. Everyday I have called my doctor, and of course I end up leaving a message for the nurse. She eventually calls me back and says she will get them to me. Well, here is where the story moves to the humorous side. I called everyday this week, and the Corporate office called Pat everyday to ask her where the papers were, and of course she asked me, and I asked the nurse. I have a hard copy of the papers in my desk, actually the originals in my desk, and everyday I called I would pull them out and look at them, 4 pages I think, and would say to myself, "I could fill these out myself and go have the doctor fill them out." The papers say your doctor must fill these out, so of course I would just call and ask if they were done. Well...Tuesday afternoon, I get a call from the nurse and she says, "Jeremy, I have placed these papers on your doctors desk with a note that he needs to fill them out asap. He will fill them out first thing Wednesday morning." I was like, Great! Finally! Great idea, but it didn't happen. Here is where I started to laugh, a little. I also started to get a little frustrated. Wednesday afternoon, the nurse calls me back, and of course I am thinking, "she forgot the fax number, so she is calling me." No! The nurse informs me that the doctor has told her that I need to come in and sit with her to fill out the papers! Of course, I was immediately ready to get this done and over with, but I had to leave work early to go fill out the papers that the doctor was supposed to fill out!!! At first I was a bit livid. I was thinking, ok my doctor can feel a bump and say go get this test and that test, you have cancer, let's get it out. Then we have to fill out some paperwork and he says no, the patient needs to fill it out! Maybe we do have some issues with out healthcare system.

So I get to the doctors office, the nurse comes and gets me, (please note that the nurse is still the fill-in for my nurse on vacation, so she has no idea who I am or experience with my medical history) sits me in an examination room and begins to ask me the questions, like...when did the doctor discover the problem? I don't know about you, but I would expect medical professionals to document the date that they felt a lump and the ordering of tests. No, they had no clue! Just before I left the office, I printed out an email I had sent to a doctor friend that outlined the timeline of events from the first doctors visit to the return to work (well the pseudo-return to work). As we went through the questions, this is exactly what the nurse needed, but also, there were questions asked that I had no business answering as they were for my doctor to answer. I left the doctors office wondering if I should continue to stay with this doctor if he couldn't even fill out this paperwork! But in the end, I realized he did feel the bump and was proactive in diagnosis, so I figure I should give him a break...

Well...maybe I shouldn't. The story continues!!! Thursday comes around, and before I left the doctors office, the nurse told me she would have the doctor sign the papers and would fax them over to our office. I took it on faith that the papers would be faxed on Thursday. I truly forgot to follow up on Thursday until wonderful Pat came by near the end of the day to ask about the papers. Of course when she asked, I was in shock the papers were not there. So I picked up the phone and called the office to ask for the nurse. Pat headed back to her office while I spoke to the nurse. The nurse explained that the doctor was just returning from lunch...this was near 3:00 in the afternoon...and that she would leave the papers on his desk with a note to sign them. I had just hung up the phone when Pat came back to my office. I was smiling thinking, ok, this paperwork thing is over finally. Well...Pat, in her kindest grandma voice, says, "Jeremy, the Corporate office just called and said if the papers are not here by 5:00pm Friday, you could lose your job." WHAT!!!!!!!!! My eyes grew bigger than grapefruits, and my jaw dropped to the ground. I was in utter shock. I picked up the phone as fast as I could and dialed the doctors office. When the receptionist answered, I, as kindly and as patiently as I could, asked her to take a message and deliver it to the nurse asap. I told her, "Please take this message to my nurse, if I don't have the papers signed and to my office by 5:00pm today, Thursday, my Corporate office says I could lose my job." The receptionist replied, "Oh my, I will get this to your nurse right now." I hung up the phone and told Pat to stay by the fax machine. Then for the next 10-15 minutes, I was alone in my office praying and talking to myself. Next to the surgeon telling me I might lose my voice, this was the most stressful time of this whole experience. I was talking to God about what was going on. I kept saying to myself..."hmm, I could get fired because of the program that is supposed to protect my job." I was livid for those 10-15 minutes. So many thought went through my mind. I was not a happy camper, as we would say at camp. Those 10-15 minutes passed by and suddenly Pat bust through my doorway, hands in the air with one hand clasping newly faxed papers. I thought she was Rocky running up the stairs next to the statue from Rocky 2 (I think it was Rocky 2). I, too, joined her in the celebratory dance probably for 5-10 minutes of dancing and thanking God!!! Needless to say, I was still a bit angry with the Corporate office and with the doctors office, so I left work and went straight home. I wasted no time and threw on my running clothes and took off. I ran my usual route and knocked 6-7 minutes off my best time. I felt so good afterwards, that I started to laugh about the whole FMLA paperwork thing.

