A quick update~

I am one week post-op here in this photo and I went to the ENT this morning to have my stitches clipped and for the pathology reports on my lymph nodes. I had a feeling that the results were not going to be good, only because I had a goiter for so long and I have suspected a thyroid problem for at least 4 years. My lymph nodes did come back with cancer in them, which totally sucks.

Dr. Richards, the ENT, is confident that a round of radioactive iodine will get rid of all of my cancer, which is good and something to remind myself of every time I think, “Oh my God, I have cancer.” Dr. Richards also said that the type of thyroid cancer that I have has a 90+% cure rate. She also said that I am young and healthy so that also improves the odds. Papillary cancer is not aggressive and is very slow to grow and spread, it is also the most common type of thyroid cancer, which I am hoping is a good thing for my outcome. 

I have an appointment next week to meet with an Oncologist in Stuart, so I will know more information then. I  am hoping that I can be clear of all of this by the summer so I can relax and play with my kids. If I didn't have kids I think I would still be freaked out about having cancer, but its different when you have 3 little kids to take care of. They are the best part of my life by far and the thought of not being around for them is just the saddest thing. But with the optimism of Dr. Richards, I am hoping that this is just a little hiccup in my summer plans. Until next time.....

Trust your Gut!!!

Cancer. It’s a word that no one wants to hear. A couple weeks ago I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. It has been an interesting adventure to say the least. I feel like I haven’t really had time to process the whole thing yet, which honestly is probably a good thing. So here is my timeline of events----about a month ago I saw the ENT about a lump in my throat (swollen thyroid---aka Goiter), she sent me for blood work and an ultrasound with follow up in a week, next appointment I had a Fine Needle Aspiration done (they stick a needle into your goiter about 6 times to get samples of the tissue) with follow up in a week, then at follow up from my FNA we scheduled surgery.  I had surgery on Wednesday April 18, I had my drain removed on Thursday, and today I just have to have my calcium levels checked. The doctor removed my entire thyroid, as well as a few lymph nodes. Pathology will be back in about a week on those. I am praying that they come back negative. I have to have a neck scan done to see if there is any signs of cancer anywhere else (not sure when this will take place). I also have to complete a radioactive iodine treatment sometime in the next 6-8 weeks. I will be spending a weekend at a hotel for this since I have to be away from my kids, well all kids actually, while I am radioactive.

I had a feeling that I had something going on that was more than what met the eye. The trick is finding a physician who listens to your symptoms and show compassion for what you are going through. Here are some of the symptoms that I was having:

• Fatigue---- even if I just slept 8 hours
• Weakness in legs
• Difficulty losing weight
• Coarse, dry hair and dry skin
• Hair loss
• Sensitivity to cold
• Constipation
• Depression
• Irritability
• Memory loss
• Abnormal menstrual cycles----like every other week
• Decreased libido
• Ear aches that were not from infections
• Goiter
• Difficulty swallowing
• Panic attacks

Just to name a few. Anyways, I was seeing a family physician who was treating some of these symptoms as if it were unrelated to one another. I had a hunch that something else was going on so I tried to make an appointment for an endocrinologist, but you need a physician to refer you to get an appointment. So I went to the ENT instead, and I am happy that it ended up this way honestly. Who better to remove neck cancer than an ENT. Anyways, the moral of this story is ALWAYS TRUST YOUR GUT!!!!! No one knows you better than YOU! If you have a goiter and want to see a good doctor let me know and I will give you the name of my surgeon.

Vaccinations---

Well up until about a month ago, Brad and I were anti vaccines. What changed??? Well I met a mom who told me that her daughter got meningitis so bad that she is permanently severely disabled and just today learned of a boy who is suspected to have whooping cough. Both of these kids are right here in our town. So, am I officially scared into believing that vaccines are what is best----uh, YEAH!!!! Do I still question this whole vaccine thing---how could I not???!!!! I have been reading about vaccines and which ones are recommended and which ones are required for about 2 months now. For one, there are many more vaccines that the CDC recommends than are required for entry into a Florida school. You can find a complete list of required ones at the Florida Department of Health website. The CDC website has the recommended vaccines with a proposed schedule. The ones that are required for entry into a Florida school are: Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine; Polio vaccine; Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine; Hepatitis B vaccine; and Varicella vaccine. My kids have not had any shots yet, but they will be getting them in the near future. I am not exactly thrilled about this, and neither is Brad. The things we considered are: where we live, the fact that our kids go to daycare, and the fact that I work at a high school with a student population of about 1,800. These things influenced the way we looked at this topic for sure. NOW, if I were a stay at home mom and my kids were with me all the time and I was going to home school my kids, I would probably stand firm behind the anti-vaccination mentality that I so strongly support. But reality is, I work, Brad works, the kids have to go to school. I can't afford to quite my job, nor do I want to---I LOVE working in the schools, I just don't want to bring something home to my kids that could have been prevented entirely by something as simple as a vaccine.

