behind.

Well.... whoops!  I haven't posted any updates in over a month.  I have been busy the past several weeks - here are some things that I have been doing:

went to a couple of weddings

ran through some mud

went to a Harry Potter birthday party

hung out with Jude

played in some photo booths

took Laura to Estes Park

Oh, and I went to Texas.

Besides the above, I have been busy with other thyroid-related things too - here's more:

In late September, saw an otolaryngologist who sprayed some gross stuff in my mouth and then shoved a scope through my nostril and down through my throat.  Then I had to make lots of funny noises and sing Happy Birthday while we watched my vocal cords on the video monitor.  She confirmed that because Dr. Raeburn had to cut the vocal cord nerves during surgery, the right side of my vocal cords are paralyzed.  She referred me to a speech therapist for a few sessions to see if the function of the vocal cords will improve in the short term, but it is likely that surgery is the only long term solution to fix the paralysis. 

If you've never seen vocal cords, or vocal folds, they look like another part of the body... you can google image that.

I have had two appointments with a speech therapist so far.   At my first appointment he made me sing and make more weird sounds.  I have determined that if you are a speech therapist, all you do is make funny noises all day long.  I was sent home with a CD of vocal cord exercises to be performed twice a day (in my car).  At my follow up appointment last week, I showed improvement and am now tasked with yelling exercises.  I have to yell as loud as I can in my car (or in the privacy of my own home but I don't want to scare Krystal) to see if I can get my decibel level up.   

In between all of this, I had more bloodwork done and had my follow up with Dr. Buckley, my endocrinologist.  I had good reports from Dr. B on all fronts - good news!  Almost all levels from my bloodwork were where they should be and she reviewed the pathology report from surgery with me again.  It was great to get good news but the main focus of our discussion was on the next steps for my treatment - Radioactive Iodine (RAI) treatment.  Dr. Buckley and her assistant went through the timing for all steps of this process and I was once again left to choose when I wanted to go through with this procedure.  I looked at the calendar and chose Wednesday, November 7 as Contamination Day.  

I'll provide more details in my next post, but basically, I take the radioactive pill and become "contaminated" (my new favorite term to describe this situation) and will be in isolation (read: on my couch) for 3-5 days.  It is recommended to be isolated for at least 72 hours, but I'm going to do the local population a big favor and stay isolated a couple days longer just to make sure everything is clear.  I'll be home from work starting on Wednesday and I will return on the following Tuesday.  

I promise another post is coming soon and it won't take me a month to write it.  Get excited to read the details about my low-iodine diet!  Check back in a few days...

-g