I am happy to say that all the paperwork is in place and seems to have settled so I can work without problems. One great lesson I have learned is...I will never use FMLA again!

I have been amazed by the number of humorous and interesting experiences I have seen through this medical issue. I am thankful for a healing God, loving friends and family, and a good sense of humor!

Besides the drama that unfolded this past week, I feel pretty good. I do sense some tiredness in the middle of the day, but I still feel good. I meet my endocrinologist on September 17, less then two weeks away. I think at that point, I'll get a better understanding of the next steps with radiation and diet.

I would ask for your prayers as I meet this new doctor. That he would be a good one and that he will fill out paperwork on time! Ha,Ha. Please also pray for my patience as my voice is not back to normal. I love to sing, and I still can't really carry a tune at this point.

J

A return to normalcy...sort of

It's been over a week since I posted last, and I seem to be doing pretty good. I spent the weekend visiting with family and friends in Waco. It was such a shot of joy to see them, tell stories, laugh, and even do a bit of exercise! I took my mom's cocker spaniel out for a run, or should I say she took me for a run. It was a nice break form the lounge chair or couch a TV. I forgot how hot it gets in Texas. Not the best idea to go running in the middle of the day. If something had happened, I am glad to share the dog would have eventually pulled my body to the house! The visit with my friends was a real joy. One of my dearest friends was celebrating his eldest daughter and son's birthday party, so I stopped by for a visit and was able to catch up with some other dear friends from college that even sent me a cookie bouquet, well actually two bouquets, as the delivery person delivered it to the wrong house, and when the home owner found it, the bouquet had (and I mean this literally) melted and the cookies, which were still edible, had fallen off of the sticks and broken into pieces to some degree. The company redelivered the next day a new one with a balloon! What great friends! My weekends in Waco are never complete until my great friends and brothers get together for a 3-4 hour session of Rock Band. It is non-stop fun, and was a great healing dose of love before returning to the real world. I was glad to leave Waco when I graduated college, but now it is sometimes hard to leave with the family and friends who live their lives there now.

I have a hilarious story, well at least to me hilarious about getting back to work. I started back to work on Monday, and it was kind of a slow day as I was getting back to returning phone calls, and trying to catch up on emails from my absence. There was a short meeting at a facility not far from my office to inform some of the employees about supplemental insurance options for us. After the meeting, I returned to my building and office, when I was asked about my FMLA papers (FMLA is the Federal Medical Leave Act). My time off was under this, so I have to have paperwork filled out by my doctor to get my leave approved. It had not been completed, so I left a message with my doctors nurse about the paperwork, and did not get a call back. The rest of the day went fine. Ok, here comes the funny part. I returned on Tuesday to the office and as I walked in, I noticed that we were having a staff meeting, so I ran to my office to grab a pen and paper for the meeting. As I walked in, I was intercepted by our office Administrator Pat. Pat is like the worlds best grandmother! She is so sweet and full of wonderful stories. Well, Pat quickly pulled me from the meeting and asked if I had a note from my doctor to return to work. I immediately assumed she meant the paperwork to be filled out. I said I had not heard back from the nurse. She said, she was sorry, but I could not be at work. I gave her a confused look and ran to my office to call the nurse. When I phoned, I asked for my nurse, and the receptionist informed me that my nurse was out of town for the week, and left me another nurses name and transferred me to he voice mail. I left an urgent message for the nurse to call me back. As soon as I finished, Pat came in with a sad but serious look on her face. She said, "I am sorry Jeremy, but you will have to leave the premises immediately. You cannot be at the office until we have a note from your doctor saying you can return to work." At first I was shocked, and then I got mad. I was like what the heck is going on. Again, Pat said someone from the Corporate office had just called and said I had to leave the building right now. I was mad at this point. I was thinking, I don't want to go back home and sit on the couch or recliner anymore. I want to work, but they won't let me work. As I walked out, Timeka, our office assistant at the front door was confused at me leaving as I had just come in. I was thinking, "I am getting escorted out of the building!" I left the office and was pretty upset. I drove home fuming, then a thought popped in my head...You just got escorted out of the building by the grandmother of the office. At the point, I started chuckling, then it broke into a giggle, and then into full on laughter by the time I reached the house. I finally got home, and quickly realized I could call the surgeon. I reached his nurse, and she said she would be happy to write me a note. Well, within an hour, Pat called me and said I could come back to work. Now it is a pretty funny topic for the office as I 'claim' to have been escorted from the office by Pat the sweetest, kindest grandmother ever. After that, everything was fine at the office.

