“Chemo brain” without (thank heaven!) the chemo

It’s been coming on gradually but yesterday was the worst.  I could not seem to keep a thought in my head or to focus if my life depended on it!  I don’t know whether it’s a reaction to the thyroidectomy, or the synthroid, or some combination thereof, but it sure makes life difficult.  “Make lists,” you might say.  Unfortunately, that’s a solution only if I can still remember what I want to write down by the time I find paper and a pen. 😢

Low-key birthday this year

The big "event" of my birthday the other day was spending an hour with my Nuclear Medicine doc.  Given how important that is right now, that's not particularly surprising.  My birthday won't be greeted with fanfare this year, and that's OK.  Tonight's Greek dinner was fine.  The restaurant was fairly empty in our section, so our waitress had time to chat with us.  Better, we managed to get home before the rain started.

Among other things, the Chief & I talked about how fortunate we are to be retired, to have the time and resources to treat ourselves to a nice dinner out.  Not having to worry about cramming domestic maintenance into the few hours work doesn't take means we can do things at a more leisurely pace.  We put in our time; now we can kick back & relax.

Going nuclear Nov. 4th

Had a 1-hour video visit w/ my Nuclear Medicine doc this morning.  We covered a lot - hence the lengthy session.  I "get nuked" Nov. 4th, starting a low-iodine diet Oct. 28th.  I get an injection 2 days before I get the treatment, then again the day before, along with a contrast dye for a pre-treatment scan the morning of the 4th.  (I'm gonna need to write all this on my calendar to help keep it all straight.)

I'll be in isolation for 6 or 7 days, though I'll still be ever so slightly radioactive after that.  They'll give me a card documenting my medical radiation so that, if I set off TSA's sensors when the Chief & I fly out for my sister's wedding a few weeks later, they'll let me on the plane.

The Chief sat in on my visit and we were both relieved to learn that the "radiation safety" precautions won't be quite as strict as some of what I'd read online.  I still have to stay away from people that first week, and can only prepare food for myself, not anyone else, but I don't have to worry that simply being in the kitchen will contaminate the house or even that room.  Not only that, but the iodine breaks down in water, so that's all that's required to clean up after myself - no Clorox or other heavy-duty cleaners.

Tomorrow's the big day

My video consult w/ Nuclear Medicine is tomorrow - finally!  The Chief and I have a SLEW of questions about the whole business.  I'm hoping & praying that we'll get answers to all those questions so that we can start planning again.  It'll be at least a couple of weeks before I "get nuked" because of the required prep (like the low-iodine diet), but I plan to tell the NucMed doc that under no circumstances will I let this interfere with attending my sister's wedding in December!

2 months post-op

Two months after getting my throat slit, you can hardly see the incision.  My traumatized vocal fold has recovered, the rash is on the wane, and in general I feel just fine.  Next week I hope to learn when I'll get my radioactive iodine treatment, and to get details on the prep, including the low-iodine diet.

And it’s back!

Had my final follow-up with the surgeon today.  He noticed immediately that my voice sounds much better.  He scoped me and was happy to be able to report that my paralyzed vocal fold is back up and running again!  

I’ve still got a fair bit of swelling in the area, which is why my singing voice isn’t really back yet, but the worst is over.  The doc warned me that the radioactive iodine will cause swelling too.   Not what I wanted to hear, but at least it won’t be a nasty surprise when it happens.

The Chief asked how long it will take me to recover from the iodine.  We were surprised to be told 6-9 months!  However, he also assured me I’ll be able to travel once I’m out of quarantine.  Nuclear Medicine will give me a letter to show TSA in case I set off one of their sensors, to reassure them that any radiation I’m emitting is strictly medical. 

Too soon :(

This Sunday I sang with my choir for the first time since my surgery.  I definitely went back too soon; my voice started feeling tired before mass even started, after no more than 20 minutes going over that morning's music.  I was careful not to push, and even dropped down an octave for a phrase where necessary, but my voice made it clear that it's not yet ready for that much work.  Once I get past my "radioactive phase," I'll have to resume voice lessons to take my voice to the gym, er, get my voice back up to speed.

