Post-Op appointment

Well, I went to my post-op appointment on Friday. Everything was good or as to be expected. I got a 5 or 6 page document about all the lymph nodes they took out. They took 42 and 15 came back positive for the “disease”. One thing the thyroid nurse explained to me was that the margins were clear of the disease… which is really good. So that made me feel good. I guess my cancer is considered conventional, nothing atypical about it. I’m thinking that’s also a good thing.

However, my surgeon, Dr. Shindo, was very different in this appointment than all the other ones. She actually checked her watch! I was kind of surprised, but it was a 15 min. appointment and I got held up at the blood draw place so I was 2-3 min. late. It was strange, but I think that was my last appointment with her. I am taking less calcium (a.k.a. Tums) and am off the Vit D. Next week I’ll have to have my calcium levels checked again. I’m not sure how long the calcium level checks will keep up. Maybe for another couple of weeks?

Other than that I am feeling fine. My voice gets tired if I have to talk too loud in a restaurant or if I have been talking for a long time, but it isn’t too bad. I don’t have the same tonal range I used to, just that I can make high pitched sounds as easy. Not that I do that too often, plus that might go away in the coming months.

So what have I been doing these past weeks? Well, I’ve been cooking or preparing to cook and then cooking. I’m starting on a low iodine diet on Dec. 1 (for 3-4 weeks for the radioactive iodine therapy). No salt, no dairy, no soy, minimal pasta and rice. Mostly just fruit and vegetables (no spinach). I have a huge list of things to be weary of! I wanted to make sure that I had some sweets and some breakfast food so I made some peanut butter cookies, gluten free, and some cocoa zucchini muffins. Both are sweet and taste pretty darn good. Next I’m going to make up some sauces so I can make stir fry and other fun stuff. My mom got me a crock pot and I’m looking at easy recipes for that as well. My first will be vegetable broth and then Red beans (or black) and rice! After this diet is over I want to continue cooking on a regular basis. I have a great market right by my house, Uncle Paul’s, and they have mostly organic fruits and vegetables. Every time I go there I think, I should go there more often!

Anyway, I am going to cook pretzels (big soft pretzels, gluten free) on Wednesday night AND a double batch of apple crisp for Thanksgiving! I’m going to two different T-giving’s this year! Should be fun! I hope I don’t gain 30 lbs…