I also started back to school this week. I have two classes, one is Old Testament history, 1 Samuel to Ecclesiastes. The second is Angelology, Harmiotology, and Anthropology. It has been a year or more since I have sat in a class. I have been taking online classes, and I am so excited to be back in a classroom with people around me to talk to. I can't tell you the number of times I dreaded being online watching video and reading someones paper. Unfortunately, the Old Testament class will be a hard class to NOT sleep through as the professor is very monotone. Good, applicable information, but presentation is missing quite alot. The second class will be the highlight of the year! This professor is amazing and exciting, and he loves what he is teaching, so it may be hard to finish all he wants to talk about. It should be good.

Overall, I am feeling pretty good. I was able to be pretty active this past week. I rode the bike a couple of times, ran some, and even played tennis with some good friends. I am seeing a bit more of tiredness during the middle of the day, but for the most part, I feel full of energy and excited about what is ahead. The only strange thing for me is that I still cannot sing, and I feel like I have something stuck in my throat. Thankfully, many people remind me that it has only been two weeks since the surgery, so I cannot expect to be back exactly where I was before all of this.

Once again, I want to thank all of you for your prayers, cards, thoughts, messages, texts, and support throughout this time. I can literally feel the prayers affecting me everyday! I will do my best to write more frequently as time allows. Blessings!

J

So what's next, doc?

It's been a few days since I have posted. I did intend to write earlier this week, but wanted to wait until today as I had my follow up appointment with the surgeon. Not long after updating the photos of pre- and post- operation photos on Tuesday, I was updated by the surgeon on the pathology report. I'll get to that in a minute. After surgery as I was waking up in my room, and slipping in and out of consciousness waiting on my wonderful cup of jello, I overheard conversations from family and friends about the surgery and the surgeon's impression of the cancer. I caught bits and pieces of statements like, 'Thyroid looked good', 'it didn't look cancerous', and others very similar. Even as the doctor checked on me right before I left the hospital, I think he said the thyroid looked healthy. For some reason, I took that to mean that the nodule on the thyroid was cancerous and there was a strong possibility that the thyroid was not cancerous. I was feeling pretty good that surgery took care of everything! Well, that got squashed on Tuesday evening. The surgeon called and gave me the findings of the pathology report. The thyroid was cancerous, and I will need to take a radioactive iodine cocktail to kill off any remaining thyroid cells in my body. That was not the news I was looking for. I was pretty bummed! Fortunately, my good friends Andi and Adam were available for a nice dinner to encourage me after that news. I was hoping to not have to have radiation of any kind. The doc also commented that I would need to start my care under an endocrinologist, so he and my personal doctor set me up with a new doc. For some reason as I started to think about this, I started to feel like a football. I felt like I was being passed from doctor to doctor, or quarterback to running back with a lateral to the receiver, etc. Anybody else felt that way about your medical care???

