False alarm?

I’ve been a bit short of breath since yesterday morning and inhalers and neb treatments weren’t helping.  I’d also started having swallowing problems again, after having none for a week or so.  So back to Kaiser urgent care I went today.  But hey, it’s been a week and a half since my last UC visit, so that’s an improvement, right?😄

They gave me my money’s worth - labs, EKG, CT scan of my neck and chest, palpating of the surgical site, and of course a lot of questions about how long, and how often, and so on.  The UC doc spent a fair bit of time on the phone with the ENT on call and finally decided that, because I hadn’t experienced any distress during the 6+ hours I was there, that this was probably just post-op recovery woes.

Among other things, the CT found some lung nodules, which the doc told me are “tiny”, not that unusual, and no cause for concern.  After my experience with these thyroid nodules, I’m not so sanguine.  I wanted to let my pulmonologist know about the scan, but apparently he’s no longer with Kaiser. 😢. A shame - he was a lot of help when I had a very stubborn asthma flare after my first bout of COVID.  I guess I’ll reach out to my allergist, both to tell him about the scan and to ask him to recommend another pulmonologist.

Poor Chief - he sat there with me, reading and listening to music on his phone until the battery ran down to 10%.  After that he started to get a bit punchy - “Hi, I’m Dr. Smartypants!” 😂. Well, it kept us entertained while we waited.  And waited…

The rash saga continues but seems to be winding down.

(This should have posted 3 days ago.)

This is the first day since this whole rash business started that I haven’t had some temporary (1-3 hours) rash sprout on the underside of my forearm, the back of my hand, or elsewhere.  My primary doc relayed my info, with pics, to dermatology.  The doc covering for my dermatologist recommended a different antihistamine, but this was late in the day, so that might not happen until Monday. 😥. However, given that I haven’t gotten any new rashes today (finally!), and the original rash areas are only mildly itchy now, I’m not too upset. 

I still find myself dragging during the day but can’t tell how much of that is post-op recovery and how much is the meds I’m taking for this stubborn rash.  I cut back on the Rx antihistamine, which has drowsiness as a side effect, but that doesn’t seem to have made any difference.  Twice this week I’ve slept late, had breakfast, then gone back to bed for a hour or so, which I almost never do.  I was feeling a bit out of it this morning.  The Chief and I went grocery shopping today and I was hanging on to that cart to steady myself.  Weird feeling!

Another tech week on steroids

 In June, the steroids were for the recurring sinus infections I'd been getting since the beginning of March, which made Patience tech week more stressful than tech week usually is.  This time, the steroids are for the rash that has been plaguing me.  I think the meds finally have it on the run, but the prednisone has my sleep cycle all shot to pieces.  Last night the Chief had to drive me to the theater because I felt enough out of it that I didn't feel safe to drive.  I ended up sleeping, soundly, in the car most of the way to the theater, so that was the right call.

Today I got up late, had breakfast, then went back to bed and slept another hour or two.  We both celebrated when I learned tonight's rehearsal has been cancelled so the lighting crew can replace many of the instruments.

The itch factor has finally dropped to only a 1 or a 2, though I still get occasional, random breakouts.  It's very weird - I'll get a new patch on a forearm or upper arm, which then fades after an hour or few.  However, I don't need to apply as much cream to get relief.  I also haven't applied it but once a day the past coupla days, thanks to tech week throwing me off.  I should probably go back to 3 times a day, or at least twice, just to make sure we have this thing under control.

Talking to "my" people as I'm wigging them can still be tricky.  Who knows how long it will be before that vocal fold is back in working order.  For now, I have a voice that cuts in and out, coughs that sound like sneezes, and an inhale for those coughs that still sounds wheezy.  The surgeon explained that my breathing is gonna sound weird because of that inactive vocal fold.  Oh, and the tremor from the prednisone is fun, too.  Good thing I don't have to help anyone with their eyeliner!  

 

Freezer update

The new freezer arrived this morning.  It's a bit narrower than its predecessor but taller, so we get one more shelf.  That will make it a little easier to sort and arrange whatever we end up putting in there, making it easier to find.  We don't plan to start restocking before tomorrow; we want to be sure it's fully cold first.

First thing into the new freezer will probably most of the frozen fruit we'd bought for post-op smoothies.  Probably also some of the turkey I cut up this afternoon (6 turkey thighs have a lot of meat on 'em!) and maybe even some of the tetrazzini I made with it.  That was a recipe that had gotten sorta pushed aside by other things, but I think we could have it more often.  Excellent comfort food, though maybe I'll use more mushrooms next time.

 

 

Maybe the meds are *finally* starting to kick in?

The itching woke me up again today.  However, after the first round of meds and creams, the itch started to back off.  My face didn't look quite as inflamed by dinnertime as it does in these pics, and the itch is down to a more manageable level.  Given that I started the prednisone taper this morning that starts at 60mg, not the 40mg I'd been taking, that's not terribly surprising.  (I haven't figured out yet how to get these photos on the same line. 😖  Last night I wouldn't have been surprised to wake up with my eyes swollen shut but things seem to be calming down.

The Chief has been taking very good care of me:  fixing me eggs for breakfast every morning, trying to keep up as I figure out how to adjust to life on synthroid, helping me with theater stuff (climbing ladders in a storage bay, carrying things for me while I'm under my lift restriction, etc.), going to the grocery store for things we never used to buy (cottage cheese and canned fruit), and generally trying to help me recover so I can return to life as usual. I'll probably still ask for a little help with meals, maybe twice a week, but having such a supportive husband is making this whole business a whole lot easier!

   

"You're back *again*?!"

