Howdy!
First off I need to apologize for not updating everyone sooner on what was going on, so here is my attempt to catch you up on my surgery.
Jim, the kids & I headed up to Utah County on Monday the 19th of July since Jim had Monday's and Tuesday's off we figured we would head up a little early to visit and to have some fun with the kids and family before my surgery.
First off it was really nice to have Jim with me while I underwent the surgery. I went in on Wednesday to the surgeon's to do my pre-op stuff they numbed my throat and stuck this lovely little scope down my throat to inspect my vocal cords. As many of you know I am not the quiet type so it was nice news to hear that they looked good from the inside. From there I headed over to the UVRMC to do all my pre-op blood work and admitting stuff for Thursday. They scheduled for me to be there at 7am Thursday morning.
We were able to get the kids all taken care of Patrick and CJ went with Evelyn, Connor went with will and Aubrey went to Grandma and Grampa Tanner's house. Darrien just kind of hung out with different friends around Mom & Dad's house.
Thursday morning Jim and I headed to the hospital of course he had to tease me about the lovely cap I had to wear and the cute (really ugly) slipper socks the hospital gave me. He was able to go with me into the pre-op room until they whisked me off to surgery. I vaguely remember them pushing me down the hall and into the surgery room. All I can remember was that I wanted to see how long I could count before I was out cold. Needless to say I never even got to 1!!!! LOL.
The surgery was only supposed to take about an hour 1/2 and ended up on taking about 3 1/2....My thyroid had grown up to my ear and around other organs so Dr. Riddle had to do a ton of digging to get it out. The bad news was that they were only able to save 2 of my parathyroids :(. Parathyroids produce calcium and potassium so that is kind of a bummer to have lost all but 2 and the 2 they saved were severely damaged :(.
The hospital stay was only supposed to be 1 day well....lucky me my calcium wouldn't stay normal so I ended up in the hospital until Saturday :(. Jim had to go home on Friday night because he had to be back at work on Saturday so Mom stayed by my side while Jim was gone. Mom and Dad came and got me from the hospital on Saturday. It was nice to be out of the hospital, so Mom and I went to Macey's for a little shopping. Mom walked around and I headed off in the little electric shopping cart :) I didn't have enough energy to walk around but it was nice to get out.
The next morning (Sunday) I woke up to feeling like I had a stroke. My hands were all crabbed up and my face, hands, feet were numb. My lips wouldn't move it was just scary. Mom called the Dr. and he told us to head to the hospital and get my blood drawn and wait for the results. I could have gone to American Fork to get the blood drawn but Mom had a feeling I would end back up in the hospital so we went back to UVRMC. They drew my blood and Mom and I waited for the results. The lab tech came out and told us that I needed to be admitted :( Bummer....I ended up in the hospital until Wednesday when they allowed me to go back to Mom's house but I couldn't go home because of the concern of the calcium dropping again. They have me on boat loads of calcium every day and also a supplement to help my body retain the calcium. So far I have been on the very low side of calcium so they are continuing to monitor it.
On Sunday night Jim came up and stayed with me at the hospital until Tuesday when he had to head back home for work. Now here is the GREAT news. Dr. Riddle came in to visit us on Monday and brought the pathology report with him.....IT ISN'T CANCER!!!! It was an auto immune disease called Hoshimotos Disease. Basically what happens is your immune system attacks an organ and in this case my thyroid. I swear there was a divine hand in this...How you could be diagnosed with cancer and come out with something different....I am certain Heavenly Father had his hand in all of this.
Jim normally gets Monday's and Tuesday's off so the plan was for him to come pick me up on Monday....Well he was out on a fire so I was stuck up at Mom's house...Mom and Dad were awesome during our stay up there. It was fun to hang out with Mom we went and bought some fabric for the boys beds. We are planning on decorating there room in an Americana type theme. So Mom and I going to make some patchwork quilts for the boys. I think it will be fun once I get some energy back.
The next time I heard from Jim was him saying he probably at best could be home/able to come get me on the 9th or 10th. I was getting very home sick and the kids were too they kept saying I want to go home to Monticello. All though we all had a blast during our stay we were ready to go home. Mom was so wonderful she could see how home sick me and the kids were so she took Thursday off the 5th and drove all of us home. It was nice to be home but the interesting part was then I was bored LOL. There wasn't here to go and this to do and family and friends coming over it was completely dead. But it was good I was able to get the house in order and catch up on some things I hadn't been able to get to.
Now I need to thank so many people for all of their help during our visit. First Mom and Dad they are truly amazing and there is know way I could have done it without them. Grams Tanner thanks so much for taking Aubrey & Darrien they really had a great time with you guys and also for letting us spend the night and hang out with you guys I really enjoyed it. Jen thanks for taking my dumb dog hehehe JoJo had a blast and I know Alexis had fun walking him on the leash around the house. Jenny & Mike, thanks for taking Darrien and for having fireworks at your house it was so much fun. Laurie and Brandon thanks for taking Aubrey and Connor I know how much Aubs loves you and she had so much fun seeing your new house, it was also nice for Connor to be able to spend time with you guys and hang out with Braydon, he doesn't get to do that a lot so he really had a good time. My Dad Reg and step mom Natalie also took Connor for a sleep over one night and took Darrien to the Lehi Rodeo they both had so much fun! I am sure I missed someone and I apologize...clearly I need to go take a nap after writing this novel :). Really I can't say thank you enough to all of you who helped during the surgery, came and visited, brought flowers and called to check in. All of your support and love is what helped me get thru this.
I hope this reaches all of you doing well. We miss and Love you ALL TONS!!
Take Care,
Nat
2 years ago
