A moment arrives, after a long bout of illness or recovery, where you wake up and feel "well" again. Not suddenly well, but gradually, only you'll realize it all in one instance. This week marks the week where I feel well again.
On Monday, I saw my endocrinologist, Dr. A. Already the tumor markers in my blood are falling back, a great indicator of surgery success and overall health. And while my medication levels are slightly off, they are not alarmingly off. I may need to slightly increase the amount of hormone replacement I take, but we'll cross that bridge in November. As for an ablative dose of radioactive iodine, Dr. A says she's not interested in giving it to me right now. We will reserve that magic bullet for inoperable recurrence, should it happen in the future.
Other than a chuck on the shoulder and an Rx for a blood redraw in a few months, I won't have to go back until I have a repeat ultrasound study ... in March 2010.
I am elated by the news. It's the closest thing to a "You're all cured!" diagnosis I can get. I can take off the boxing gloves for a few rounds.
Tonight, Linda and I went to an advanced screening of the Drew Barrymore directorial debut film, "WHIP IT!" It's a coming of age, charming story that just happens to feature flat track roller derby racing. Seattle is lucky enough to have its own derby league, The Rat City Rollergirls, and they were out in droves at the show tonight.
I am attracted to roller derby. I like the sexy, yet tough atmosphere. I admire women being athletic, yet feminine. I love the music, costumes, and team atmosphere. But when I strap roller skates to my feet, bad things happen. I flail and fall. And with my 5x-fused spine, propensity to tip backwards, and fragile bone structure, I am not a good candidate for this sport; I'm only a good candidate for traction and casts. You have to be very tough to skate derby style.
The other day, my company's CFO stopped by my cube to see how I was feeling. His 15-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with papillary thyroid carcinoma and had her own thyroid removed, just a week after I'd gone in for my revision surgery. He had a lot of questions about what to expect and I said the low iodine diet and radiation treatments were the worst part. After I was well and returned to work, I made a bound copy of the Thyroid Cancer Network's low iodine cookbook to help her during this tough time.
She's just now going off her meds and starting the diet. My CFO says she has meltdowns on a regular basis and asked what it was like for me. I've had radiation three times. I told him how I would get so tired I would have to hold my own arm up with my other hand as I brushed my teeth. The fatigue was so great, I could not raise an arm for two sustained minutes. He looked at me, gave me a knuckle punch and said, "Girl, I have a lot of respect for how tough you are."
I may not be tough enough for flat track derby, but I am tough enough, in my own way.
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