That was a nice surprise

One of the companies I've designed for this year had their end-of-season awards last night.  The show I designed in May did very well indeed - nominated in almost every category, every nominee in Best in a Minor Role was a cast member, and we won in every category but one.  No surprise that we took Best Production (out of a 7-production season).  I ended up taking home awards for both hair and makeup design.  Given that one of the other shows was Kinky Boots, I expected them to get the makeup award.  After all, if you've ever seen drag makeup, you know it can be quite elaborate.  Nope, I got that award, too.  The Chief was confident I was going to take home both awards; I wasn't as confident, or maybe I just didn't want to get my hopes up.  My husband, however, is my biggest fan and told me on the drive home that he knew I was gonna win both.  

These things are 7-1/2" tall and heavy!  Drop that on your foot and you'll hurt or even break something.  They sure look pretty on our mantel, though.

One of the productions was School of Rock and the front row of the theater was filled with kids from that cast.  It was fun to watch them all bouncing and cheering and generally having a great time.  My favorite moment of the evening, though, was when 2 of their number, who had shared a role, won for Best Junior Performance.  They all lost their minds, jumping around, cheering, yelling, and mobbing the 2 honorees with hugs and congratulations.  I got a bit emotional seeing how thrilled they were for their friends.  And it was obvious that they were indeed friends, even if they hadn't met each other before being cast in the show.

All in all, it was a nice evening.  Award ceremonies can be tedious but in this case you could feel the love.  Several of the awards are named for past members of the company and in at least 2 cases were presented by family members.  It seemed like everyone was congratulating everyone else, people were dishing out compliments to friends and strangers alike, and if you were carrying one of the boxes the awards were presented in, you got congratulated.  At least one person told me at the end of the evening that they were really regretting not seeing "my" show.

I went home with a very tired throat.  Not from yelling & cheering - I knew not to compromise my recovery - but from trying to talk in a space full of very chatty people.  The evening's energy was so positive, though, that I'd say it was worth it.

No, voice isn't audition-ready yet.

Went back to choir practice last night for the first time since my surgery nearly 2 months ago.  Unfortunately, my range has shrunk, my breath control is minimal, and my voice got tired barely halfway into a one-hour rehearsal; hardly surprising under the circumstances.  

On the positive side, I was actually able to sing, and when I did, it felt better than I'd expected after the vocal fold injury and everything else.  Once I've had my Nuclear Medicine consultation and know what my medical schedule will be, I'll go back to taking voice lessons to try to get my voice back up and running.

Design wish list

(Random thought prompted by my current reading, set in 1829). I would like someone to tap me to design a production set in about 1830, the Romantic era.  The women’s hairstyles were something else and would be so much fun to build!

Audition?

The Chief and I went to the vigil mass this weekend and I went ahead and sang the responses.  I was relieved to find that my voice didn’t feel too bad.  I’m not ready for the Met or Broadway, but I don’t think  I’m going to set any dogs to howling or cats to yowling.

Now I’m reconsidering my decision not to audition in a couple of weeks for Merry Widow, which runs at the end of February.  I’ll test things out by going back to choir practice this week.  If that goes well, I’ll fish out some music to audition with.

Livestock

We knew we had mice - had been seeing the evidence (droppings, nibbled bread) and the occasional brown blur - but the rodents are getting bolder.  The other night I spotted one zipping from the kitchen into the dining room (how do they get up so much speed on those tiny legs?) and tonight we saw one in the living room.  The Chief is now setting out more traps.

To quote Mr. Jinks, “I hates meeses to pieces!”

Shiny new fridge!

