Yesterday and today I met with my surgeon, doctor, a gazillion lab techs, physicians assistants, and nurses. It seemed like every one of them wanted to take my blood pressure, temperature, and oxygen level. I had X-rays, EKGs and ultrasounds. I am happy to say I passed all their tests. That wasn't too surprising though, since all the questions were the same. By the time they finished I think they had drained me of all my blood and pee. (OK, so maybe you didn't really want to know that part. )
What does all this mean? It means that on Monday at 10:30 a.m. I will have surgery to remove my thyroid and some lymph glands. The doctor said the video-guided surgery will probably last about three hours, and if all goes according to plan will be minimally invasive. Somehow I find it hard to believe that any surgery removing an entire gland is "minimally invasive" but, hey. What do I know?
I would like it to mean a smaller scar. Not that I'm vain mind you... at my age I have kind of given up on the whole "looks matter" approach but think I'd like a smaller scar anyway. I asked the doc if he could do a little mini-face lift as long as he was digging around in there. He laughed and said he gets asked that a lot, but - no. Oh well, I tried.
From what I understand, later on I will have Radioactive Iodine to try to kill the rest of the cancer cells. I haven't asked a lot about that yet because it happens later. Right now I am just working on getting past Monday.
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