I'm HOT!!!!!

And I mean that in the most literal sense. When they released me from the hospital this afternoon, I was radiating at about 4 mrads/hour. And that was from about 3 feet away. I'm sure once I left VA (land of the straight and the fat) and I returned to the gayborhood, I probably wasn't hot in any sense of the word. Well that's not technically true. I'm still technically supposed to stay away from people and avoid close contact for another day or two, which is fine. I think I can handle some more quality me time, as long as it's on my terms!

So the bubble room at the VHC wasn't bad at all. On the eighth floor I had a great view of the local suburban neighborhood with a lot of trees in the midst of their fall folliage, so it was quite pretty. And I had the Ballston skyline in the distance. But . . . . it was still a room I was stuck in for over 48 hours.

Let's see, I didn't get the insurance fiasco settled until 30 minutes before I was supposed to be admitted. So I rushed to the hospital and was shown up to the room. In addition to the standard multipurpose/position bed, there was also a great little built in couch next to the window and I envisioned many hours curled up there with my book reading and looking up to take in the amazing scenery. But not so much. No sooner do I arrive than the nurse shows up with a big roll or paper. To cover anything I might touch. Or walk on. So there was a paper path on the floor. Paper covering the desk, the sink area, even covering the toilet seat. Nice. But not on the couch. So no sitting on the couch for me. That's what the bed was for. Anyways, around 2PM, the Dr. shows up carrying what looks like an old ammo cartridge case from my days in the Navy. Inside is another Tungsten feberge egg which holds the radioactive iodine pills. I pop those bad boys, he measures me (I think initially I'm at 42mrads/hours) and then promptly leaves me to my own devices.

Now the good thing is that on Monday I did manage to catch the Project Runway Marathon for season 3, which is good because I missed some of those early shows. So I managed to pass my time that way. Oh, and I read the 8 Time magazines I had brought with me. And while it's easy to bitch about hospital food, I won't. But let me tell, I could do so VERY EASILY!! And as usual, I found it hard to sleep in the hospital. Not because of a noisy roommate, but because my bed wouldn't shut up! It has that air movement thing going on where it shifts air to different parts of the bed for those who are really infirmed and can't get up. Not my problem because between all of the water and tea I'm drinking, I'm up using the bathroom every 30 minutes. I'm really doing my best to flush the radiation from my system. Anyways, as I lay down, about every 5 minutes or so, some motor kicks on to inflate one section of the bed and deflate another. Oh, by the way I still have the perma headache and perma sore throat. And the sore throat sucks really bad because I've been sucking on lemon drops all day to help my salivary glands. So it's not a good night for me.

Day 2 was more of the same. Except it was a marathon of Real Housewives of Orange County? Oh please some one shoot me now. So I started to read the book my Dad gave me about the Incas. He was raving about it and while it's not really my thing I said I would read it. And it's not really my thing. So I would read a chapter, and then surf the TV for a bit. Oh, speaking of surfing. I love the little gizmo that controls the lights for the room, controls the volume, and calls the nurse. But . . . it only lets you change channels going up! Not down! So if you missed something, you had to go through the whole dial to get back to it. Nice. Oh, and you still have to get out of bed to turn the TV off. Hello people, what are you thinking? Anyways, Day 2 didn't really start to suck until about 4 PM. I had a cute little intern come in to measure my radiation. And unfortunately there are no quotation marks for that. He took the geiger counter, stood about 3 feet away and measured how much radition I was giving off. No ring and there was something about the hair that made me suspect he was family, but anyways. After he left, I sort of had a mini-breakdown. Having the perma-headache and sore throat were getting to me. And I was tired and crabby. And dear lord Tuesday night is just a wasteland on TV. I got a new nurse at night and I begged her to turn the bed off and she's like, "I can't. It doesn't turn off." And then I go, well what happens if I unplug it from the wall, and she looks at me and goes, well then you wont' be able to raise the bed into the sitting position. Okay, thank you dear. You're been a peach. Just some more ice water will be fine and then I won't trouble you anymore. And of course once I got my ice water (for my Crystal Light Raspberry Ice Tea of course), I promptly lowered the bed to horizontal, unplugged it, and then settled into a fairly decent night's sleep with only 4-5 runs to the bathroom. Oh, since I'm excreting most of the radiation (yes I know, TMI, but deal with it), they want me to sit down to use the bathroom (less spray-age) and to flush 3 times. There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home.

