30 Going On 13... Yeah... I Said It Right...

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

Bird's Eye View of the Hospital in Iowa City.

Today Mandy and I ventured down to Iowa City for many different reasons... the first being that I had my post operation check up with my surgeon. Following that... lunch... OF COURSE... and then wedding gown shopping and looking for wedding rings for Matt. We had such a fun day together! Mandy picked me up at around 8:30 in the morning and we were off to U.I.H.C. It takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get down there, but then it took forever to find a parking spot!




So... I checked in and was sent back to the lab for blood work (3 vials) and then down to the radiology department for some x-rays. The first one was of my lower leg bones from my ankle to my knee and the second was of my femur, from my knee to my hip. They took the x-rays of my right leg, which I thought was odd since my left leg hurt more, but I'm sure they know what they are doing! :o) My left hip was hurting especially today which made walking around the hospital a bit tiresome... especially since I didn't get out my sweet wheels (walker)!!! You know... I didn't want to make Mandy jealous since she didn't have one to scoot around the joint with!!! :o)


After my x-rays were done, I went back up to where I checked in and waited for a few minutes to see Dr. Lal, my endocrine surgeon. If ANYONE reading this ever needs surgery for your parathyroid, thyroid, etc... I would HIGHLY suggest this woman! I can't believe all that she has done for me during this whole ordeal. I even told her that my mom and I were impressed that she actually called me to see how I was doing after my surgery. Usually... when I have surgery I never see that person again! She replied that her job wasn't over with surgery. I was very touched that she would call and she even called my pharmacy to straighten some medication questions out! Now that is what I call EXCELLENT service! It really means alot when you can feel that someone truly cares about your health and wellbeing. If you are reading this... THANK YOU!




After a bit, I was called back to see Dr. Lal and she explained a few things to me. She said that my parathyroid hormone level was 94 and while that was a tad high (65 is the high end of "normal") she wasn't too worried. When I first went in to Covenant hospital, it was over 1,ooo!!! Before my surgery in Iowa City, it was 911 and right after my surgery it was 10... yes... ten. So... she said that it's a good sign that it was higher because that means that my remaining two parathyroids are "waking up" since my massive one was pretty much taking over everything!

I also recieved a sheet of paper "Surgical Pathology Examination" and my diagnosis was as follows:

A. Parathyroid, right lower, parathyroidectomy: Hypercellular parathyroid tissue (2.83 grams), consistent with parathyroid adenoma. (Dr. Lal said that hypercellular means that 50% of my large parathyroid was fat cells and that the other 50% was parathyroid cells. It was 2830 mg which was smaller than a plum. Normal is about 50 mg which is about the size of a small grain of rice or about 4 millimeters! It was VERY large in comparison!)

B. Parathyroid, right upper, parathyroidectomy: Benign parathyroid tissue (0.22 grams). (This one was also larger than normal, being 220 mg... normal is 50...)

History
30 year old female presented with calcium 19 and PTH 1000. Severe vitamin D deficiency...

And then there was some other stuff that I didn't understand on there. Anyways... she explained what the important things were and I just love that she takes the time to explain it all to me in a way that I can understand!

Close up of my sweet neckmeat... you can see the stitches on each end in a loop.

She also took out my stitches and told me that I should moisturize and massage my neck to help reduce the puffiness of the scar tissue underneath my surgical site. Also, I need to remember to use sunscreen on it as well. Interesting side note: It takes about 2 years for a scar to heal after surgery.

Dr. Thomas O'Dorisio - Endocrine Specialist,

Me - Freak of Nature,

Dr. Geeta Lal - Endocrine Surgeon

I also finally got to meet the other endocrine doctor, Dr. O'Dorisio. He was so funny! He told Mandy and I that he had on his Jerry Garcia tie and that the name of it was, "Creme de Menthe Hangover". He was so nice and funny! He told me that he was really worried about me that night that I was starting to cramp up due to my hypocalcemia! It's crazy how everyone tells you how worried they were about you after the fact... I guess people don't want to cause alarm in an already scary situation! Anyways... they were great and even let me take a picture with them! Yes... I'm a dork... I know this. :o)


***Soooooo... I go back down on Tuesday, February 24th for my bone density scan (DEXA) and to meet with Dr. O again on the Endocrine Floor.


After my meeting with them, we traveled by elevator to 2RCE where I almost got my arm ripped out of the socket trying to hold the elevator door open... with NO LUCK. I had to quickly reclaim my arm before it was gone forever! So... we went back to where I was admitted the first time to see Perla, my great nurse, but unfortunately she wasn't there. I did get to see Meghan and Robin, some other nurses and aides that helped me as well. They were ALL so fantastic! I miss them!