Anyway, today I met with the surgeon, and he checked the incision site to see how it was healing, and he said it looked good. I promise, it's not very pretty, so it doesn't look good to me, but at least it doesn't hurt to swallow now! After checking the site, I started to bombard him with questions. What stage is it in? Has it spread? What about the body scan? What about this radioactive stuff? He was very gracious to answer all my questions! Spreading is a possibility, but they cannot tell at this point as it would be on the microscopic level. Body scan would be something my new doctor would do. The radiation bit would be a cocktail of radioactive iodine that, in his words, 'is like a smart-bomb.' Thyroid cells are the only cells that process iodine, so this cocktail would only kill thyroid cells and does not affect other cells or systems of the body. Boy was that a relief to hear!

Overall, I feel pretty good. My energy level feels similar to pre-op levels. I even want to start exercising again. I will start back to the office next week. That's all for this post. Thank you again for all of your prayers during this time! I definitely still need them, so please keep 'em coming! Love you all!

J

In my haste to post yesterday, I forgot to post the photo of my surgeon. So many of folks have called or emailed that experience is key in the surgery I was to face, so here is a photo of the surgeon, and please feel free to give me your input on what you would think after you saw him! By the way, he was an EXCELLENT surgeon, and one of my nurses said he is her favorite surgeon and she felt he does the best job of any surgeon she has worked with. That was very encouraging to hear. I have also included a few photos pre and post surgery. Thanks again for your prayers. I am scheduled to meet the surgeon at the end of the week, so I think that is when I will get the results of the pathology report. Love you all!

J

This is Fatama. She is from Guinea. She helped with the pre-surgery stuff. She was a blessing to know!

This is Terri. She was one of the main nurses to check me in and prep me for surgery. Very nice and sweet.

This is Chae. She was the final nurse to care over me and oversaw my checkout. She was one of the kindest nurses, and gave high marks to my surgeon.

Alright...ready for the surgeon???

Hands as soft as butter and not a tremor to be felt in his handshake! Thank you Lord for a good surgeon!

Can't sing, but I can talk!

Good morning and welcome to the Roost. I had hoped to write some yesterday, but it didn't happen. Today I just want to catch you up on how recovery is going and how thankful I am for each one of your prayers! It has been an incredible journey, and it's not over. I never would have thought a simple doctors examine would have such life changing results, but I am thankful that he was so proactive in figuring this out!

The past few days have been lazy but good. Several coworkers and friends have stopped by to visit, offer food, or just hang out with me. Thanks! All of your prayers, phone calls, messages, etc. have been so uplifting. I have seen Christ in the words, actions, and hugs from everyone during this journey!

I have been very surprised by the low pain I have experienced! From past surgeries, pain has been terrible. I believe I have only had to have pain medication once or twice during the entire time, and that has mostly been tylenol. Right now the most painful part of this has been swallowing, thanks to the breathing tube, and the soreness of the muscles around my neck. I may try to venture out today for a walk or even a movie.

Several friends have asked

about the experience at the hospital. I must say first that your prayers, they were answered for the most part! Many cute nurses attended my surgery needs, but they were all married. I was also surprised by how many nurses, technicians, and others from another country were part of this experience. I met some from Guinea, Kenya, the Phillipines, and even Ethiopia. It was a joy to be served by so many in a time of need. I have to say my time at Presbyterian Hospital was very nice, and the care was exceptional!

I will do my best to connect with each of you to thank you for your words of encouragement, prayers, cards, flowers, and the many containers of ice cream that fill my fridge! I have such great friends and family! You are all such a blessing to my life! I know I will never be able to thank you enough for everything that each of you did during this journey. I continue to ask for your prayers as I continue with this journey over the next few weeks until we know the final outcome and until we get the medications adjusted to the correct levels.

It looks like the poem I

posted on Wednesday didn't show up, so here it is again. It really is pretty funny.

I have a followup with the surgeon on Friday, and either that day or earlier, I should get results on the pathology report on the thyroid. Let's pray it was not cancerous!

I can't thank you enough for your thoughts and prayers! I love you all dearly!

J

Jambo sana!