After the debacle with the freezer, the Chief and I decided it was probably time to replace the 27-year-old fringed.  It was still working but had been leaking water for quite some time.  Rather than wait for it to die on us, we decided to replace it.  We now have a shiny new French-door fridge. We’ll probably be grabbing for a non-existent left-side handle for a while. 😁

Goodbye, Blithe Spirit

Tonight is the final performance of Blithe Spirit.  The Chief is watching the show tonight, after which we’ll collect my things and the wigs and head home.  Striking hair and makeup tonight means I can stay home tomorrow while everyone else strikes the set, costumes, etc.  While I’ll be glad of the break, I’ll be a little sad that I don’t have any further theater adventures on the calendar for the rest of the year.

This is the first time I’ve done different productions of the same show so close together.  I was able to apply what I learned last year, as far as a good gray foundation, while having fun designing slightly different hairstyles for the women.  Among other things, I got to use a couple of styles I didn’t use last year.  I really like how my version of this Bette Davis style turned out.  Better, I was able to find a good gray wig so I didn't need to dye one for Elvira.

As usual, I enjoyed the camaraderie in the dressing room.  This company does 4-week runs, so there was plenty of time for the ladies to cement their rapport.  This was obviously a cast who got along well and supported each other - no divas here.  One of the 2 gentlemen in the cast commented tonight that “this is obviously where the party is.”  Well, with only 2 in the men’s dressing room, it’s bound to be much quieter.

evanescent urticaria

My dermatologist got back to me with a plan for getting rid of these temporary rashes (evanescent urticaria - not nearly as pretty as any of these orchids) that have been plaguing me for weeks, consisting of 2 different OTC antihistamines.  He warned me this could take months (!) but it should work.  With any luck, things will be much better by the time I see him at the end of October.

My endocrinologist assured me this won't interfere with my thyroid med as long as I wait at least an hour after taking the thyroid med to take the antihistamine.

You’d think I’d have the hang of this by now.

So here I am, 5+ weeks post-op, and swallowing is still a problem at times.  It’s only with liquids and smoothies, but I still have to remember to take smaller sips than I used to, and to tuck my chin and turn my head before swallowing.  I don’t know why that tuck-and-turn trick works, but it does.

In other news, these temporary rashes, or “evanescent urticaria”, continue to plague me.  My dermatology appointment isn’t until the end of October but I’m on the waitlist in the event of a cancellation.  I plan to message my dermatologist, of course, but I’m really hoping and praying I can get in soon.

One med gone

Based on yesterday’s bloodwork, my endo tells me I can stop taking the medicine that filled in for my parathyroid while it was recovering from surgery.  Being able to retire one med is a good thing!  She wants me to go back for more bloodwork next week as we continue to monitor my progress.

5 weeks post-op

Because we’re still tweaking my synthroid, my day started with another visit to the lab for blood work.  I’m sure my endocrinologist will let me know if we’ll make any changes this week or “let it ride”.

The Chief and I followed that up with a trip to the toy store, aka Sur La Table, to look for a coffee maker to replace the one that died.  We’ve been making do with a little 4-cup pot, which has been sufficient (I haven’t been drinking coffee now that I have to wait 4 hours post-synthroid to have any calcium) but it doesn’t have an automatic shut-off.  He ended up treating himself to one that has a built-in bean grinder.  That’ll make the house smell wonderful every morning!

As luck would have it, there was a coffee shop across the street, where I had my first latte in ages, along with a very nice chocolate croissant (aka chocolatine, aka pain au chocolat).  And yes, we each got an extra pastry for tomorrow.  It was a beautiful day for it, too - cool enough that we actually needed jackets when we first left the house, and a near-cloudless sky.

I’m starting to regain some semblance of stamina at long last.  Yesterday I managed 15 minutes on the treadmill (variable incline) and today I opted for the stairs going back to the car after our retail adventures and wasn’t the least bit winded, though my thighs did notice the incline when we got into the parking garage.  Not that I haven’t been taking stairs, but this was the first time I didn’t notice them.