Day 3. I woke up fairly early when I could hear them yelling at a deaf patient down the hall. Again, for all of my bitching (and I am SO good at it), I know I didn't have it bad at all. A lot of the folks in the oncology wing are on hard core chemo and not happy at all. All my schtick about suffering in isolation is nothing compared with what they have to deal with. Anyways, after determining that Today on NBC blows now, I returned to VH1 and apparently it's having some weird Pink flashback moments. So when Pink's new album came out, I was all into "Dear Mr. President." Which is like from April 06. Then they started to play "U and Ur Hand" and of course I had to buy the dance remix to that last summer. And then there was "Who Knew". Again, another Perfectbeat.com purchase in the fall of 2006. Again, LAST YEAR. Then all of a sudden VH1 started to play "U & Ur Hand" earlier this summer, again. And then "Who Knew", again. Its was like a weird De Ja Vouz. And then the other morning I saw a different version of "Dear Mr. President." So odd. Anyways, I sort of read about the Incas until I realized that another Project Runway Marathon was on today! Thank you Bravo! So I spent the day watching that and looking at the clock to see if the real Dr. or intern Dr. McDreamy would come to release me. Well around 2PM, intern Dr. McDreamy came by and measured me again. And I was safe to escape!! They actually got me my discharge papers fairly quickly and I was out of there. Out of there so quickly that they didn't get a chance to cut off my hospital bracelet. Oh well.

Needless to say I'm THRILLED to be home. I start the new thyroid drug replacement, synthroid, tomorrow. Which I'm hoping will help stop the head aches, and also give me some energy. When I get worn out walking to the Soviet Safeway (maybe 7 blocks away), you know that's sad. And I SO need to start the diet. But more on that later.

This Bubble Boy is FREE!

No Super Powers . . . . Yet!

So I took my first dose of radiation on Tuesday. It was so cute, the pill came in it's own little steel Fabergé egg. This is just the small dose to tag any remaining thyroid tissue in my body. I was hoping that exposure to the radiation would give me some sort of super powers, but so far nothing. It's probably because it's just your normal everyday radiation, not some freaky nuclear, solar, interstellar radiation. I'm just not that lucky.

Actually, I've got the anti-super powers. I'll be doing okay, and then bam, I'm all tired and crap. I definitely felt bad on Monday. Plus having a sore throat didn't help. Tuesday I felt better, but the long trip to Langley on Wednesday for a meeting was not a good idea. I was okay until about 11AM and then it hit me. And in addition to being really tired, it's like my tongue starts to swell up so in addition to having a hard time talking, I keep biting it. Wow, will the fun never stop? I was a zombie the whole drive back. I'm just glad I wasn't driving.

Still had a sore throat and felt crappy, so I worked from home and drank lots of hot lemon echinacea tea. And when I drink hot tea, you know I'm sick. Then this afternoon I trekked back to the hostpital for the full body scans. Talk about fun. Lay there and don't move for over an hour as they take different "pictures" of me. I wasn't sure how I could be "fierce!" if they didn't want me to move. So I just sort of zoned out for a bit. The technician did tell me that there is some residual thryoid tissue in my neck area and that the radiologist will look at all of the pics and then tell my Dr. I'll give him a call tomorrow.

So what does all of this mean. It means I get to spend a couple of fun days in a lead lined room in the hospital next week. They will give me the super big dose and that will hopefully kill all of the remaining thyroid tissue (cancerous or not) remaining in my body. And hopefully I'll be released on Wednesday with instructions to avoid people until my body stops glowing. So to speak. So I should have a quiet Thanksgiving next week. Which is good because then my life starts to ramp up again. I'm really too busy to be sick.

Oh, thanks to K in Dallas for some kick ass photos from PV. Enjoy the sunsets!

Are You Kidding Me?

I just had surgery to remove a cancerous thyroid and I get a frakkin cold? Are you kidding me? Shouldn't I get a "bye" for all seasonal colds for atleast the next two years? Agh this sucks!

Speaking of sucking, poor Britany. Yikes that was painful. But not as painful as that kid. And no I'm not going to link to that attention whore.

So I joined the YMCA. It's actually kind of scary, but I just use it for the pool. I went swimming on Sunday. It's been years since I've done laps and it felt good. Though it did make my neck feel freaky. When I stretch my neck, I can definitely feel my scar. It's weird. Anyways one of my goals is to swim 3 times a week so I can get in shape and then maybe join DC Aquatics after Christmas. Plus I think I'd like to try to do the Bay Bridge Swim. I've got classmates who do it and I'd like to give it a try. Hey, it's something to train for, a goal.

