I'll get through this...

Let me begin by thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers. I never realized how many people cared! j/k Seriously though, I really appreciate you all!!!

Today started with a follow up appointment with my surgeon. He is VERY pleased with the healing of my incision. (I know....I never posted a picture the other night....soon, I promise) He doesn't need to see me back for 3 months, so that is good news!

Next, we went to see my Endo and talk to him about what the next step should be. I will try to explain this the best I can. He has put me on a VERY STRICT low iodine diet. The list of things I can't eat is much longer than the things I can. This is going to be a challenge for me! But, it is necessary for me to do for the next step to work properly. I also will not be taking any thyroid replacement meds during this time. So....lack of food....no thyroid meds.....I will not be very pleasant to be around for the next 3 weeks or so. If you see me, expect me to be really tired and really crabby.....(I know, what else is new, right?!?! lol)

So, I will follow the diet and no meds, and on the 23rd, I will go have labs done to see where my levels are. They need me to be extremely "hypo" for the treatment to work. I go see the Dr. again to get these results on the 26th. He will say yes or no as to if I am ready for treatment at this time.

Once I am ready for the treatment, I will swallow one lonely little pill. Thats it....well, kinda anyway. I will swallow one pill of radioactive iodine, and while only one pill, it is a STRONG dose. Strong enough that I am going to have to be in complete isolation for 5 days. (still trying to figure out all the details of how that is going to work....) This iodine will be absorbed by the thyroid tissue still remaining (which is where the cancer is) and it will destroy this tissue.

About 10-14 days after I take the magical pill, I will go in for a full body scan. This will let us know for a fact that the cancer hasn't spread anywhere else.

And then, that is it. I will get back on my thyroid meds, and I will be good as new....or something like that. :)

Really quick, I wanted to thank the amazing company that Steve works for. They have been so understanding with his scheduling through all of this. And then, they had a BIG, YUMMY dinner ready for us when we got home tonight. Thank you guys SO MUCH!

Again, thank you all so much for your support. I want to leave you with the "slogan", for lack of a better word, that is being used for the new sermon series at church. The series just started this past Sunday, and I felt as if this series is just for me. I am so glad that everyone in our church family is letting Max just talk to me for a few weeks.... :)

"I'll get through this. It won't be painless. It won't be quick. But God will use this mess for good. I won't be foolish or naive, but nor will I despair. With God's help, I know, I will get through this."

God Bless you all, and thank you all again!!!

~rlb

A call I didn't think would come...

So throughout this whole thing, I've been a little nervous due to my family medical history. If something is wrong, its usually something big. You know, us Brileys like to keep the medical field employeed. Why one of us kids didn't end up in that profession, I don't know. At least one sister-in-law recognized the need and became a nurse!!! Anyway, as I was saying...

I've been nervous from the get-go. But, all blood tests (and there were a bunch of them) and all ultrasounds showed nothing. No cancer. I went into my surgery being told "we are 99% sure you do not have cancer. But we always send the tissue off to pathology just to be sure." I felt very confident in all of that. So, I had my surgery. The Drs both told my family how healthy my thyroid looked, aside from the growths. Almost as if they were even in shock.

Fast forward to Thursday, 1/5. And then my phone rang. My surgeon was calling me to tell me that he got the pathology results back, and it wasn't good news. The left side of my thyroid was malignant. The right side was pre-malignant. The good news, they got MOST of it with the thyroidectomy. The bad news, they didn't get all of it. Bottom line.....I have cancer.

Now, stop right there. I don't care who you are and what you have been through. If someone says those words to you, "you have cancer", it doesn't matter what kind of cancer it is. Those are scary words.

That all being said, the outlook is good. Another operation is unlikely. We will most likely do radiation to treat the cells that are still in my body. The good news about this type of cancer is that it spreads slowly, so chances are it hasn't spread anywhere else in my body. It also is easily, and completely treated, meaning once we get rid of it, it should be gone and shouldn't come back. So, there is that good news in there....

I go back to the Drs on Tuesday. I go see my Endo first (whom I saw last week before they got these results....he started me on my Synthroid....and has since taken me off of them.....so glad to pay for meds I didn't need....now anyway.....) and then I go see the surgeon for the 2 week follow-up from my surgery. Speaking of, my incision is healing GREAT! The "super glue" has come off, and it is healing nicely. I will try to post a new picture in the morning...I'm already in bed right now, and not getting up just to take a picture!!!

So, I will be back with a more detailed update after my appointments Tuesday. For now, I just ask for your prayers. Prayers for my strength & health, prayers for my family & their peace of mind, and prayers for the Drs & all of those in the medical field looking after me.

Thank you, and God Bless you all!

