Doing okay.

Been doing okay. Pretty good given the circumstances. Been enjoying my time with my parents and grandma. I know someday I will look back and really be thankful for this time with them. I have been loving going through old pictures and hearing all the stories about my parents and grandparents that I never knew. But I do miss my husband and kids terribly. But I am talking to them on the phone a few times a day and they are doing well. And Frank comes and gets me for lunch so I am seeing him for lunch dates which has been nice.

The kids had a FUN weekend. Carved pumpkins, bobbed for apples, watched Halloween shows, slept in our bed with Daddy, and went trick or treating. And someone anonymously left them each a gift on the porch this weekend. So if you did that and are reading this, thank you- they loved it!!
I had friends, neighbors and a great sister in law who took lots of pictures of them for me and sent them to me. So I was able to see all the fun things they did. Frank has been taking pictures with my camera but doesn't know how to download them, or else I'd share them here on the blog. I am sure I will have a picture overload when I am able to be home again.

I have a sweet neighbor who has been checking in and had an awesome idea. Her husband is a pilot and when he is gone, her daughter has a Daddy bear. And I loved the idea. So Sunday morning my mom took me to Build a Bear and we were the only ones in there while I picked out three different animals and made a recording for each of them to put in the hand. I had to go to the back of the store to record each message as I was bawling and had to re-record each message a dozen times before I felt like I sounded upbeat enough. But I did it and then we went and got them made. They lady working there asked what the occasion was as she heard my messages to them. I told her I was going through treatment and couldn't be around them and started crying again. My mom was crying too. As we left I laughed because I am pretty sure the girl thought I was going through rehab or something. I'm pretty sure she didn't know it was cancer treatment. I am sure all the build a bear workers were talking about us when we left. My mom brought the animals to them that afternoon and they LOVED them. She said they just kept pushing the arms to hear my voice over and over. She said she had to leave the room at one point because they were making her cry. (Hmmm...wonder who I get my emotions from???) Frank said they haven't left their animals side (Mama Panda, Mama Kitty, and Mama Bear) and all night you can hear my voice through the house. Gavin even wanted to bring his to school. :) I told them on the phone that when they miss me to go to their animals I made them. I think it was a brilliant idea and Frank agrees and said it has helped a lot. So thank you Brittany for the GREAT idea!!

Frank called my Endocrinologist yesterday. He wanted to talk with them since they are my treating doctors and when we left them things were rosy. And we wanted to hear more about the "Significant amount left...kind of a lot" left in my neck. They were floored and very upset. They had three other doctors review my scans and treatment and were very upset that nuclear medicine had told me that. We weren't trying to cause a rumble...but a call has been made to the head of nuclear because they have NEVER heard of an isolation time being that long. They said 10 days is the longest they have ever heard. They are finding out exactly why the month long isolation and said they all need to be on the same page so if restrictions and guidelines have changed that much they can warn and prepare their future patients who have young kids. But to say they were shocked would be an understatement. They had us immediately fax over my restriction letter. She said we'd hear back from them in a few days.

The bright spot of the call was that they said what was left in my neck falls well within the normal range after a complete thyroidectomy. And that them being my doctors are the ones and only ones who should be discussing that and the scans with me. And that they were fairly confident...very confident that this treatment will work FIRST time. They can't guarantee but they felt like they were aggressive with the treatment for the amount that is left. So that was GREAT news to hear.

I do have another prayer request. I know, I know...I am clogging up your prayers...but please pray for my dad tomorrow as he goes in for heart surgery. He has been in AFIB (Atrial Fibrillation) since Fathers day. He had his heart shocked a few weeks before my surgery and it worked for two days and then he went back into AFIB. So tomorrow morning we will head downtown and he will have a 5 hour surgery to hopefully get him out of AFIB for good. It has a 70% chance of success the first time. Praying it works so he can feel good again.

I will post again and let you know when we hear from our doctors and let you know how my Daddy's surgery goes.

Hope you all have a good day!!

And don't forget to get out and VOTE-even if it is raining!!