Weird post-op stuff

My system is definitely different since getting my thyroid yanked.  First of all, there’s all the weird breathing stuff because of that paralyzed vocal fold.  I have coughs that sound like sneezes, or occasionally like sobs, just for variety.  Then there are the little inhales that sometimes rumble in my chest and sound like snoring or growling.  And we can’t forget the gasping inhale, though those are becoming less common.  My speaking voice is still weird - high, in a cartoony way, or mid-range and glitchy.

In addition to the dizziness that just started today, I’ve been dealing with “evanescent urticaria” - the here-again-gone-again rashes I keep getting.  My energy level continues to be low, to the point that I told the director of my next show that I won’t be able to be part of the design team after all. 😢  I thought about that one long and hard, but in the end I just couldn’t justify staying on when I can’t guarantee whether I’ll be able to do good work.

On the other hand, my arthritis has been leaving me alone, even the arthritis in my neck, the MRI for which is what got me started on this adventure.

Dizzy

 Poor Chief.  I had a big dizzy hit so he had to drive me to the theater again today.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t a one-off;  I’ve had a few touches of dizziness, some while I was trying to wig someone.  Not enough that I fell over, but certainly enough to confirm that having him drive was the right decision.

Entering the next phase

Today was my first prednisone-free day in over a month, since the onset of that awful rash.  Hurray!

Today I also started my new, adjusted levothyroxine dose.  Not sure if it's the new med dosage or what, but I'm feeling a bit lightheaded again today.  The Chief and I are both hoping that fades, so that he doesn't have to drive me to the theater.  (Blithe Spirit has 4 performances this weekend.)

And I scheduled my Nuclear Medicine consult.  Don't know whether we'll schedule my radioactive iodine then, but at least things are moving along.

4 weeks post-op

The pace is slowing now that the rash is finally gone.  I still have a bit of itching, but it's nothing like as bad as when the rash was at its worst.  The incision is healing slowly but surely, though my surgeon recommends I get some silicone scar strips in 2 or 3 weeks and apply them over it.  Not that I care about a scar, but healing?  Yes, please.

Talked to my endocrinologist this morning.  We discussed adjusting my levothyroxine and calcium supplements as my body adjusts to its new normal.  I thought we'd schedule my radioactive iodine, but she's referring me to Nuclear Medicine for that.  She also told me they like to wait 3-6 months for that step, not the 6-8 weeks I'd seen somewhere.  There's a bit of prep for the iodine - 2 weeks of a low-iodine diet, a couple of injections, and a thyroid and whole-body scan.  Depending on what the NucMed folks tell me, I may opt for a November date to get it over with (as long as it doesn't run up against Thanksgiving), or wait until January, well after the holidays.  We're flying for both my sister's wedding and Christmas this year.  I wouldn't want TSA to turn me away at the gate because I'm still radioactive!

3 weeks post-op

Three weeks ago today the surgeon slit my throat and did his best to remove as much cancer as possible.  The incision is healing up nicely now that we have the rash under control, and as of today I no longer have a lift restriction.  The Chief still helped me load stuff into the car to take to a different theater.  (They're doing a semi-staged concert production and asked me to style wigs for 2 of the principals.)

My body still seems to be adjusting to its new need for synthroid, and I've got another 10 days of prednisone to get through, which may be why I still run out of gas so quickly.  That, and the fact that talking is gonna continue to be work until that left vocal fold heals.

I really appreciate how responsive my surgeon has been.  He's answered all my questions within 24 hours and sent me a message this morning checking up on me after yesterday's adventure.

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. 😊

Making progress, and another Kaiser visit

Back to Urgent Care this afternoon but I was able to drive myself - no lightheadedness at all today.

The rash continues to spread, slowly but surely.  It looks angrier tonight than it did when I took these photos this morning.  I look forward to the day I don't have anything to log here.  When the triage nurse asked me.to rate my pain, I told her I don't have any, but the itching? That's easily a 7!