Good morning buzzard fans. This will be a short update. I am home, got home yesterday around noon. Don't feel too good, but don't feel too bad. Rough night sleep, but that's to be expected probably for the next few days. Started the synthetic thyroid meds, throat hurts quite a bit mostly from the breathing tube. I kinda forget that surgery, anesthesia, pain meds, swollen tissue, and stitches mess you up, and take a while to get over. They will test the thyroid for cancer and I should know next week about radiation. It's good to be home!

Thank you to everyone that has been praying! I could feel your prayers! Our God is an awesome God, and he put all of the right people in the right place to take care of me during this experience. I was blessed to meet several nurses and technicians from Africa and Asia that were so kind, in fact I got to speak a little swahili with them. The nurses and doctors were exceptional at the hospital! I commend them for their quality of care!

That's all for now. Thanks for your messages, texts, calls, etc.! I love you all!

J

Party for a thyroid...it ain't your grandma's party!

I am a bit overwhelmed as I write this tonight, or is it morning. My last to friends left about 30 minutes ago after praying for me. Thanks Susan and Jennifer. Tonight was a great going away party! The food, fellowship, laughter, the thyroid cakes (thanks Andi), the t-shirt(can't stop laughing Alex and Jess), were great, but the best part for me was each friend that emailed, called, or came tonight to walk with me, to say they are praying for me. I am so humbled by each one of you. I can't thank everyone enough for their
words of encouragement, prayers, and even poems (I'll post that later in this). I love each one of you, and thank my God for you being a part of my life!

Sometimes in these moments of trials in our lives, we feel all alone. We wish that people would respond in a certain way to our situation and when it doesn't happen we feel like we are not loved or cared for. I admit at times during this journey, I have felt alone. And as soon as I felt that way, God sent an angel, one of you precious friends, to write an email, dial me up on the phone, or even stop by. Tonight was a house full of angels, as well as my email box and facebook wall was full of messages from angels. I would love to tell you about each of them, but for time sake, as I probably should be in bed trying to sleep, I want to tell you about one in particular that was an unexpected blessing. About a month ago, a week before visiting the doctor, I met a young man on one of my trips to Guatemala. His name is Santiago. This young man was one of the most eager youth on the trip. He jumped in and loved everything we did with the kids, and they loved him. After returning to the states, I received and email from his mom that he had a great time and wanted to go back to Guatemala. The same church had another trip planned two weeks after his first trip, and we arranged it so he could go. While he was on the trip, the team was informed of my diagnosis, and they began to pray for me. The team returned home and within a day or two, I received an email from Santiago's mom. She wrote that Santiago told her about my diagnosis and Santiago wanted to pass on a message. He said, 'Tell him I love him, I miss him, and I will be praying that God makes him completely OK." I was floored! Here was a youth I met three weeks ago on a trip, and he has faith that God will make me ok. WOW! Then to top that off, he has been following the blog. He saw that I was having the party and his mom emailed me to say they would like to stop by. They both came and brought some wonderful food from their family restaurant, and they stayed for most of the time and visited with my friends and coworkers. I was humbled beyond my own belief! He walked in, gave me a hug and said 'I am praying for you,' and was like a part of my family. Santiago, you are an angel, and you have lifted me up! Thanks brother!

It is getting REALLY late now, so I want to say so much about the party, but that will have to wait. I have a poem to share with you that a life-long friend sent me today. I have been sharing it with whomever I can (sorry party folks, I was enjoying my time tonight, and I forgot to share it with you). Thanks Kristen! I will be enjoying this for some time indeed!

Ode to My Missing Thyroid

Finally, I've got to share the cake and the t-shirt!

Thanks Andi for making 2 thyroid cakes and cupcakes! They were awesome! Who knows, I may freeze it and wait a year and have an anniversary party... You are a wonderful friend! I love you!

Thanks to Alex and Jessica for the t-shirt! This took me by surprise, no idea it was coming, and yes, I am wearing it to the hospital! And it was made even better that you put it in a Christmas bag!!! I love you guys!

Thank you to all of you who were not able to make it out. Thank you for your emails, texts, messages, and phone calls. You are all such great encourager's and angels to me! I love you all.

Now to bed. I'll try to write more before the hospital, if not, I will write when I am next able!

Blessings,

JC