6 months later....

Sorry for those who havent heard from me in a LONG TIME... over the last few months was adjusting back to work, then making up for lost time, then started the scanning process all over and well here we are...

To back up...

When i left u guys last- i had right vocal chord paralysis post op from my total thyroidectomy (removal of thyroid gland) as well as 22 positive lymph nodes.  I also had a really high dose of Radioactive Iodine in hopes of ablating (destroying) any left over microscopic tissue... in order to resume working i had a vocal chord injection, using similar material they use to fill lips n wrinkles to physically move the vocal cord over.  (its called Radiesse voice if i remember)... that injection lasted about a month, then the coughing , breathyness and difficulty doing my job ensued.  So in Aug i had injection #2.  That one made my voice almost perfect for bout 2.5 weeks. I was in bliss.  Didnt feel broken.  Then i started coughing a lot.  When they did injection #2 the ENT (ear nose throat doc) said the top of the vocal chords were making contact but the bottoms were not =( so he aimed hard to get to the back of the chord to move it into a better position

see pic below
  

the process looked like this

The needle is placed just to the side of the paralyzed vocal cord.

With injection of a biologically compatible substance, the vocal cord is pushed to the midline.

Those injections are very uncomfortable i wont lie, but they gave me better quality of life and i was able to do my job with less stress as i could be heard and function without sounding like i had the plague


SO what happened between Aug and now??

First in September I had my first 6 mo post op ultrasound.  They will scan me every 6 months to follow the cancer persistence or recurrence until i have 2 or 3 that are clean... Mine was evil looking- had 2 places that they were concerned about.  Before u say it - the surgeon didnt miss anything- he couldnt see it... Turns out there was a lymph node hiding right inbetween my carotid artery and internal jugular vein (upper middle neck) as well as another one right under my clavicle in between my subclavian artery and vein.  Well these are very trickly places to get to with a needle to biopsy.  After the ultrasound a week or so later i had another radioactive iodine whole body scan.  THANK GOD they did NOT have to take away my medicine... I love synthroid... think everyone would be a little happier on doses of it HEHEHE but i digress

So the whole body scan said i was CURED... YEA ... but wait... hmmm my ultrasound still showed concerning nodes ... and my blood still had an elevated tumor marker.  Thyroglobulin antibody (my body trying to kill the cancer)... My level pre op was like 36 or so came down to 13 post op day 1 then went back up to 23 or so around my radioactive treatment then stabalized around 11... none of that is 0 which is what i needed.  SO they sent me for fine needle biopsy again...

HOWEVER they couldnt do that- the doc tried but those two spots were in such a BAD BAD dangerous place that it wasnt a good idea to try... SO

BACK TO THE OR I WENT... on OCTOBER 17th 2012...

my second operation was a modified radical neck dissection with lymphadenectomy (in other words they are going hunting for ANY lymph nodes in the right side of my neck)... This was for a cure (hopefully)... take out those two bad spots and any others that may grow in future and i ll be DONE...

as i was getting ready for that the oncology surgeon offered me a way to try to improve my voice as i do struggle with it daily... NERVE GRAFTING... =)

Basically they take a motor nerve from my leg ( those are nerves that makes muscles move) and implant it in my neck much like u connect two cables that are freyed... Why u ask would they do this?  Cause this time he was going to sever and remove a good chunk of my recurrent laryngeal nerve... so if i had hopes that it would heal after Oct 17th... NO CHANCE...
                      Basically this pic helps explain it except the nerve they took from me was in my thigh =)
                                               


I saw a Plastics Hand Surgeon from UMH (yes plastics and yes hands... why cause they are SOOOOOO GOOOD at attaching and fixing tiny nerves in the hand which makes them a specialist at nerve grafting which is what i need... there isnt really a doctor that ONLY does voice nerve grafting) anyhew

He said i was a great canidate (young, non smoker and 6 mo out post op)... So i signed the consent praying insurance would cover it... a few days later got the notice that it was PAID IN FULL ... =)

March 1st i went into the OR at 745am and i woke up at round 5pm... =(

first thing i saw was my BACK HURT LIKE HELL... it burned so bad my instinct was to raise up but when i tried to move my arm--- it wouldnt really move... could barely lift it... turns out i had been on that table bout 2-3 hrs longer than i should have and it was a long surgery to begin with.  I am a heavy lady and unlike everyone else when my arm and or back falls asleep my body couldnt wake me up to tell me to move off it.

My skin was numb from my right ear down most of the way to my left breast.  My arm was numb from my chest half way down to my elbow.  My back was numb from between my shoulder blades about 4-6 inches down all the way across.  My back burned so bad hurt WAY WAY more than anything else.  Turns out i had this narly rash.

When i woke up the next day started to look more like this ...

Because i couldnt walk, move much or stand and i was SOOO WEAK i stayed 2 days in the hosp.  I was discharged with pain meds and the recovery process started... I had a little over a foot long incision in my right thigh where they went after the motor nerve, surgeon put about 4.5 cm spliced into what was left of my recurrent laryngeal nerve.  Good news is i felt like i had a louder voice almost immed post op.  For those that dont know- it takes MONTHS before i should see results... dont know why i was  and continue to be louder than b4 and my voice recovers faster... BUT I LL TAKE IT =)  and be THANKFUL...

ok this is long enough stay tuned to find out how AWESOME HYPERTHYROIDISM IS... =)

Part 2 To Be Continued...

Much love and many blessings to you all =) and thank you as always for the happy thoughts prayers and to those who have to make up for my absence at work... this has not been an easy road for anyone! and without great amazing people moving in my life i dont know where i d be =)