As luck would have it, my surgeon called while I was with the on-call doc.  They agreed this is an allergic reaction, and we're stepping up the meds - prednisone and a prescription antihistamine.  I also seem to have collected a case of impetigo, so I've got an antibiotic cream in reserve in case the other meds don't get rid of it. I sure hope all this works - it's gotten so bad that it hurt this morning when the shower water hit the rash. 😩

designing Blithe Spirit

 Most of the hairpieces I ordered for Blithe Spirit arrived today.  Once I have the last one, I’ll head to the theater and start styling the wigs.  The two for Ruth should be easy enough - slick them back into a bun and add the headband with a matching braid on it, to get something like this.  (Ruth gets 2 wigs; twin  styles but one is ghost-gray.) The Elvira wig shouldn’t need much - probably just a trim to make it more of a Louise Brooks style.  

The wig for Mrs. Bradman will take a bit more work.  I found one in the company’s stock that will suit; I just need to have at it with water, styling gel, and assorted styling implements to convey a sense of trying but not quite able to pull off something like this.

 I’m still deciding what to do for Edith, and I need to have a discussion with the director, costumers and actor about Madam Arcati’s hairstyle.  She’s an eccentric, which gives us a lot more leeway.

I need to get in the habit of taking photos of the wigs as I finish them, if only so I’ll have them for a portfolio.  I also should make myself take notes on what worked and what didn’t to achieve a particular result.

The makeup will be pretty straightforward.  I’ve already established that the special ghost makeup the director wants to use won’t trigger any allergic reactions.  Now we just have to see how it works under the special when the lighting designers get all their instruments hung in the theater.

If Kaiser had a loyalty program…

 … I’d be in the top tier!  I’ve been calling their advice line pretty much daily since my surgery, and this morning the Chief took me to Urgent Care to figure out what combination of ointments to apply.  The verdict:  Aquaphor 3x/day on the incision itself, kenalog twice a day on the itchy area around the incision, and if I need the Benadryl cream, apply it at least an hour after the kenalog.  I can also take oral Benadryl as needed, although this morning’s dose really made me light-headed.

I just realized that I’ve probably been messing up my synthroid because I haven’t been waiting at least 4 hours to take my calcium gummies.  This is taking me back to last year, when the Chief and I both had surgery in the same week.  We were on different meds and our respective meds were on different schedules - what a complicated mess!  It took a friend close to an hour to figure out the Chief’s schedule.  This isn’t quite that complicated, but I can see I’m going to need to set reminders on my phone, at least until I get the hang of this new regimen.

One small (or not so small) mercy - I haven’t been having much pain at all.  The itching is so bad it almost hurts, but no actual pain since my first day home.

4 days post-op and a complication

 

Looks like another mouth, that took a pretty solid direct hit!  Little wonder the itching woke me up in the wee hours.  Turns out I'm allergic to the skin glue. The on-call doc recommended benadryl, both cream and pill, which I administered as soon as the Chief got home with them.  It's helping, though I don't plan to skip any doses today or tomorrow.

Three days post-op

Things have gotten quite itchy around that slash.  I ended up getting a Rx for an ointment to apply around but not on the area.  It even woke me up at 4:30 this morning, itching so much it almost hurt.  Between that and the congested, wheezy inhale, I wondered if I'd have to make the Chief take me to urgent care.

It didn't come to that but I may yet call the advice nurse, again, to see if I should be worried or just need to be patient. 

The itch goes all the way up to my jawline and down past my collarbone and out toward my shoulders.  That's a lot of area to slime with this ointment.  I may end up with grease stains on the V-neck shirts I bought for my recovery,  but oh well.

 

I need to remember to cut myself some slack.

 When I'm just sitting around doing nothing, I don't feel bad.  When I stand up, though, I sometimes feel just a touch light-headed or get a slightly unsettled stomach.  Ginger takes care of the stomach just fine.  As for the other, I need to look at that slash across my throat to remind myself that I just had major surgery. 😄

 Oh, and in that vein, I've decided not to take any classes this semester after all.  I was looking forward to getting back into a classroom but I think that wouldn't be a great idea right now.  I will still tutor in the Writing Center, though of course I'll have to take a break while I'm "radioactive". 

