A New Man (Doctor) and The Plan

Yesterday, I went to see my new doctor...he is wonderful!  When I arrived at his office, I didn't even have to wait.  He spent an hour and a half...let me repeat that, an hour and a half...in the room with me.  He completed a very thorough health history for me and my immediate family.  Then, we discussed treatment options.  Finally, he completed a head-to-toe assessment.  When I say "head-to-toe assessment," I mean the type that they teach you in nursing school.  All of my nurse friends will understand this...tactile fremitus, respiratory excursion, abdominal percussion, listening for 60 seconds at the PMI...all of this was included.  I was impressed to say the least.  I even managed to walk out of his office with samples of a new prescription for my migraines...something I have not taken anything but OTC drugs for in years because I hate the side effects of the traditional drugs.  He was quick to suggest something without any side effects...I like it.  Only downside to this drug is that it is mixed with a small amount of water before you drink it, and it is flavored with anise (my family will understand why this is a negative). I digress.

Inpatient treatment is scheduled for November 8th...lucky for me, this is the first day that I am eligible for FMLA.  We made the decision to be aggressive with treatment, so I am being treated with a high dose of I-131.  The doctor made me laugh when he let me know that he was using the term "inpatient" very loosely.  Basically, they will take me into a room, give me the I-131, and leave me there for 3 days.  I can call if I need something, but otherwise, there will be limited interaction.  Anything that I bring with me has to stay in the room because it will become radioactive.  If I could take my laptop, at least I could work on school.  Instead, I will be reading, watching TV, and sleeping.  Not too bad. 

The only negative is that I am really feeling the effects of the hypothyroidism at this point...extreme fatigue, muscle aches, dry skin...you get the picture.  It is making the 12-hour shifts close to unbearable, but I am trying my best to keep up the positive attitude and the smile on my face...whatever will get me through the day.  It could be worse...right?

In preparation for the radioactive iodine treatment, I have to follow a very strict low-iodine diet.  I will follow this diet until after treatment and my follow-up scan.  As someone that eats very little beef, chicken, and pork, I get most of my protein from fish, eggs, soy, dairy, nuts, and beans.  This diet does not fit with this style of eating.  I can't have anything that comes from the sea, no eggs, no dairy, no packaged or processed food, no soy, and no baked goods (including bread).  Basically, nothing that contains iodine or salt.  I can have raw unprocessed nuts and beans prepared from dry.  I can have fresh fruits and vegetables, 4 servings of grains per day (unprocessed), honey, maple syrup, vinegar, 6 ounces of meat per day, oils, and fresh herbs and spices.  As you know, I love to cook, so this diet makes me want to cry.  For breakfast, I ate 2 salt-free Kosher rice cakes with unsalted and unsweetened peanut and flax seed spread with honey, an apple, and a clementine.  For lunch, I am having a half cup of orzo mixed with two cups of spinach, dried cranberries, white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, green onion, and black pepper.  Concord grapes and raspberries are my afternoon snack.  Not a clue as to what I will eat for dinner.  I am going to have to come up with some more salty foods that I can prepare because sweets are not that appealing to me.  The fact that I can use non-iodized salt is a plus.  Now, if only I could find someone to bake me some bread.  I am not a baker, and I would pay someone to bake bread for me.  I have some approved recipes...any takers?

So, that's the update! Until next time, I love you all!

Love- K

By Popular Demand: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

It is no secret to anyone that I love salty snacks!  You can keep the cake, cookies, and ice cream.  I crave salty and crunchy.  With everyone carving their pumpkins around this time of the year, I have had several people ask me if I have a recipe for roasting pumpkin seeds.  No surprise, of course, I do!  This salty snack is as easy as it gets, and kids will love helping out.  I find that their little fingers are perfect for sorting through the pulp to find the seeds.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2) Separate the pumpkin seeds from the pulp and rinse the seeds in a colander.  Shake off the excess water.
3) Oil a baking sheet.  Spread the seeds in a single layer on the sheet.  Roast in the oven for 30 minutes to dry out the seeds.
4) Remove the seeds from the oven and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper (or additional spice flavors).  Return to the oven and bake an additional 20 minutes, until crisp and golden.  Enjoy!