"Unlock Your Inner Chimp"

Then... we went to the gift shop and bought some fun key chain thingys called "MonKEYS... Unlock Your Inner Chimp". I thought I'd give them to all my close friends, because we all need to unlock our inner chimps! I kept the orange one for myself since Jaren does that same face lately! :o) I was parched at that time and Mandy said, "I have enough change to blow up the world", which was the funniest thing that I heard up to that point! After that we got in line to buy some Sprite or... "Spree-tay" as we called it. Mandy said to the cashier, "We'd like these... unless they are like 4 dollars a piece... then they'd be called Spree-tay..." like Tar-jhay... :o) We were just crazy! Too many laughs!! I'm from... IO-WHAT?! Yeah... I can't even remember what THAT ONE was about! Everything ended in "WHAT?!" We are such nutty fools, I tell ya! That's how I like my friends... nutty and chimplike... just like me! I seriously felt like I was in Jr. High again! I was 30 going on 13!


Sooooo... we leave the hospital and head to Walgreens where I purchase a short sleeve shirt to change into since it was "GORGE" outside! (Yeah... I changed in the car on the way back to Cedar Rapids while Mandy was driving down the highway... ah... the good ol' wild child days were back again... if only for a brief moment...) I got some more calcium, some watercolor kits for the kids and some delish Cashew Roca... oh my gosh... heavenly to my tastebuds!

Bread Pudding... BEFORE...

Bread Pudding... AFTER...

"Look, Ma... I'm a Whirling Dervish!"

We finally get to Cedar Rapids and eat at Biaggi's Italian Ristorante... I don't know if that's the whole name or not... but man... it was DELISH! Mandy ordered Butternut Squash Ravioli with walnuts and I ordered their special, Rigatoni De La Nona which was crispy eggplant and basil on a bed of Rigatoni pasta topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese chunks throughout. YUMTASTIC! WOW! It was excellent! (Too bad I left it in Mandy's car... ARGH!!) Then... for dessert... we split White Chocolate Bread Pudding and I even licked the plate afterwards... (only because we were like the only people in there AND... I just got off the crazy train!) "My food baby is crowning"... yet another hysterical moment of our crazy outing! We are both certifiable... I think... ;o) Our waitress had a good laugh chatting with us and witnessing our crazy antics! As we left... we sang... "The hills are alive.... with the sound of music... Ah... ah... ah... aaaaaaaaahhhh..." while I twirled around in the parking lot. Yes... flashbacks to Jr. High... :o)

Moving right along...

Next stop... Crazy Town... no no no... David's Bridal... *cue cheesy commercial ditty* "You'll Love David's Bridal..." We looked through some dresses, but didn't have much luck as they were all pretty much strapless. Not a modest one among them... BLECH! Don't get me wrong... the ladies there were really wonderful about trying to find dresses that were simple, yet elegant and tried to find some with a tad more coverage. Not everyone wants their goodies hanging out for all the world to see!!! It's kind of frustrating... but anywho... we came home and looked online for some dresses that actually had sleeves on them and found some GORGEOUS options! Yay!!! After that we looked at a jewelry store so Mandy could get some ideas on what to buy for Matt's ring and found a few that she liked! I'd post the photos, but I don't want to spoil the surprise IF she chooses one from that bunch! :o)

Close up of Mandy's GORGEOUS ring from Matt... It's just breathtaking... I LOVE IT!

Anyways... THANK YOU, MANDISA for such a wonderful day of chatting and crazy times! I will truly miss our girly dates when you move!!! We'll have to just plan some girly WEEKENDS in order to hang out now! :o)

I Miss My Chitlins...

I really miss my kiddos, kids, chitlins, children, offspring, wee ones, spawns, heirs, etc.

Every morning Ed gets Jaren ready for Grandma and Grandpa Palmer's house and they watch him while Ed is at work. Oliver and Eden are at school all day and get off of the bus around four o'clock. I get to spend about an hour or two with them every weekday afternoon (unless they go upstairs to play). Ed comes home from work, picks them up and takes them to his parent's house to spend the night there. It's easier for his mom and dad to get them ready and fed at their house every morning. Ed drops them off and picks up Jaren to spend time with us in the evening and sleep in his own crib during the night.

I am exceedingly grateful that we have family (and friends) here that are willing to help us during this time with my recent health issues. I really do miss the kids though and I know they miss me too. I pray that I can heal quickly... that my neck will heal and that my bones will get the calcium they have been yearning for... for so long now. My legs ache... mainly my knees. It really hurts to walk and even change position in my chair. The worst thing is getting into a car... WOW... now THAT is a killer! I don't have to worry much though since I can't drive yet and I pretty much stay in the house all day long. It's getting kind of boring! I should be grateful for this time that I have to just be with myself. Maybe I could read or get some crocheting done. Sometimes all I want to do is sleep, since that's the only time I can get away from the pain. I'm not able to care for Jaren myself at this time because I can't lift over 10 pounds. He's CONSTANTLY motioning for me to pick him up in the evening when Ed is here and I have to tell him that I can't pick him up yet. It will cause too much of a strain on my neck.