It was sort of a relief.

 The Chief and I have known SO many family, friends, and acquaintances who've gotten cancer, many of whom died from it.  Some of them (I'm look at you, Mom) have even had more than one kind.  The Chief's had cancer, too, so I was kinda wondering when it would hit me.  When the biopsy results came back, it was almost a relief; there's my cancer diagnosis - box, checked - and it isn't breast cancer.  I'm not feeling too great about it right now, of course, given what the surgeon found, but the prognosis for this kind of cancer is about as good as you could wish.

Post-op throat

 I had expected my throat to feel kinda raw and abraded because they would have to intubate me.  As it happens, because they both lubricate the tube and administer a local anesthetic, that hasn't been a problem.  Instead, it's been all the muscles in the neighborhood that are aching.  I saw a speech therapist last week who warned me that "swallowing will be weird" - she wasn't kidding!  Yawning is a bit of a challenge, too - my throat doesn't want to stretch for a proper yawn, at least not yet.

Things have been shoved around, pushed, pulled, rearranged (because of course there's no more thyroid taking up space), poked, prodded, and scraped.  My stomach is mostly settling down and I no longer have a headache (hangover?) in the wake of the chemical cocktail they pumped into me in the OR.  I also slept better last night - not as uncomfortable, less coughing, but still had some very weird dreams.

I find that I don't want to turn my head independent of my torso yet, or at least not very much, and my lungs definitely need their PT.  When I inhale through my mouth, e.g., prepping to cough, I wheeze in a way that the Chief admits he finds a bit scary. 

The incision is wider than I thought it would be, maybe because of all the extra cancer the surgeon found?  It's almost 4" wide, and purple, where the surgeon used a purple marker to indicate where he planned to make the initial incision.  Imagine if he'd used a red marker! 😄 

 Oh, it's starting to itch!  Unfortunately, I can't put anything on it to ease the itch until Sunday; for now, I just scratch around it and try to be content with that.

Getting my throat cut (aka thyroidectomy) and words you don't want to hear from your surgeon

 Mom used to joke, when she was particularly hungry, that "My stomach thinks my throat's been slit."  That cracked up my pre-op nurses when I told them I was getting hungry. 

 I think I scored points with my anesthesiologist when I guessed, correctly, that her name was Lebanese:  Arabic-sounding but with a French spelling.  In fact, my care team was a regular mini-UN: countries represented included Ethiopia, Lebanon, Korea, Phillipines, Nepal, and Cameroon!  Pretty cool! 

The OR was kinda fancy - narrow operating table, but it felt like it had lots of places where they could attach wedges or something to make sure I didn't move while the surgeon was digging around in my throat.  It also had 2 great big lights overhead - think an overgrown Ring light - that seemed to have a series of LEDs in them and were on moveable arms.  The anesthesia kicked in almost immediately so I don't remember a thing until I woke up in Recovery.

Except they call it the PACU - Post-Anesthesia Care Unit - which doesn't begin to convey what you go through.  Not just trying to come out of anesthesia, but dealing with the way my throat muscles feel after all the pushing, pulling and carving they were subjected to.  I got a rather lame dinner - meat loaf with gravy (which I didn't touch), some sad mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, diced pears (the only thing I finished), and a tiny container of ice cream so bad I didn't bother after the first coupla bites.  The Chief fed me some chocolate pudding once we got home, just to get some calories in me.

Practically the first thing the surgeon said when he came back to check on me was, "Your surgery was (tiny pause) challenging."  As expected, the surgeon found cancer in the R lobe, where we thought the only cancerous nodule was. It was “tightly adherent to the trachea and I had to shave a little bit of the trachea to get it out.”  Unfortunately, there was also a surprise in the L lobe:  “a similar-appearing mass that had grown through the thyroid gland and was tightly adherent to the nerve to your voice box and also was trying to extend into your voice box.”  No wonder my throat muscles are so sore!