Here are some yummy flavor combinations that I found in Food Network Magazine this year:

Sweet
Toss with cinnamon and sugar (do not use salt in step 4).

Indian
Toss with garam masala; mix with currants after roasting.

Spanish
Toss with smoked paprika; mix with slivered almonds after roasting.

Italian
Toss with grated parmesan and dried oregano.

Barbecue
Toss with brown sugar, chipotle chile powder and ground cumin.

Surprises, Smiles, and Sinking Ships

So much has gone on in the past month that I have a hard time remembering it all thanks to my perpetual "brain fog"...and yes, that is actually the terminology used by physicians to describe the foggy feeling that goes along with the hypothyroid state...add that to my "mommy brain," and you get some serious forgetfulness.  It's a good thing I write everything down.  I am going to try to recap the past couple of weeks, but I am sure I will leave some things out along the way.

The Husby and I celebrated our wedding anniversary last week...5 years married, and our first date was around the same time 15 years ago.  It's crazy to think that we have known each other for that long, and to me, it doesn't seem like we have been married for 5 years...The Husby says it seems much longer...ha!  When we first married, The Husby had recently purchased a jet ski...one of his prized possessions. But with kids and the busyness of life in general, the jet ski was rarely used.  Eventually, the decision was made to sell it, and I could tell that The Husby was heartbroken.  For this anniversary, I wanted to do something really special.  We all love to fish, and The Husby has wanted to purchase a boat for years.  What better present could there be than a brand new fishing boat?

I am awful at keeping secrets from The Husby, so the fact that this remained a secret over the 3-month process of purchasing this boat is a miracle.  I have never been so nervous and excited...not since I was a little kid waiting for Christmas morning.  I woke up at 4 am the morning I was supposed to go pick-up the boat and laid in bed wide awake until 6 am.  I led The Husby to believe I was getting up to hit an early bird sale where I was shopping for some new dress pants for him as an anniversary present...boring, huh?  I'm sure he was less than thrilled by the sentiment.  Instead, I drove out to the Bass Pro Shop where I was picking up the new boat. 

When I returned home with the boat, I pulled up in front of the house.  I went inside to surprise him.  Unexpectedly, I broke down and started crying while I was telling him how much I love and appreciate him.  I handed him the keys to the boat and he said, "What's this?"  I told him to go look out in front of the house.  When he stepped outside, I could see that he was so excited.  He and StickyBun-Scotti went bounding down the stairs to check out the boat.  We decided that it would be best if he familiarized himself with the boat and the manual before we took it to the lake, so the plan was to go to the lake the next day.

There were two things that the mechanic at the Bass Pro Shop told me I needed to make sure I kept track of...the boat keys and the bilge plug.  I handed both of them over to The Husby, and he made sure that the bilge plug was inserted before we went to the lake.  When we arrived at the lake, we backed the boat into the water.  The Husby drove the boat over to the dock while I pulled the trailer into the parking lot.  When I got down to the dock, I helped StickyBun-Scotti get onto the boat, but then I noticed that the back of the boat seemed to be taking on water...all I could hear was "glug, glug, glug." I looked at The Husby and said, "Something is not right.  We need to get the boat out of the water."  I quickly grabbed StickyBun-Scotti, and The Husby ran to get the trailer.  Luckily, a few men standing nearby, after docking their boat, saw the panicked look on my face and came over to help.  They helped us get the boat out of the water and onto the trailer.  It turns out that The Husby had inserted the bilge plug into the livewell water uptake hole instead of the hole on the other rear side of the boat.  He was inadvertently sinking his new boat.  We couldn't do anything but laugh at this point.  After all of the water drained, we had an enjoyable day of fishing on Lay Lake.  I told The Husby that I could not imagine calling the insurance company and having to say, "Hi, you know the new boat that I bought on Saturday?  Well, we sunk it on Sunday."  Thank goodness, that was a call I did not have to make.

