The envelope, please!

OK, my Dr. FINALLY got a hold of me yesterday. GOOD NEWS: The cancer has not traveled to other parts of the body. Yippeeee! This is REALLY good news. The not-so-good news: I still have two "hot spots" so I'm due for another round of radioactive iodine in 6 months. It's not too terrible, though, and he warned me this would probably happen. The stinky part is being gone again for a week, but Steve and Noelle managed pretty well without me last time. :) After everything, this is going to sound really stupid, but the metallic taste that STILL hasn't gone away is something I'm dreading most of all. Lame, I know, but imagine not being able to drink water because it tastes like sea water that's had a rusty nail sitting in it. YUCK! Not all food is too bad, but nothing tastes like it should. You'd THINK it was the world's best diet, but all I want to eat are comfort foods because they taste better than anything else does, lol. Ah well, this too shall pass!

Update on the fam: My sister Tiffany and her 2 year old son Dominic are in town. Yeah!!! It's been so much fun seeing them! She got strep throat just before she left, poor thing. She's a trooper, though! Noelle LOVES seeing her cousin and she's doing pretty well. Now if I can just get her to sleep through the night again...Layton High's first game is tonight, and everyone's on pins and needles (especially Steve and his brother Jim, the head coach). They had a FANTASTIC season last year, and we're sure they'll have another great one this year. Go Lancers!

Love you all!

Home Sweet Home

Hooray! I'm back home with my wonderful hubby and adorable daughter. I got home yesterday after my full-body scan (that I will know the results of on Monday). Noelle's huge smile and hug made me feel better than I have in a long time. It was GREAT just to sit and play with her, read to her and rock her to sleep that night. I know it doesn't seem possible, but she really seems to have gotten older in the last week. She and Steve have been SO strong through this whole thing, and I am so proud of them.

I'm feeling lots better since starting my medication on Saturday, though I am still weak and napping every day. I still have a funny metallic taste in my mouth (all food and even water tastes weird) but other than that I don't seem to have side effects from the radiation. And I will post new pics of my scar on Monday when I know the results of the body scan. My scar looks GREAT and voice is totally back to normal. Yes, I'm counting my many, many blessings. :D Love you all!

Quick update

I miss my two favorite people SOOOO much!!!

Hi all! Just wanted to let you all know that I'm really starting to feel better. I actually did my laundry today without my arms and legs burning like I'd just done lunges with arm weights! Happy day! I've been on thyroid meds for only 2 days, so I'm not ready to run a marathon with Rachel yet, but it sure beats the way I've been feeling for over a month. :D

Happy Anniversary, honey! I can't wait to stare at you from 6 feet across the table at dinner tonight! ;)

Help me, I'm glowing!

Well, folks, today was the day! I took the radioactive iodine pills around noon today and headed straight to Dad's house, where my wonderful family (thanks Jen, Dad and Matt!) took good care of me. So far, I don't feel too bad. My cheeks, jaw and under my chin have swelled up and are tender (I look like a chipmunk) but other than that, I can't complain. I've had lots of rest and water and already managed to watch 2 movies. :) By this time tomorrow, I'll be able to eat dairy and salt again. Happy day! I'm still exhausted and achy from no thyroid meds, but I get to take them on Saturday, so all really is good. Thanks to my wonderful family and friends who are praying for me and helping take care of Noelle. You guys are just the best!

Funny story: I hadn't realized that after they take the pills out of the lead box, everyone's susceptible. I guess I figured I'd need time for them to start working, like a pain pill or something. Silly me :P I pop the pills and start walking back to my doctors....who immediately backed away from me like I had the plague. I said, "Oh, they work that fast huh?" and they laughed. Guess I should've noticed they were all standing in doorways while I went to the middle of the room to take it, huh?!

Wow, a video!

This is a video of Noelle singing one of her favorite songs: the Winnie the Pooh theme song. It is a little loud, so turn down the volume a bit. She points to a few of the characters in her book as she sings their names. Adorable. Check out her post, I updated it with a couple more pictures. :)

What a bummer

*DISCLAIMER* The post you are about to read has negative energy, naughty words like "crap" and may not be suitable for anyone used to Liz's otherwise sunny personality.

Haha, OK, seriously, I'm about as depressed as I have been during this whole thing. I will NOT be starting the radio-iodine tomorrow because of my iodine intake. I've been SOOO strict on my low-iodine diet (no dairy, no eggs, no red food dye, no salt--basically no food). Steve and I have been cooking nonstop and I've even made my own bread! But because I didn't check my multivitamin, I have accidentally taken 100% of my daily iodine. Crap. I only took it 5 times in the last two weeks, but that is enough to have to push the treatment back to Thursday...at least. My doc is out of town (figures) so I will find out tomorrow morning if he'll really let me do it Thursday. His nurse thinks I may have to wait even longer. Double crap. The worst part? Every day I feel more and more terrible. This morning I didn't wake up until 9 (thank you, Noelle) and couldn't find the energy to shower until after noon. Every muscle aches, even my butt muscles (you mean, it's not just fat back there?!). I can't carry Noelle anymore, cleaning is a joke, and my arms get tired just trying to do my hair. Not only that, my brain is foggy ALL the time. I've never had so much difficulty thinking and talking (no comments!). And let's not mention my crabbiness. >:( My TSH (thyroid stimulation hormone) is a whopping 164. It only needed to be 30 to do the treatment, although the higher the better, I'm told. A "normal" thyroid level is between .5 and 3. Triple crappity crap crap!!!

Wow, it felt good to get that off my chest. Thank you to all who had to suffer through it. :) I know it's lame after complaining so much, but our family and friends are still so awesome. Steve's been amazing. Grandma and Grandpa have taken care of Noelle so I could shower...or nap. Kristi and Marnie both took her for a few hours so Steve and I could be alone (did I mention my treatment will now be on our anniversary AND during two-a-day football practices? Yeah, good times). Jenny's gone shopping for me. Michelle and Tiffany call me daily to check my sanity. My AWESOME ward, specifically the Young Women and their leaders, cleaned our house top to bottom on Wednesday. We've had lots of cards and calls and prayers to get us through, not to mention all the people who signed up to take care of Noelle while Steve's at football and I'm in confinement. We love you all! Thanks for helping make our lives a little less...crappy!

Radiation 101

I saw the radiation oncologist today, who went over the radioactive iodine treatment with me. He told me things very similar to the link I posted way below, but the good news is we're going to try to do the treatment Aug. 4th. It entirely depends on my hormone levels, but he thinks my blood tests in two weeks will probably give us the green light. Let's hope so, because if I have to wait another week, I'll have to start it on the 11th...which is our anniversary. :P The not-so-good news is my cancer is a stage 3, so he has to give me a double dose of the radiation (200 millicuries, whatever that is). The other not-so-good news is that he gave me a 50/50 chance I'll have to do this treatment again in 6 months. But again, this is a heck of a lot easier than regular radiation treatments, so I will be thankful even if I have to do it twice. They will do a scan a week after I take the radioactive iodine pill to see if the cancer was killed, then I'll have the OK to come home.

On a lighter note, I had like 3 people in the hospital tell me how good my scar looked for being only 2 and 1/2 weeks old. :) One of them had a daughter that went to my Dr. when she needed her thyroid out and ended up having someone else do the procedure because he told her he could GUARANTEE her singing voice would not be lost. It's been 3 years and she still has a nice voice, but she also has a very nasty scar. Her mom said MY scar looks better than hers and my singing voice is almost back to what it used to be already. Not to be COMPLETELY sappy, but I really believe your prayers and love are a BIG reason for that! Love you all so much!!!