More fun with words: the surgery today officially was to "complete total thyroidectomy". Which makes sense - I suppose they could have described it as having a left lobe thyroidectomy, but really that was all the thyroid I had left.
~~~
Coming out of the anesthesia was a little harder this time. I was really warm and sweaty, and after I got up for the first time a little nauseous as well. Apparently I looked really grey for a bit too. They got me a lunch of clear liquids but I didn't finish very much of it. I've spent the last few hours moving in and out of napping - the surgery being two hours earlier was nice in some ways, but I got a lot less sleep last night which probably didn't help.
I am feeling fully awake for the first time since going under which is nice. I have a roomate who looks as though she'll be spending the night too. J is once again being awesome (he has suggested that I begin a daily list of his awesomeness to share with everyone - heh).
I've already spoken to Dr. Naruns, he did remove the rest of my thyroid and a few lymph nodes. I asked him how the incision had looked before he had to cut back in - doing a brief post-op discussion from last week to make sure that I had been taking care of myself properly and hadn't strained anything. It looked really good - he said he felt bad about having to cut back in because after the second time the scar will likely not be quite as pretty. Ah well. At least I know I wasn't pushing anything with my recovery and know better what to expect this time.
~~~
I've been causing, and experiencing, a lot of deja vu today. The same admin person checked me in, and the same nurse took my history (well, double checked that nothing had changed in a week). I had the same anesthesiologist. It's been interesting - most of them don't know why I'm back, only that I am. So I've told the story a few times today, which still feels odd. Honestly I don't feel like I should be able to claim to have cancer given how good the bad news has been. Though I suppose two surgeries in eight days gets me some sympathy all on its own.
Some things are different though. This time the jello is green.
~~~
I feel like I should get a specific icon for talking about this - but this girl feels right: looking at herself, hiding her neck, wondering what comes next.
J sounds like a total keeper. That's so awesome that he's a really good care giver. Living with someone who isn't BLOWS. Trust me, I know.
Feel better soon!
J has been astonishing through all of this, and I am completely grateful for that. And yeah, this has cemented the part where I don't ever plan to let him go.
All this drama came and went as quickly as the rain did this week. I'm glad that you're on the way to a healthy recovery and will be back on the jogging marathons soon. I'm also grateful to J for his sticking by your side. I hope that you get lots of rest, fun, and will never have to hear that particular big word again.