Day 31 post neck dissection
I started telling you about my saga and figured a one-month update was in order.
Two weeks ago I was afraid things weren't ever going to improve. My neck was just so grossly swollen. I suspect most recovering patients experience this kind of doubt. At Day 31, it is as if the heavy lifting is done and now someone just has to tidy up the place. What a relief!
I can drive! I can swivel my head. Each day brings less stiffness and more ease of movement. My right shoulder is still a bit weird. There is still some odd nerve sensation, like a weakness, when I raise my arm straight out to my side but it is receding. I still have a little swelling on the right side under my jaw. The feeling there and at my ear lobe is beginning to return. There is some numbness as wearing a scarf still feels really odd. My scars are looking bumpy but less red.
Now the focus is shifting from surgery to treatment. Here is where personal stamina and grit come into play. Sure, you made it over the surgery hurdle but it is not yet time to party! Just when I thought I felt human, we get to embark on a stretch of of hypothyroidism and an odd restricted diet. We are going to schedule radioactive iodine therapy or ablation which uses radioactive iodine, Sodium Iodide (I131), to kill any remaining cancer cells. The clincher is that for this to be effective, high levels of TSH need to be produced in your body. So you stop taking your thyroid medicine and your pituitary goes into overdrive cranking out the TSH. This makes you feel like crap, but you are OK with that as you are anxious to kill any pesky, lurking cancer cells. And the thinking is that the low iodine diet may help get the radioactive iodine into the cancer cells.
I have reached textbook hypothyroidism. My face is puffy. Thinking feels like pulling taffy out of a freezer. Short term memory is ...what was I saying? All systems just kind of slow down or go a bit off-line. I am slow to wake up and never really get going, sort of like wading through molasses all day. My thermostat is broken. I am always freezing and can't get warm. That kind of thing. Of course, this is just until I take my radioactive pills and then I can start up the thyroid meds again. The diet is fine-- very healthy as it largely whole grains and fruits and vegetables. Having gone practically vegan, we really miss tofu and soy products. You can't have anything made with salt, like ketchup, or any processed foods, or eat out anywhere. So, you are cooking all the time, from scratch. Watching Dagwood baking bread and making almond milk is exhausting!
In the large scheme of things, this is a minor inconvenience on the road to remission. But, truth is, it is hard to be gracious when just as you start to feel better, you have to feel bad again. I don't want to complain because I am committed to killing any cancer cells. But the timing sucks, you know?
Next update-- How to kill time in radioactive quarantine.
