Getting better, but mother nature isn't cooperating

I am feeling a lot better over the past few days - I would almost venture to say back to myself (maybe with a tinge of anxiety hanging around), but I cannot complain..

I went to the surgeon for my 1 week check-up and I am doing really well.  The best news is that they found no parathyroid in the pathology report - meaning all four parathyroids are still in there!!!   My left vocal cord is a little weak (which can happen), but she expects it will be fine by six weeks.  In the meantime it is a good exercise of how to keep the kids in-line without using a stern or raised voice.  I also have been told my voice is "sexy" because it sounds raspy and rock-star-ish :)  The incision point is really not that bad..It is about an inch long and I really think it will heal well with minimal scarring...

In case you are curious - I will put pics up of the incision point at the bottom - day after surgery and 1.5 weeks after surgery.  The small bandage is still on there - so it looks bigger than it actually is...but I just wanted to share in case anyone is going through something similar and wants to see the whole sha-bang..

Tomorrow I have a check-up with my new endocrinologist (I met him in the ER and he is basically the best Dr. I have met for follow-up and getting me back on my feet quickly - he even calls on weekends to check on me).  I am hoping my calcium levels are good, but I assume they are because I feel good..

So health-wise I am getting better...

BUT

Mother nature on the other hand decided to throw a spanner in the works and took down a very large part of a tree in our front yards, which partially pulled out the power lines to our house (leaving electricity surging into our house, but not able to get back out), and preceded to land on our car.   Then two surge protectors started melting and burning (and it looked like a fire was starting in my daughter's room)... and the power lines were dangling across our street in the pouring rain.

I first grabbed the brightest red chair and threw it in the middle of the street so no one would drive through the power lines (still live), I hit the fire button on our alarm and called 911.

The first things I grabbed when running out of the house?  My dog, engagement and wedding ring, ring from my babies, My calcium pills and water.   My mom remembered her car keys and we sat and waited what felt like an eternity for the fire department (it was only at most 5 minutes).   They were great - looked through the house and we eventually found two surge protectors - one burnt to a crisp the other started.

I remember sitting thinking "Really, God, REALLY?!?"..but with some time and hindsight we were really lucky:

1) No one was hurt
2) We were home - probably stopped my house from catching on fire
3) The kids weren't home and caught up in a pretty stressful situation
4) Our car, house, etc received minimal damage
5) Fire Department, Electrician, Power company and cable company all came in a VERY timely matter.  We had power within 6 hours - and cable the next morning.  Note: I will have to write thank-you letters
6) We actually got to use our generator (our very practical gift to each other for last year's anniversary)
7) Less raking - I know seems petty, but, hey - you have to look on the bright side.
8) We know better now about surge protectors, etc - to keep our house safe in the future.

Ending on a good note: today (besides hearing a chainsaw to cut-up our tree out front) it feels like a normal day...I feel good, the weather has cooled down..and I feel like I am one step closer to getting back to myself... It is almost like it never happened...

Here are the images of post-op and 1.5 weeks later... I really don't feel like it is too bad... curious to see how it looks when the bandage falls off:

Day After Surgery

1.5 weeks after surgery

Surgery and Complications

As if I should have expected anything different (considering I was the 1% of people allergic to the meds for Graves), I also had complications from surgery...

The surgery itself went well.  I remember the surgical staff in good spirits, the anesthesia being amazing and waking up feeling groggy, but OK.  My incision is actually pretty small..maybe an inch and the healing of the incision has been great..and has very little pain

My throat hurt (from the breathing tube), and my voice is still raspy (think Stevie Nicks).. I have trouble saying EE and AY...and I can't use a stern or loud deep voice "Kaya, Come" sounds very timid...but I am hoping that is OK longterm (the Surgeon is checking my vocal cords on Monday, but says they stayed in-tact during the surgery).

My PTH (Parathyroid hormone) levels dropped (they were either stunned or damaged during the surgery) and they control the calcium to your body, so they put me on calcium supplements and Vitamin D3 (simulates the parathyroid hormone), watched my levels, and I was discharged on Tuesday afternoon.

Background:  Calcium is the most important mineral to your body - it controls your muscles - your heart is a muscle and if calcium is low, your heart stops working properly...

I was excited to be home and see the kids, but by Wednesday morning, I was feeling pretty bad, tingling, disoriented...kind of in a cloud (all signs of low calcium).  I called my doc and they said to go to the ER to get my blood checked for calcium levels.  After a longtime in the ER (and a few IVs of Calcium) I got admitted.  They had to draw my blood every 4 hours, I had a few EKGs, I had patches all over me to monitor my heart rate and blood flow.  Basically I was scared to death.  I cried alot (anxiety is brought on by low calcium levels, too - Woo hoo [insert sarcastic tone]).

I had some more calcium IVs in the hospital along with Magnesium, a lot of back and forth with Dr's and nurses and eventually went on a liquid form of calcium for optimal absorption.  The hospital stay was not fun, I had a bad roommate, a good roommate, and then a room to myself (ahhh).  I had med students checking me out because I was a good sample case (that isn't common to see) and they were all interested to see how things were going with me.  (I had a good party trick where you tap the side of my face and my lip twitched, fun).

I was in the hospital from Wednesday - Friday (and almost had to stay another night because they didn't give me a dose of calcium correctly for 12 hours because the computer said they couldn't -ughh).  Basically, there were a lot of ups and downs and finally they released me on Friday.

Friday night I had anxiety from 11:30 - 6 at home ..I think this was really just my mind scared about my heart without the "security" of the hospital.  I called my endo and she said "you have been through a lot - you had graves, surgery, your hormones are all over the place - you may just be anxious because of what you are going through..'' I agree with her..

Once I took a nap (and a xanax) I felt much better.  I had dinner (my birthday dinner), played with the kids and have a glimpse at feeling better.  Let's hope this path continues :)

What has been great, though is the support of my family and friends. My Mom is still here with me and  my Dad and Sis came to visit, plus all the Facebook posts really made me feel good.  My husband has been amazing, too.  Needless to say I am feeling the love and that definitely helps.

There is still a journey for me to getting to 100%, but I have to remember to have patience....

Tomorrow's the big day...

I feel like I am in denial that surgery is tomorrow.  I have no idea how I will feel after the surgery..but I do know I am nervous about going through with it tomorrow.  I just keep trying to forget that it is happening, so that I calm my nerves.  I still think it is the best decision for me....

I keep hearing about stories of people that have gone through this and the recovery was easier than expected.  I hope I am in the boat too..

Wish me luck and keep me in your thoughts...