The Avalon Affect---Chakra Alignment???? I think so.....

If you have been reading my blog, you know that I am a mother of 3 children (a 2yo girl, and twin 9 mo boys), I work at the high school in town as one of the ESE Program Specialist's there, I am a grad student at Florida State AND this semester I started clinicals, SO in addition to all that I do I am now a graduate student clinician 2 days a week AFTER work. I am BUSY BUSY BUSY and TIRE TIRED TIRED! So Basically, with this being said, I am not, will not, can not----- even possibly drum up an ounce of time to do anything that isn't going to benefit me or my family in anyway......You follow me I am sure. BUT wait!!! Today I absolutely made an exception for the sake of your health.....keep reading..... My friend, who we call "Marco" has been talking about these "light things" a.k.a. the Avalon Effect for a few months......and I am not into anything like this so while he has been talking about it I have been like "yeah yeah yeah yeah...." you know the type right?? Well yesterday I went to the dentist (Dr. Schwerer---who is FANTASTIC by the way) and I had a couple fillings replaced. Well while Dr. Schwerer was fixing my fillings he mentioned that the one looked pretty deep and may require a root canal---not excited at this point! So when I left I was instructed to take some Advil because the work that was done was more extensive than we all originally thought and he thought that I may be sore after my Novocain wore off. Well my mouth is pretty sore today, and I didn't eat last night, because my mouth was numb and I seriously looked like a stroke patient who was suffering from paralysis on the left side of my mouth so there was no chewing going on here...haha! Ok getting to the point....all day today I am sore again and I really don't want to call Dr. Schwerer up and ask him to do a root canal yet....haha...its been a day...seriously! I am not that big of a wuss....am I...never mind don't answer that....haha. So Marco stops into Brad's office, where I go everyday after work to switch cars and to remind Brad how exhausted I am, and he asked me how everything was going and I told him of my throbbing mouth and I asked him about those "light things", Marco says "well I have them in the car, do you have 30 minutes? If so then I will hook you up to them and lets see if we can alleviate some of that discomfort". As I am "drinking" my lunch---remember I am not eating because its looking like a root canal is in my near future---- I of course say YES!!! Which is the whole reason behind me making time to blog tonight..

Seriously, I am STOKED about these lights so much that I have talked to Marco 3 times tonight about them and have sweet talked my way into borrowing one of his sets to use again tomorrow. Here is what I noticed right away---at least a 50% reduction in my tooth discomfort, I feel like I just drank a "large iced coffee, with cream and sugar" from Dunkin Donuts---basically I have a crap load of energy which NEVER EVER EVER happens for me because I burn the candle at both ends every single day, AND I am always cold, and today my hands and feet are the same (or at least feel the same) temperature as every other part of my body. I noticed these 3 things from just 30 minutes and I really feel like my Chakras have been realigned.... I am all about this light therapy now. I want to buy one BAD!!!!!! SO, if you have read my blog this far down you are probably asking yourself some questions about this amazing light therapy. When I talked to Marco--the last time tonight--he told me that there is a meeting coming up on February 11th that anyone can come to, and he said that everyone that comes gets a free treatment with the lights. I am going for sure. I already told him that. You can come too, bring a friend or 5, and lets all learn more about this. I do not know how much they cost exactly because there are different packages, so it just depends on what you want to get. There is financing available for those with credit. This is seriously going to be the next big thing....I swear. I am not into promoting products AT ALL, and here I am so excited to share this with people that I am freaking blogging about it....what a nut case I am. Love it though. Anyways, if anyone is interested in getting in on some of this jazz tomorrow I will have the lights at my house and I would be happy to have you over to try them.......it is worth it. Takes 30 minutes....if you are interested message me, text me, call me....whatever! If you can't stop by tomorrow, come to the meeting on February 11th. Its at the Hampton Inns and Suites in Stuart. 1150 NW Federal Highway (its north of the Roosevelt Bridge about a 1/4 mile). Call 772-519-1555 to talk to Marc, tell him Jenny told you about the lights and ask ask ask your questions, set up a meeting with Marc and get in on the lights....