It's weird to think about the doctors being in my neck fiddling around in there and then to be sewn up. I took the tape off of my neck and now I can feel the thread they used when they stitched me up. It feels like fishing line! It's driving me nuts everytime I feel it sticking out. I wish I could have kept the tape on it longer. Dr. Lal, my awesome surgeon, said that my wound would stick out a bit, but that it would shrink the more days it had to heal. She said to gently massage that area, but it still hurts quite a bit! I feel better every day, but it still is not up for being massaged I must say! Now... my shoulders on the other hand... could use a long massage!

I know that Eden especially wishes to come back home to stay. Today I overheard her tell Ed that Grandma's beds aren't as soft as hers is! She's been very teary eyed lately. I had to tell her that she had to go back for a while until I healed. I thought that I could manage this week, but I just couldn't. I did well on Monday... getting them ready, fed and off to school, but Tuesday was different. I couldn't even get out of bed because my legs hurt so bad! They got themselves dressed and ready for school. I just pray that I can heal and recover QUICKLY!!! I know that it will all happen in the Lord's time. I just need to be patient. Easier said than done.

T'was the Morn of My Surgery...

Monday, December 22nd, 2008 - HEEL SPUR SURGERY

This morning I was to be at United Medical Park at 6 am for my heel spur surgery scheduled for 7 am... I am NOT a morning person! I was really starting to get nervous as 7 am got closer and closer. I had a cold for about 2 weeks before today and still had a stuffy nose so I wasn't sure if they were going to postpone my surgery for a second time. The nurse talked with the anesthesiologist and he agreed that I would NOT continue with the general anesthesia, but I would have a local and something else to make me sleepy. I was so scared that I would be awake for it... knowing that they were cutting into my foot at the end of the table!!! Luckily I fell asleep and don't remember a thing!!! THANK GOODNESS!

I was out of it for a while and I remember Ed reading a bit of "Pride and Prejudice" aloud by Jane Austen, one of my favorite authors. Soon I felt good enough to leave. I had my boot on and left the building with my crutches as well as support from Ed. We stopped by the video place and rented tons of DVD's since I'd be restricted to the couch and recliner. We also got something to eat on our way home as well.

Ed was wonderful, as always, getting things for me non-stop. The kids were very helpful as well. One day I woke up and Eden actually got a bowl and made me some cereal! I was pleasantly surprised! Then, Oliver chimed in, "I GOT YOU THE SPOON!!!" I said thank you to him as well, of course!

We've been watching lots of movies and I have been slowing healing since. It's amazing how we take so many things for granted when we can't do what we normally do! So many times I've wanted to get up and vacuum and help out around the house! It turned out to be a success.

One More Week...

Well, today I was SUPPOSED to have my heel spur surgery on my left heel, but since I've had a cold for several days and threw up yesterday morning (while Jaren stood laughing at me...) it is now postponed until Monday, the 22nd of this month. I've been dealing with this pain for some time now and it's only been getting worse. To top it off, my back pain has been amped up because of how I've modified my walking due to the pain in my foot. To put it plainly... I'm 30 and I'm falling apart.

I've tryed different exercises, medicine, ice packs, heating pads, prescribed pain meds, new shoes, losing weight, trying to stay off my feet (VERY difficult when I have a small toddler scampering around), orthodics ($400 - NOT covered by my insurance) AND several cortisone shots in my foot. I've also been seeing a chiropractor for my back pain. Still in pain... hence the decision to get surgery.

You'd think that by losing 42 pounds (hey... every pound counts) I'd feel great! Yeah... no such luck. So, my heel kills, my back kills, my knees and sometimes elbows have been giving me problems, not to mention that I just generally don't feel well. I'm going to see a specialist in January for some of those concerns.

I'm starting to get a little anxious because of my AWARENESS ISSUE during my gallbladder surgery after I had Jaren. It's like I could foresee it happening. I had the surgery with no problem, but the next day I went under again because a gallstone was too large to pass through a tube. They had to go in and cut my tube so they could retrieve the stone. ANYWAYS... I was still awake and there were lots of nurses coming in and out of the small room that I was in. The doctor was in and out and I thought, "Man... are they changing shifts or what!? I sure hope the lady gives me enough meds to knock me out for this!" Eerie thought BECAUSE... during that procedure, I woke up (I couldn't see, hear, speak or move) and FELT someone SHOVING this long tube down my throat and I could feel myself gagging. It only lasted for a few seconds, but I remember it vividly!!! HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE!!! I do NOT wish that on ANYONE!!!

Needless to say... I pray most fervently that it doesn't happen again! I will welcome anyone to pray that all goes well for me on Monday!!!