What a pain in the neck....literally.

Well my dreaded thyroid surgery was on Monday and I'm happy to say the procedure went smoothly. I was in and out of the operating room very quickly and before I knew it, I was recovering in my hospital room. My surgeon said the procedure went well and she took out the majority of my left thyroid, as well as the massive nodule that had taken up so much of my neck. She said that the nodule didn't look suspicious and everything else looked healthy so she was very optimistic. After one night in the hospital, I was sent home to rest and recuperate. I must say that my experience at Palmetto Richland Hospital was absolutely wonderful. I had the best nursing staff anyone could have hoped for and I really can't think of one single complaint! They were great.
The recovery hasn't been too bad...I've had quite a bit of soreness and some pain but nothing that isn't tolerable. (and nothing some pain meds can't fix!) I have a decent sized incision on my neck but instead of stitches, it's held together with skin glue. It's really quite lovely! (note the sarcasm.) Other than not being able to lift, and no driving until I'm able to turn my head comfortably, there are really no restrictions. I've been able to eat normally which is good. This week has really given me a chance to catch up on daytime TV, watch a few movies, and learn the joy of not showering regularly. (oops...was that TMI? .....I HAVE showered by the way!) I'm taking pain medication less and less and am now able to pretty much turn my head normally with only minor discomfort so I think I'll be back to normal in just a couple more days. Hallelujah!
Anyways, although my doctor thought everything looked pretty healthy during the surgery, it was still necessary for everything to be sent off for a pathology test. We got the results yesterday afternoon. The good news- the large nodule that was removed was completely benign. The bad news- there was a small area beside the nodule that came back positive for thyroid cancer. Those were pretty scary words for a 25 year old to hear and I think I spent several hours in shock. But, while cancer is very scary and no one wants to hear that diagnosis, the good news is this is an extremely curable cancer. My doctor is confident (as am I) that this will be completely treatable and, as she put it, this will only be a minor speed bump in my life. The affected area is very small apparently and from what I understand we can either leave it and monitor it for growth, or we can go back in and remove the rest of the thyroid and be done with it. My surgeon wants to go forward and remove it, however she wanted to confer with my endocrinologist before any decisions are made. I'd imagine we'll have some answers some time next week about the next course of action.
Now that I've had time to internalize everything and accept it, I feel good about the situation. I know that everything will be fine, and like my doctor said, this is a minor speed bump. The worst thing that can happen? I'll have my thyroid completely removed and have to take thyroid medication for the rest of my life. Not too terrible and it could definitely be a lot worse, so I'm very thankful for that.
I appreciate those of you who have been praying for me...it means so much to have friends who care. I will definitely keep everyone posted on any new developments.
Now- off to the shower..as I am suddenly very aware of the length of time it's been since my last one. Ha!!! :)
Love Yall!

Because I'm bad..I'm bad...come on

I'm not talking about me...I'm talking about my wonderful, sweet, beautiful little boy......who has turned into a very BAD boy. We now have a very opinionated, hard headed, mischievous, rebellious little boy on our hands. We are constantly being tested and "NO!" is something we hear on a regular basis. I was even told today that Bryson got in trouble and put in time out several times at daycare for throwing things. After he got out of time out he apparently went right back to what he was doing before hand....which of course landed him back in time out. Ayyy yi yi! (not sure if I spelled that correctly...a big SIGH would be appropriate too.) The only thing I keep hearing from other parents is "just wait til he's two!". Ummm please don't tell me that because he's already bad enough now! I'm really hoping this phase will be short lived and before too long we'll have our sweet little baby boy back. (I'm not holding my breath)
Now don't get me wrong, Bryson still has his sweet moments and he can give kisses and hugs that will absolutely melt your heart. He also keeps us constantly laughing with all the silly stuff he does. One of his favorite things to do is chase the dogs around the house and call them. "Dinder!!" "Oey!!" (Ginger and Joey) So cute. He also loves to run from one end of the house to the other back and forth back and forth. He will giggle and laugh the whole time he's running. It is exhausting just WATCHING him. He is one little ball of energy.
We are also hearing all kinds of words and some partial sentences which is really neat. It seems like every day he's learned a new word and is able to communicate something else to us. The most recent words/phrases we've learned are: Lets go! Outside!, Milk (mulk), Truck (shuck), Water (wawies), Flowers (fowies) (sometimes water and flowers are interchangeable when he wants to water the flowers "Mommy! Wawies, wawies!!") ...that's just some of the many. In a nutshell we have a crazy, silly, rambunctious, wild little boy....but I'm still loving every minute of being his Mommy! And NO we will not be having any more any time soon!!! :)

Here are some pics from earlier tonight:

He was cheesin big time!!!


He likes to talk to his reflection on the shower handle

Hiney shot!

This was when he decided screaming at the top of his lungs would make bath time so much more fun....


Got toys?

One more time...on a more personal note..