So, now for the health update...I have been feeling pretty bad over the past few weeks...both physically and emotionally.  I have consistently run a fever between 99.6 and 101 for the past 4 weeks, but I have no other symptoms besides the usual ones that go along with being hypothyroid.  I have an appointment with my new endocrinologist on Wednesday to draw my labs and schedule my treatment.  I am very excited to meet with this new doctor, and I think that he is going to be wonderful based on the feedback from others. 

I will update after the appointment on Wednesday!  Until then, I love you all!

Love- K

Life On Cruise Control

I have officially reached Day 3 of 4 for the work week, and I feel my body losing its gusto.  As bad as I am feeling, I have to admit, it beats sitting in a house, alone, all day.  I love the people I work with...I feed off of their energy...they make me smile...they make me laugh...they lift my spirits...and that counts for a whole lot these days.  I know that these are people that I can always count on for anything, and for that, I am very grateful.  Slowly, but surely, I feel like I am getting my groove back at work, with the help of my wonderful co-workers.  If it wasn't for them, this could be something I would dread getting up for in the mornings.  Because of them, my days are better and brighter.  

Overall, it has been a really good week.  I celebrated my 30th birthday on Wednesday!  Unfortunately, we ended up doing a "day late" celebration on Thursday because I was sick with a stomach bug on my actual birthday, but I have no complaints...it was still wonderful.  I think that a lot of people dread their 30th birthday, but I feel like I am finally at a point in my life where I am comfortable...career, children, marriage, finances...everything comfortable enough that my stress level is significantly lower than it has ever been, and I feel like life is on cruise control.  If this is what my 30's is all about...I like it!

Love- K

Can't Carry a Tune

Prior to surgery, Dr. Best let me know that there may be some side effects associated with surgery.  Because the vocal chords are manipulated during surgery, changes to the voice can occur that may be temporary or can turn out to be permanent.  For me, the changes have been pretty noticeable.  My voice is not as strong as it was before, and it takes a lot more effort for me to speak at higher volumes.  One thing that my husband and children love is that I can no longer yell.  Yep, that's right, not at all.  I can't get my kids attention if I try.  Which is kind of nice, because now, I don't even try to yell.  Another noticeable change is that I can't sing anymore...can't carry a tune in a bucket.  I'm not saying that I was some incredible singer to begin with, but I could sing...as only my show choir and musical theater peeps would know.  Now, I need Songify just to sing along with the radio.  It is awful...flat, tone deaf awful.  It makes me laugh.  I'm starting to think that my kids and The Husby are reaping the benefits here...no yelling and no singing.

All is well, I am feeling okay.  The best way to describe how I feel is "like I am nine months pregnant."  Everything is exhausting, my muscles hurt, my joints hurt, and my brain is foggy.  Hopefully, all of this will go away after I complete treatment, and they begin supplementing me with T4.  Right now, all I am getting is T3, and it just doesn't seem to be doing the whole job.  I will start treatment sometime in November.  My appointment with the endocrinologist is on November 7th.  After meeting with him, I will be taken off of all supplementation and start a special diet for two weeks before treatment.  Once I start the radioactive iodine treatment, I will be admitted to the hospital for three days before I can be discharged.  I won't be able to return home for almost 2 weeks following the start of treatment since I can't be around women of child-bearing age or children.  That will probably be the hardest part...going without seeing my babies for so long.  It makes me sad to even think about it.  The Husby asked me if I was going to glow in the dark since I would be radioactive...he always knows how to take my mind off of the sadder things by making me laugh.

I start back to work tomorrow, and I am worried about having the stamina to push through from morning until night.  Please send those energy vibes my way this week...I am going to need them.  Until next time, I love you all.

xoxoxo- K