Surgery updates

Thyroid

Less than a month after his partial thyroidectomy, hubby already played softball again! The healing is amazing.
Below is a combination picture - taken less than 24 hours apart. The first one was taken shortly after surgery. Tape measure is around his neck to check for any swelling.
The next day, the tape measure was gone and he looked a little bit more "there"! The draining tube was removed about 24 hours after surgery and only left a small scab.

A week later, we had to go in for the stitches to be removed. Since it was only a single stitch, sort of like a blanket stitch (new to us!) I hardly had time to get the camera in place for a picture! He said it was more trouble to have the steri strips being pulled off than for the stitch to be removed.

The surgeon was happy with the result after seven days. We are still waiting for the pathology results of the removed half of the thyroid, though. I was hoping to have that ready and was holding off on this update for that reason.

Picture to the right was taken a week and one day after surgery, only hours after the stitch was removed.

Thank you for all the messages of concern and offers of help!

Meningioma

If you read a previous entry on this blog, you would know that I was diagnosed with a brain tumour, called a meningioma. My surgery is still scheduled for September 8 at Trillium hospital. By all accounts, their neurological department is excellent. (And it seems they have better coffee than Brampton Civic, which will be a plus! But I'm packing my rooibos teabags anyway.)

Realized last week I might need blood transfusion for my surgery. My sons have been blood donors for about 8 years, and I can use both their groups. I am A+; so is younger son and elder son is O+.  Called to ask if they can donate blood to be used for me, found out I would need about 2 litres during surgery. So that is in the works.

Blood Services Canada said  a parent can donate blood to be used for a child's surgery, but an adult child can't donate blood for a parent's surgery. Silly and makes utterly no sense! Now the surgeon's office is trying to let me know how we can go about using the boys' blood. Voicemail was garbled , though. I said if it is too much trouble, I'd just ask my sons and a few friends to go donate blood, which means the general pool gets replenished.

Oh yes, and the hair! So may people asked if I will have to shave my head. The surgeon said they'll shave what they need, but I decided to have fun with it. So did the hairdresser. She created a funky, spiky hairstyle, which will be cut once more before surgery and go quite a bit shorter. Another friend is making me a very bright hat so that people don't have to get sick when they look at me after surgery!

Here is a picture with a friend on the city plaza while we were enjoying the Farmer's Market. I'm the one on the right .... What do you think?

I'm still playing with it and learning how to do different things with the spikes. Part of it is adding some colour, using cream eye shadow. It works, and washes out with shampoo.

As for symptoms - headaches, fatigue (especially while working on the computer) and sometimes an unexplained twitch of the leg or arm might all have to do with the mushroom I'm growing in my head.

A very interesting year for us, indeed! 

Thank you to friends and family near and far, who carry us in thought and prayer.