 

That first night was rough - my face and fingers started feeling tingly, so I took some calcium, then got so nauseated that the Chief had to go out to get a Zofran Rx for me.  (Throwing up didn't feel as bad as I feared, but not what you want to be doing immediately post-op.)  Turned out, the pharmacy gave him my calcitriol Rx, not the Zofran, so he had to go back for it yesterday morning. 

Now we wait for the pathology report to come back.  Not good when the mass has grown through the original organ, but it doesn't sound like they had to take any lymph nodes, which I hope is a good sign.

They have to wait at least 6 weeks for things to heal up before the radioactive iodine, which my endocrinologist will set up.  I have a phone appointment with her on Sept. 9.

 

The medical adventures continue; cancer

 Two years ago I tore a meniscus (that HURT!!!) and started months of PT.  Whether because of the PT or the way my gait changed, the arthritis in my R hip got so bad that last year I ended up getting a new R hip, just 3 days after the Chief had surgery to remedy crippling sciatica.

In November I had an MRI of my arthritic neck.  It found a daisy chain of bone spurs, and oh by the way, you've got some thyroid nodules.  I had to have them biopsied (not fun!), twice. 

The 2nd biopsy was in January.  For some reason, the sample didn't get sent for genetic testing, as it should have been, until my endocrinologist followed up in May.  Came back as papillary thyroid cancer.  Met with the surgeon, whose colleagues think very highly of him, in early June.  Finally had my thyroidectomy the other day; that gets its own post.

So far in my theater year...

 1. I learned I'd won an award for the makeup I designed for a production of Blithe Spirit last fall.  

 2. I was in the ensemble of a production of Elixir of Love.  As the housekeeper, my costume was all black, which made me just about invisible backstage. I joked that I was a walking curtain leg!  I also bought myself a fancy chatelaine & a few accessories from Etsy, just because. And yes, I designed the hair and makeup, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  I designed and was in the ensemble of a production of Patience, set in a 1950s coffee shop.  That meant 50s hair for the ladies.  I let mine grow out a little so I could approximate a period wave.  Unfortunately, I had to sit out the 2nd weekend for a weird reason.  I'd been battling recurring sinus infections since Elixir closed, so they had me on Bactrim, which elevated my temperature.  Weird!  I was able to come back for the final performance, but didn't have the energy to "suit up" and go onstage.  However, at the MD's request, I did sing from the wings.

4. After I'd committed to Patience, I was asked to design Drowsy Chaperone.  1920s - fun period!  However, their dates overlapped, and of course I had rehearsals and such for Patience.  I told them that I'd love to design the show but had a prior commitment and gave them my lengthy list of conflicts.  They still wanted me, and found someone to help.  That worked out beautifully!  Diana & I worked well together, we got to work on a fun show that looked great, and I was still able to meet my commitments to Patience.  I wouldn't do overlapping shows again (I was home maybe 3 nights the entire month of May), but I'm glad I got the chance to do Chaperone.

5. I had so much fun with Blithe Spirit last year that when I found out that the Chaperone company was doing Blithe Spirit, I offered to design it. This time I get to put blacklight makeup on the ghosts, and do slightly different hairstyles; closer to mid-1930s than 1940.  (Another fun period to design.)

6. October will bring Caroline, or Change.  To my surprise & relief, the director has 2 of us doing hair & makeup: I'm doing the white folks and she's doing the Black folks. I'm looking forward to looking how to care for and style Black hair; there's always more to learn!  Not to mention this will be my first show set in the 1960s; guess I'll be "forced" to research styles for a period I haven't designed before. 😊

And I got to spend a day in a country setting singing G&S with about 3 dozen like-minded folks.  I haven't done that in ages - great fun!