84 Days

Yesterday afternoon we got a call from my surgeon’s office to meet him today, Friday, 2/17/2017. 

The hubby and I both had a feeling that we already knew the outcome. The doctors have been hinting at it for the last three months, 84 days to be exact. 

So we went to the appointment and waited in the exam room for what seemed like forever. As I waited, I read Psalm 59: 16-17 to myself over and over again. 

“But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭59:16-17 ESV

That helped to calm my nerves a bit. 

My hunch grew stronger when the surgeon came in with another doctor in a white coat. He got straight to the point and said that it was in fact cancer. Papulillary Thyroid Carcinoma, to be exact. Which has a 90% survival rate. We both took the news pretty well, considering we have had the chance to process this possibility for almost three months. 

Now the unexpected news. Apparently, according to the surgeon, I am “special”. My vocal cords sprout earlier than most people, which makes the surgery a bit more difficult. He checked the progress of my vocal cord recovery and they aren’t healing as quickly as he would like so we are going to push the next surgery back a few weeks. Since my PTC is pretty slow growing he is comfortable waiting a little bit to lessen the risk of bilateral vocal cord paralysis. So we decided that was the safest option at this point. 

In about six weeks I should have my next surgery. They will remove the rest of my thyroid and remove the lymph nodes on the left side of my neck. And about four to six weeks after that I will do Iodine Radiation. 

I know there is a long road ahead of me, but I am just glad to know that we finally have answers and a plan.