Holiday Update

Well it is December now and the twins are 8 months old, officially tomorrow. GG is just as funny as ever. This morning I woke up to her eating candy canes off the Christmas tree at about 4:00 in the morning. Speaking of 4 in the morning, there isn't a whole lot of sleep happening at our house currently. I swore up and down that MY kids would be in bed (their bed) and that I would be sleeping through the night by now....well apparently I was very wrong and 8 months of sleep deprivation is the proof that things are never what you think they will be, and I swear this lack of sleep is aging us by the second. I have tried various things to get the twins sleeping in their bed through the night and nothing has worked so far. Oh well... On a super awesome note, I am officially done with the semester at Florida State, so I now have 8 more semesters to go before I graduate. Seems like 8 is a lot, but as fast as time is going right now I am thinking that it will fly by. Well that is my little update from Fort Myers. Happy Holidays!

Postpartum Depression

Well, the days that followed both birthing a singleton, and multiples, proved to be emotionally challenging. I pictured having this amazing water birth in my home, with my husband, midwife, and best friend Stephanie here with me, and pictured it being totally perfect complete with rainbows and butterflies....ok well maybe not that perfect but you catch my drift. Well I ended up having to go to the hospital and ended up caving into every intervention in the book while I was there. I really was not expecting to be birthing any of my children in the hospital, but that's just the way it ended up being. The part that I really did not anticipate was the PPD that would follow. I had PPD with Georgia, but do not recall taking any medication for it. I just cried a lot and felt really anxious. I also worried that I wasn't going to be able to protect her. I think that the fears that I had during that time are more related to the experience that my sister and I had with our own mother. I just want to protect my children, and especially Georgia. She is so sweet and innocent, I just love that about children. They are all so perfect.

Well the PPD with the boys was pretty bad and I ended up going to Dr. Punger for help. She suggested doing several things which I think all helped, and continue to help. The few things that I really think helped me the most were: breastfeeding (by now you probably know that I love breastfeeding), baby wearing (I love having the baby close to me), and I take an antidepressant. Those few things really help me. I know that my boys are going on 6 months now, but I am scared to stop taking the medication, because I feel really content right now and I don't want to change that. I know that PPD can affect everyone, especially the baby, which is why I think breastfeeding helps so much. The bonding that takes place between my babies and me is very strong and seeing how happy my baby is when I hold him, makes me happy.

I have included a picture of me and Logan by the marina, downtown. I have to say that I really do love baby wearing. If is very comfortable, both for me and the babies. I had an Ergo until about a week ago. Brad spilled chlorine on it and it literally disintegrated. That was a great carrier too. There are many different types of slings and carriers made for baby wearing. I am a fan of ring slings personally, but you will have to find what works best for you.

Donor Milk

I have been a pumping machine for my little guys since returning to work, but simple math can tell you that the 12 ounces that I get when I pump at work is nothing compared to the almost 40 that they drink at day care. Obviously we needed to supplement....so I have been on a hunt for donor milk, and seriously "found the mother load" as Mel Fisher would say. I found a generous donor who is out of West Palm Beach. She has been pumping since August and accumulated about 1500 ounces of liquid gold. I had donor milk for a while, then ran out and had no choice but to give them formula. The boys have been getting mostly breast milk, with the addition of 1, 1o ounce bottle of formula a day while at daycare. I know that there is probably some crazy hippy ways of getting my milk to meet the boys demand, but the fact is folks, I am a working mom, a graduate student at Florida State, have 3 kids to take care of, 2 dogs, and a house! So while I wish I could just lay around and breastfeed to build my supply.....it's not going to happen. So while it lasts, the boys will be 100% breast milk babies again, which really makes me happy. I can tell a HUGE difference in their mood when they have formula. The are so uncomfortable, have excessive gas, spit up more, and do not sleep well when they get formula. If you think about formula, it really is pretty harsh on a baby's bowls. The whole reason behind waiting until your baby is a year old to give them cows milk, has to do with the lining of the intestines. If babies have cows milk too soon, the intestinal walls can become irritated and bleed. And what is formula made from??? Oh that's right....MILK! I don't know about the whole soy thing either. To be honest, all the estrogen in that freaks me out too.

Grad school is a whole other topic. Here is a brief overview of that part of my life. I have been working diligently on all the projects that have come up and am really enjoying my studies. I can honestly say that I feel like I am going to be really happy working as a speech-language pathologist. The projects that I have done so far this semester have eaten up all my spare time, and every weekend since August to be honest. It is hard finding time to do much of anything right now with the kids being as small as they are. Anyways, that's what is new with me.