I'm throwing a little "Life On the T List" party tomorrow evening. It should be fun. I think there may be a potential there, but we'll see. I'll be mixing up some killer Key West Lemonades with Absolut Ruby Red. Sooooooooo yummy. So we should have a good buzz before Kathy Griffin's concert. And I am so stoked to see her, between Britany, the Emmy's, and OJ, I have a feeling I may get a cramp from laughing! Should be good.

Speaking of the Emmy's, I saw the bit between Raine Wilson and Kanye West and you know what, I really like Kanye's new song.

Let's get lost tonight,
You can be my black Kate Moss tonight!

Scars

So here was the first pic of the scar. It's with the surgical tape still on it. Please don't mind the weak go-tee I'm trying to grow.



They removed the surgical tape today and discovered that they failed to remove one of the staples. Nice. Anyways, here's a clearer pic.


So . . . . what's the story behind the scar? Thyroid cancer is so boring. So I'm thinking:

1. A psycho ex-boyfriend cracked out on meth went postal and pulled a knife on me.
2. I was practicing my parkour and misjudged a ledge.
3. I was ambushed in Hong Kong by a Chinese assassin as I was trying to leave the country with the top secret plans to break the Chinese government's internet restrictions and open China up to the democratic forces of the global information grid!

So what do you think?

That Tingling Feeling!

So I woke up Saturday AM feeling a bit better. Another decent night of sleep worked wonders for me. But as I started to dig through my work emails, I noticed a strange tingling feeling on my head and hands. It felt kind of trippy and kind of cool. I actually kind of liked it, except for the fact that it's not a good thing.

So apparently when they take the thyroid out, there are little glands call parathyroids in that same area that can become disturbed by the operation. They regulate the calcium level in your body but if they become disturbed, they can go on the blink. And while I was taking a calcium pill as part of the meds I'm on, it wasn't enough. So I call the surgeon on call and was finally told to go back to WHC, to the ER, to have a calcium test done.

So I drive there. And by this time, my whole body is feeling tingly. My experience at the WHC ER room, not so much. Oh, I got into the ER pretty quickly, but I was probably one of the least sick people there, so I didn't get that much attention. They finally did the blood test and my calcium level was dangerously low. So they stuck in an IV in my and pumped me full of calcium. In talking with the attending on duty (senior Dr?), I think there was a mistake about the amount of calcium pills I'm supposed to take. It should be 3 pills, 3 times a day, not 1 pill, 3 times a day. Oops. Well that's what it said on the prescription.

Anyways, the ER room on a Saturday afternoon was really kind of sad and I started to get claustrophobic and really wanted to leave. I feel bad for all of the people there. It just wasn't good. When I was finally release, as I walked through the ER lobby, the DC SWAT team was there. Nice.

I've got a friend from out of town in this weekend so we've been hanging out. Dinner and DVDs since I'm not really up for anything else. But it's all been good.

Anyways, speaking of tingling. This gives me that tingling feeling as well but in a good way. Love Annie. Just luv her!

I'm Making Jello!!

Lime green jello to be specific.

Why you might ask? Because it was actually the best thing I ate at the hospital and it was so good, and so easy to swallow, and since I hadn't had jello in forever I thought I would make some.

The surgery was okay. I remember going into the operating room, moving to the operating table, and then the oxygen mask being put on and then I was somewhere else, after the surgery. I remember talking with SuperLawyer and then being in my hospital room. It's all kind of sketchy now. Apparently it went as planned. They also took some of my lymph-nodes since they were swollen. I'll get the pathology report next week and then we'll have to figure out a game plan based on that.

My neck hurts, as does my throat. And I've got a great scar on my neck, currently hidden by some suture tape. Thank goodness for the percacet.

My overnight in the hospital was not good. I don't sleep well on my back. And the poor gentleman who I shared a room with was not in good shape at all. He had a couple of episodes over the course of the night that required many nurses and doctors. So lots of drama. Which means little sleep. Around 530AM, one of the random doctors came to remove the staples from my neck. I'm bummed because I wanted a photo of that, but oh well.

I can't tell you how happy I was to get home and sleep in my own bed. With the percacet I can actually sleep on my side with just a little bit of pain, so that's nice.

I actually walked down to the Safeway to get the Jello this afternoon, but that I think that was pushing it. I'm still pretty weak and the heat was bad. I didn't feel to good by the time I got back to my place. But it's nice and cool in here and I'm looking forward to jello for dessert tonight!