My New Adventure

Akwaaba! (Welcome, in Twi: the language I spoke in Africa.)

I should start by saying I never thought I would be one to have a blog. But after my recent arrival back to school for my final semester and new medical diagnosis, I came up with this crazy idea. And if you know me at all, when I think of something, there isn't going to be much that stands in my way. Plus, I figured it would be a great way for family and friends to stay in touch with my progress, something fun to look back on, and provide entertainment while I'm in total isolation for 2 weeks (more on that later).

For those of you who don't quite know what is going on, let me do a timeline recap:

August 2006: I was told I had Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease causing hypothyroidism symptoms. Weight gain, fatigue, sensitivity to cold, weakness, muscle cramps, abnormal cycles, dry skin etc. I was put on medication and all was to be well.

April 2011: I was beginning to feel like I was in a low slump with my thyroid, experiencing all of the symptoms over again, even though I was doing everything as directed. This continually got worse all throughout this past summer. My doctor kept changing my dosage, hoping to accommodate for the symptoms. But I never felt any relief.

November 2011: The entire semester I was miserable. I have always hated taking naps because I feel like it "wastes away the day." But, I was having to take at least one a day and get 9 hours of sleep, just to function. My mom decided enough was enough, and told the doctor she wanted me to have an ultra sound. This was done the next week and the results showed I had a nodule with some signs of cancer.

December 2011: The next step was to have a biopsy done, conveniently during finals week. Checking into St. E's definitely put my exams into a totally different perspective. The results came back inconclusive with more signs of malignancy. On to another specialist. He recommended to have at least the entire left lobe of my thyroid surgically removed. I instantly told him I would rather have it all removed because 1. it  didn't work anyway and 2. if it did turn out to be cancer, I didn't want to go in for a repeat surgery of the right side. He agreed and surgery was scheduled.

January 2012: New Year, No Thyroid. Surgery was on the 4th at the med center, and everything went great! I had to stay in the hospital, and during the night I was getting myself in and out of bed, unplugging all of my machines, and going to the bathroom or getting random stuff. Needless to say, my mom was not happy with me when she found that out the next day! My thyroid and two lymph nodes were sent to pathology to be tested. Recovery was going well at home. I definitely had to get used to not doing anything. The plan was to move back to school on Sunday, as classes began Monday. But, I woke up Sunday still not feeling well and spoke with my professors about missing the first two days of classes and moving in after my post-op appointment on Tuesday. Thank goodness I waited. Monday brought with it new changes. It had been a rough morning and around lunch I got a call from my nurse. After she said, "Keri, you do have cancer." things went blank. The next thing I remember is her asking that since I have a strong background in medicine, if I would just rather her read straight from the pathology report? I said yes and was instantly in medicine mode.

To make a long story short, some of the cancer began to spread outside of my thyroid gland capsule, but the lymph nodes they took were benign. This means that I will need to undergo radioactive iodine treatment at the med center in a couple weeks. The plan is that after this weekend I will start an iodine-free diet for 2 weeks. (My list of foods is very, very slim. I did receive an iodine-free cookbook though!) And then at the beginning of February I will go down for two days of shots and then on the third day have the treatment. After, I must go straight home to be in total isolation for 2 weeks. No human contact, my own bathroom, everything I touch has to be thrown away or specially sanitized, no attending classes, our dog has to be outside, my own eating utensils and plates, and a giant list of other "no no's". After 3 days I can be around other family members for 2 hours but they have to remain at least 1 foot away. (Now you see why I'll need this blog to keep me entertained.) This is all new as of yesterday, so I am still processing everything and figuring out how it will work. Thankfully I have wonderful friends who have agreed to Skype with me during our scheduled class times so I can keep up with coursework, and my professors have been very accommodating thus far. After the first week of isolation, I'll go in for a whole body scan. This is how they detect if the cancer has spread anywhere else. We are thanking the Lord we caught it so early and that it is a very treatable form of cancer.

Now with all of that being said, I do not want any of you to worry! I am going to be just fine. I promise. I am calling this "my adventure". It is all part of God's wonderful plan and I am anxious to see how it unfolds.