 This rash continues to spread and I continue to wake up scratching.  The Chief ferried me back to Kaiser (trip #4 in 6 days, for those of you is keeping score), where they gave me another 3 weeks' worth of prednisone and had me double up the Rx antihistamine I was given earlier this week.  They also recommended a stronger ointment to use on the rash except for my face.

The triage nurse recognized me; "Weren't you here earlier this week...?"  Yeah, I should just book myself a cot and a locker. 😵 

This is wearing me out.  I feel like this rash has me living at the urgent care unit, when I should be sitting around resting up.  (I actuallly did nod off while I was waiting for the doc.)  Having this persistent rash on top of the cancer is just adding insult to injury.  Or maybe injury to injury?  Anyway, this whole business of aging, with its concomitant system failures, is a system in drastic need of an overhaul!

This is getting old

I think the rash may finally have stopped spreading.  However, the itch has ratcheted back up to a 6 or maybe even a 7.  I wonder if I may need more prednisone? The side effects are a mess - for one thing,  y sleep cycle is shot to pieces - but if it gets rid of this miserable itch, I’ll deal with it.

My face looks worse than it did yesterday - red and blotchy.  Just lovely. 😢. This is wearing me out, or maybe it’s just the prednisone messing up my sleep.

Adjusting to life on synthroid

Now that I have to take synthroid, I'm finding I need to make some adjustments.  First of all, I have to take it first thing in the morning, at least half an hour before I eat anything.  Not too hard, now that I'm retired; I can take my time getting around to breakfast.

But breakfast is gonna be an adjustment.  Because I can't have anything with calcium or iron in it for at least 4 hours after I take the synthroid, that means my usual bowl of cereal and coffee with milk are a thing of the past.  Scrambled eggs have worked nicely, but that's gonna get old in a hurry.  I thought I'd have some peanut butter on toast this morning, but the bread wrapper says it's "an excellent source of calcium".  So much for that idea.  I've been snacking on cottage cheese with canned peaches but of course the cottage cheese is out as a breakfast option.

If you're living on synthroid, what do you do about breakfast?

Homeowner woes

 I’m barely a week post-op, should be lolling around with my feet up.  Instead, the Chief and I were online last night shopping for a freezer to replace the one that died on us the other day.  That sorted, today has been spent trying to rescue the thawed and thawing food.  Some went to our yard/handyman, more will go to friends with fridge space.

The turkey thighs are cooking and will become tetrazzini.  A LOT of tetrazzini, which of course we can’t freeze.  That may also go to our friends with fridge space.

Most of the frozen vegetables went into 2 enormous batches of orange soup (named for its color) and veggie-beef soup, filling my 8-quart and 12-quart pots respectively.  You get 2 pics of the orange soup because first I cook all the vegetables (no oranges), then I puree everything for a nice texture.

 

The Chief cooked up 2 bags of no-longer-frozen peas, blenderized them, and added them to the home-made pea soup friends gave him last night.  More food that won’t fit into the fridge and which we can’t freeze.  😜

 

Update:  We got lucky - our friends had plenty of space in their fridge.  We saved them a grocery trip, they saved us from having to throw out perfectly good food.  Win win! 

Better?

The rash continues to spread (my face looks kinda scary now) but the steroids have finally kicked in, taking the itch from a 7 down to maybe a 3 or a 4.  It still woke me up this morning, but it’s been worse.  Talking is gonna be an effort for a while, but swallowing and yawning are back, and laughing no longer hurts.  For the first time since my surgery, I don’t feel the need to go to urgent care or even call the advice nurse.  Hallelujah!

Pathology report

This just in - both masses were cancerous, as I'd expected.  It's "papillary carcinoma, infiltrative follicular subtype".  The tracheal scrapings and lymph nodes removed were not affected - yay - but unfortunately, the surgeon was unable to get clean margins.  As a result, I'll be radioactive for a bit in a coupla months.  My endocrinologist will be the one who schedules that for me.

 

Back to Kaiser for a 3rd visit :(

 Started the new meds and cream last night.  Woke up this morning to find the rash was continuing to spread and had expanded onto my chin - oh just ducky. 😒  I got a video visit, but the doc told me he couldn't properly evaluate me that way; I'd need to be seen in person.  He also warned me that, depending on what they saw, they might need to send me to the hospital.  Bleah!

So I packed a bag, just in case, and the Chief drove me back to Kaiser urgent care.  Fortunately, at 3pm the ENT docs were still there.   The UC folks sent me up there to get my throat scoped; uncomfortable process, but learned that my L vocal fold isn't really working.  Not terribly surprising, given all the digging and scraping my surgeon had to do, but weird to see one vocal fold doing its fluttery thing while the other just sits there.  The ENT said that could take 2+ months to recover, which kinda lines up with what I found online.  That explains why my voice cuts in and out and tires so easily, and why a nebulizer treatment isn't as effective as usual - my lungs aren't the problem.  The UC doc (or was it the ENT?) did say a saline rinse could help.  I'll have to update the family SLP with this info once I get the pathology report back.

UC gave me a nebulizer treatment and a dose of steroids, which helped the rash eventually.  The itch is now down to maybe a 3 from a 7; I might actually get a good night's sleep tonight!  It no longer looks such an angry red, either, even if it has spread.  The bad news, though, is that the UC doc told me contact dermatitis rashed typically need 10-14 days to run their course!  The good news is that they sent me home instead of to the hospital.

I was amused when the UC doc popped in with the doc I'd seen at Sunday's visit - I guess that's what happens when you're a regular!  They compared notes on the state of my rash - had spread a good bit since Dr. 1 saw me on Sunday, but didn't look as red and inflamed. 

If you see me in the next week or so, the rash may still look pretty bad but rest assured it's not contagious. I may not be very talkative given that I'm working on only one vocal fold, so you won't have to worry that I'll regale you with my tales of woe. 😊