I figured I'd let all of you faithful bloggers know what's currently going on with me personally. A couple months back, I noticed a large lump on my neck about the size of a golf ball. Understandably alarmed, I immediately called to make an appointment with my family doctor. Meanwhile, I did what anybody would do in a situation like that....I googled it. I realized that it was mostly likely a thyroid nodule, which my doctor confirmed. I had some blood work done to test my thyroid, which came back normal. I then was sent to have a thyroid ultrasound done, which further confirmed the presence of a 4.5 cm nodule, and then was referred to an endocronologist. After 1 visit with him, he suggested a needle biopsy be done to test for the possibility of cancer. I went in for my biopsy and the doctor took 4-5 samples from the nodule and sent them off for testing. The biopsy results came back suspicious and overall inconclusive. There wasn't sufficient evidence to say whether it was benign or malignant. Because of the suspicious biopsy report and the large size of the nodule, surgery was recommended. Fortunately for me, one of the recommended surgeons just HAPPENS to be Bryson's ENT who we absolutely love and trust. (YES PLEASE, I'll take her!)
After meeting with the surgeon, we found out exactly what we're looking at. I'll be going in on May 10th to have a thyroid lobectomy. She will remove the left side of my thyroid (which includes the nodule) and will then send it off for testing. If it comes back to be malignant, then she will have to remove the rest of my thyroid and I'll be on thyroid medication the rest of my life. If it comes back benign, there shouldn't be any other treatment. The right side of my thyroid should continue to do it's job and I wont need any kind of thyroid treatment.
So, in a nutshell, I'll have a little surgery and have a week off of work to relax and hang out around the house. Not too bad! I'm just really ready to get this over with. I feel like I've been going in circles for the past 2 months and am finally ready to get some answers.
So wish me luck! I'll definitely keep everyone posted on the outcome.

House for sale!

As many of you already know, our house is currently up for sale. We were hoping to appeal to some first time home buyers who were looking to sign a contract by April 30th, but that didn't work out for us. As of right now, we have one person who is very interested but no offers yet. Selling a house is one of the most stressful things I think I've ever been through. It's definitely been a roller coaster ride for sure! On the bright side...our house has never been so clean! Maybe we should always keep it on the market so it has to always be clean? Hmmmm, food for thought.

We've picked out a couple of neighborhoods that we really like and will most likely choose one of these to buy in. Both have the same builder so it's really just a matter of which location we like best. We are just so ready to move on from this house and this neighborhood. Hopefully we'll be able to do that soon. Until then, keep your fingers crossed for us! I'll keep you posted.

Oh...and PS, if you're interested in buying a lovely 3BR, 2 BA home...just let me know! ;)

Trips galore!

Well, as my husband pointed out to me recently, I really needed to update this blog!! A lot has been going on over the past couple of months and finding the time to blog just hasn't happened. Oh well...better late than never!
I experienced two firsts in my life this past month. 1- My first trip to NYC!!! 2- My first trip away from Bryson!
My mom and I ventured up to the Big Apple to celebrate her 50th birthday. We had a blast! It was a first for both of us so it was fun to see everything together. We did about everything we could squeeze in during our 3 1/2 day trip...Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, 2 Broadway Shows, Double Decker Bus Tour, a few celebrity sightings...etc etc etc. And.....I survived being away from my baby boy! I actually realized how good it is to get away sometimes and how I NEED to get away from time to time. It sure was good to come home and see his smiling face though! Here are some pictures from our trip:
Top of the Empire State Building


Loooooooved it!!

This may look like a blurry pic...however it is Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise getting out of their car at our hotel! Pretty cool!

Me and Mom

A visit to the Today Show:

Ann is my fave!

Saw Phantom too!

Picking Lady Liberty's nose


First cab ride in NYC...a little scary.


Pickle? Yes please.

There are soooo many more pictures from our trip, however, I'm getting so frustrated with Blogger uploader that I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.
After returning back from my trip to NYC, Jeffrey and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary with a trip to Gatlinburg, TN for a long weekend getaway. We had such a nice time just relaxing and doing NOTHING. (2 trips away from the baby in one month?! I'm getting good at this!) It was definitely a nice way to celebrate our 3 years together.
I think this may be our last trip for a little while! Fun fun times!

Tube Update

Just wanted to post a quick update on Bryson's surgery this morning. Our arrival time was set for 8:00 AM, which immediately concerned me considering Bryson was not to eat or drink from 12:00 AM on. In an effort to wear Bryson out last night, we took him out to eat and also kept him up until well after 9:00 PM. About 2:00 AM we heard him crying and much to our disappointment he had thrown up all over himself. Every now and then he does this in the middle of the night out of nowhere and is completely fine afterwards. Fortunately this was one of those instances. So we cleaned him up the best we could and put him back to bed. Thankfully he slept thru the rest of the night and was an angel this morning even without his cup of milk! The only tears we saw all morning were when the nurse was putting the little monitor thing on his foot which he did not like at all. He played and talked until it was time to take him back and then before we knew it the procedure was over and done with and we were on our way home! He has been playing and napping all morning. This is just such a 180 change from the last time and I'm sooo glad it has gone so smoothly and has not affected him the way it did previously. So hopefully this is the LAST time we will have to have this surgery done! I surely don't want to put him thru it again! Here are some pics:

Last night at dinner

Before Surgery:

After Surgery:

A White February?

Hello All!

It has definitely been an interesting winter this year! Last weekend we experienced something that's very rare here in the south...snow! And lots of it! I'm not sure what the grand total was after everything was all said and done but I'm sure it was a good 5 inches and more in some areas! It was definitely the snow storm of the decade for us. The fun part is this was Bryson's first snow so watching him experience that was really awesome. He really didn't know what to think of everything but he enjoyed himself. I will say that while snow is fun for a little while, I am so glad it didn't stick around long! Here are some pics of the snow.

In other news, Bryson is having his second tube surgery this Friday on his R ear. For whatever reason the first tube decided to come back out so unfortunately we have to go thru the entire process again. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the LAST time we will have to do this. I'm not quite as anxious this time around since I know what to expect. Still, it's no fun to have your child undergo surgery of any kind! I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly and he recovers quickly.

Other than that, there's not a whole lot going on in our world. We did get a new laptop and I can say that we are officially Macs now. I'm still learning how to use this thing but I'm hoping that by having this, I might update the blog more frequently. I wont make any promises though! We also got a nifty little video camera so I'm hoping that uploading videos will be a lot easier so I can post some soon. (again, no promises!) :)

Until next time!