Updates and Recent Photoshoot

Hello there beautiful people! 

A lot has happened since my last post and I am finally in the zone to share my updates. 

In my last post I mentioned that I was struggling with my thyroid medication. Although both myself and my GP tried to contact the hospital numerous times, we never got anywhere with them. I find that quite disappointing as thyroid medication can make or break your quality of life. Without the gland I depend on the meds to feel normal. Luckily my GP was excellent and has been working on tweaking my dosage. After being too low and then too high, we have found a nice balance and I have been told to stay on it for the foreseeable future. I couldn't be happier with how it has worked out overall. It is a reminder for me that solutions can always be found. 

I am slowly getting my mojo back and feeling energized. I am also carefully reintroducing weight training back into my routine now that I have the energy and motivation to do so. On days where I am super tired though I do try to take it easy. My body is pretty quick about telling me 'no' these days and I feel it best to respect the message instead of powering through. I miss the days of being on top of my diet and training but life just doesn't care about these things sometimes. 

Quarantine has been strange, I have LOVED the time to work on hobbies and get connected to myself and my thoughts again. On the other hand I miss the ease of going places and being around the hustle and bustle of busy towns. It's not the quite the same with masks and social distancing but that is just how it is. Overall 2020 has been... unbelievable! 

On a fun and positive note I have been doing some photoshoots recently. Below are some images from a recent one! 

What about you guys? How have you found the time indoors with quarantine? What have you been up to? 

I'd love to hear from everyone! 

Until next time,
Rebecca. 

Miaow. 

My Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis

 Hello gorgeous readers!

I hope you are all staying safe and well these days all things considered.  2020 has been quite the year so far, here is my update.

To start with I had surgery to have a cyst removed from my neck in January. I was excited to finally have this lump gone and although nervous, I was keen to have a less lumpy neck! It was thought to be a harmless branchial cyst but upon further inspection the surgeon noticed something was amiss. A 30 minute surgery became a 95 minute surgery and I was sore quite far up under my chin. I found that strange since the cyst was nowhere near my chin. I also discovered my body doesn't like anesthetic very much, the night after the surgery I woke up at 3am and fainted in the bathroom and threw up. What a night! The next day I was discharged and with a stiff neck, home I went. In the weeks that followed I had a lingering feeling that I wasn't finished yet. 

Three weeks after surgery I was told that it was not a branchial cyst as they had previously diagnosed but that it was not a tumor...which was true. True but not the whole story. One week after that I was asked to come back into the hospital, the doctor said 'it's not what we thought it was, come back and we will have a plan for you'... hmm. I was on the alert at this stage and sure enough when I went to the hospital I was told that I have thyroid cancer. Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma. The cyst was caused by a lymph node that was infected with the cancer and so the node was removed along with the cyst, hence the chin pain.  I knew going to the hospital that I was probably going to be told I have cancer but it was still a surreal experience. The room suddenly felt far away for a few seconds and then I launched into info gathering mode, asking every question I could think of. I was told that even with lymph node spread it's still a curable cancer which was great news but still, the big C is a scary club to be in.  

A week and a half later I had my thyroid fully removed and I had some more lymph nodes removed from my neck. I had a total thyroidectomy and neck dissection. Surgery was about 4 hours and I woke up to the nurses in the recovery room worried because my leg had swollen up and my neck was also quite swollen. I was too drugged up to do much but hearing that was scary. The surgeon came to shake my hand and I managed to babble a thank you to him!  After some poking and prodding I was cleared to be wheeled back up to my ward and within a few hours I was walking around. I felt surprisingly great at first. The pain was limited but emotionally everything hit me in the next few days, I was overwhelmed. My voice was weak after surgery and I struggled to achieve volume but I could breathe and swallow just fine. Having an organ removed is not something you can fully prepare for, it's major surgery and it definitely took me down for a while.

I am now 7 weeks post surgery and adjusting to life without a thyroid! My voice is slowwwwly returning although singing is still a no go. I am hopeful my singing voice will return, it can take 6-12 moths after this surgery.  My moods and energy levels have been concerning me and it's been difficult to get a hold of my endocrinologist with the Covid 19 crisis. I had success reaching the office last week and I am awaiting a call back at this point. My fatigue is starting to interfere with my daily routine and I am noticing things like dry skin and foggy thinking. These are potentially signs of hypothyroidism so I will be sure to emphasize these developments when I speak to my specialist as I may need my medication reviewed. Without a thyroid I am dependent on medication and getting the correct dose can take some fine tuning. I am also due a radiation treatment which has been delayed for the foreseeable future so I am halfway through my treatment. I feel stuck in limbo in that regard but I am happy I got surgery before all elective surgeries were cancelled.

Looking at the big picture I feel positive and I am confident I will achieve long term improvements.

When things are in swing and a new normal has been found I am looking forward to two things:

1) Finishing my cancer treatment 
2) Coffee and cake with the husband in a local cafe 

How have things been in your neck of the woods? I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time! 

Rebeca