~rlb

Surgery Update

**WARNING** Semi-graphic pictures contained in this post.... :)

Well, surgery has come and gone. I had my thyroidectomy on Wednesday, December 28. The surgery went much better than expected. All of the nerve monitoring that they had to do went well, and it all ended up taking less time than expected. Recovery went well, and I was into my private room by lunch time. My recovery in my room went well. I was able to go home Thursday evening. Since coming home, things have gone pretty well. I already have cabin fever, but just my trip to the grocery store has worn me out. I spent most of the day Saturday in bed on pain meds. Today (Sunday) has been a little better, but I am ready to go to bed right now too. I almost have my voice back, but it does still sound a little fuzzy at times. I am eating solid food without any problems. For the most part, swallowing doesn't hurt, although hiccups, sneezing, coughing, clearing my throat yawning, etc HURTS! I have a good amount of my range of motion back, but I am still moving my head pretty slow. All of that being said, I am still VERY SORE. There is still a lot of bruising that is very uncomfortable. And it all itches so bad!!! All the stitching is all on the inside, so they will dissolve. But the outside of wound is "super-glued", which will peel off within the next couple of weeks. This method should minimize the lasting scar that I will have, and over time, just a faint line should be visible. As far as how it feels to have that HUGE mass gone, the only way I can describe it is that it feels hollow in my throat. (I know...doesn't make a lot of sense, just don't know how else to explain it!)

Next up, I go see the Endocrinologist on Wednesday, Jan. 4th, and then I go see the surgeon again on Jan 10th. The Endo should get me started on meds, to make up for the missing thyroid, and we will go from there. I hope that we get that all worked out quickly, and I am back to normal (or as close as possible) soon! :)

And for those who are curious, here are some pictures!

This is just a couple of hours after surgery:

And this is one day after surgery:

And this is today (4 days after surgery):

Thank you all for the continued thoughts and prayers. I will continue to update this blog thru my process.

~rlb

The date has been set!

I had a consult today with my surgeon.  We have set the date for my surgery for December 28th.  While not the exact date I was hoping for, it works. And I'm glad to have it scheduled. And ready to get it over with. And knowing how busy December is, I know that it will be here before I know it!

And, I loved meeting my surgeon. He eased my fears, explained all possible complications, and what they will do to prevent them. He was just awesome and an answer to my prayers.

That's the update for now. If anyone wants more info, you know how to reach me!  :-)

All Clear for Surgery!

**YOU KNOW WHAT I HATE??? When you have a blog all typed up, and then it disappears before you can hit "publish". That is what I hate!!!**


I had an appointment with my Endo today, and he has cleared me for surgery! The meds that they gave me to get my levels down have worked, so we are good to go. I have a consult scheduled with the surgeon for Tuesday, and we will schedule the surgery then. But the goal, for all of us, is to have the surgery mid-late December. I know, you are probably thinking, why would she want to have surgery and deal with all of that stress during the holidays?!?! But honestly, that will be perfect for me. I can combine my vacation days I have left for the year, with the holidays, and I can still use this years deductible towards all the costs. :)

One curve ball that has been thrown in the plan: my Endo is closing his private practice Dec 1st and joining a group. And it is located even further away. But, we have come this far, so I am sticking with him. We agreed that it would be best to stay with him until the surgery is complete, and I am on new meds, and have adjusted completely to them. Then I can see about getting in with someone that I don't have to drive an hour away to see. :)

Thank you all for the texts/emails/phone calls. They mean more than you know. :)

Hello out there!

Well, so far, I haven't done a great job of keeping this thing updated, huh?!?  Life just gets busy sometimes, you know?

Anyway, here is a brief update of our lives right now:

~ Steve got a little promotion of sorts at work this past week. He is now a part of the Holiday Lighting Division. His company does holiday lighting for malls, shopping centers, big commercial buildings, etc. all throughout Texas. So, he left yesterday, and will be on the road until the 8th or 11th or something like that. So, I'm learning to be a single mom of 2. Lol

~ Brilyn & I were very fortunate to get to go to the Taylor Swift concert last Tuesday night. It was an amazing experience to share with her. I hope she remembers it forever.

~ The girls are excited for Halloween. Brilyn is going to be a farmer and Jacelyn will be her cow. Their costumes are adorable! We are going to a trunk-or-treat tonight, and then we will do it all again on Monday. Pics to follow!

~ I have been feeling alright, I guess. I can tell a little difference since I started taking the meds. But, I'm still tired, and I still see some of the other symptoms daily. But I still think we are on the right path. I will have blood work done next week, and then see my Dr. the next week, and we will get surgery scheduled, as long as my levels are where they need to be.

I guess that's a good update for now! :) Thank you to everyone for their continued thoughts & prayers & kind words.

rlb

Results Day!

Good news! No sign of cancer in any of the blood work or scans. We will still have to remove the thyroid completely, due to the size and nature of the nodules (growths).  I am starting some meds today to bring my thyroid levels down prior to surgery.  So I'll start the meds today, and then we will do blood work in about a month to see where my levels are. We will make any adjustments necessary, and go from there.  We are currently looking at surgery around the end of the year.

Once the thyroid is removed, they will biopsy it to be 100% sure there is no cancer. Surgery should be fairly simple, and recovery shouldn't be all that bad.

Thank you all so much for the prayers and kind words.  It is so encouraging and uplifting to know how much people care. Please continue to pray that things all go according to the plan we have laid out. 

Thank you all, and God bless!  ~ rlb