It's Been A Long Summer

This is my first blog, and I really don't think I'm very good at it. I ask my daughter what I should blog about. She said "well, whatever you want to." So I decided I would give that a try.

This has been a really long summer for my husband and myself. My husband has had some heart problems for about 5 years. Those problems turned into needing a mitro valve repair or replacement a few of months ago.
In the meantime, I have discovered a nodule in my thyroid. Since having the left side of my thyroid removed 4 years ago, I have kept a close watch on the other side. My mother had thyroid cancer, so I needed to watch mine closely. In doing that a dominate nodule was discovered. So off to UCLA to see what the surgeon wanted to do this time. He suggested a needle biopsy, and I suggested just removing it. He agreed, and on July 9th that's what happened. The doctor said he didn't see anything out of the ordinary during surgery. That was good news and also short lived. I guess that's why they send it to the lab. So a week later at my follow up appointment he gave me the news. A tiny tumor was found that was cancer. It was 1mm. Very small, but still cancer.
So while I am getting this news, my husband is across the street at the Cardiologist's office talking to him about his heart valve. Since we don't live in the Los Angeles area, we planned out appointments on the same day. Since I wasn't expecting the news I got, I sent my husband on to his appointment. I would join him as soon as I was done.
I did make my husband appointment in time. It was decided he needed to have the valve repaired (hopefully, and not replaced). It was also decided that it probably could be done with a Robot!! That was good news, since it's a less invasive surgery. So, we leave with all this information swimming around in our heads. Cancer....open heart surgery..... it was a full day.

Husbands Surgery

Well, we weren't really excited about it, but it just had to be done. We arrived at the hospital the day before surgery. The doctors had some pre-surgery tests to do. It was a tough day. Doctors all coming in to tell you what could go wrong and if it did this could happen, and if that happened, this could be the result. I know that they have to do all that, but it kinda freaked me out. By the time I got to my hotel room I was spent. Of course I couldn't sleep, so at 4:00 am I am back in his hospital room. Surgery was scheduled for 9:00 am, so at 8:00 he's off to OR. It was a little tough to see him going down the hallway towards the OR.
But it had to be done.
It was a really long day. It was 11:00 pm before I was allowed to see him in ICU. The surgery had gone really well. The valve was repaired and they were able to do it using the Robot. But....as they were moving him from the OR table to the gurney to take him to ICU, his blood pressure dropped and he was bleeding. So they had to reopen and find the bleed. It turned out not to be the heart at all. It was from a vein in his neck that they had attempted to place a line to use during surgery. It clotted and the clot dropped down behind his lung. Very serious. But the Dr. is incredible and he stops the bleeding.
So, eight days after my husband enters the hospital, he is home and starting to recover. This is now day 16 after surgery and we went out for our favorite meal....Mexican!!!

So I still have to deal with my issue. I will need Iodine Radiation. It's not a big deal, the Radiation just gets rid of any little pesky cells hanging around.
So, I will be taking care of that soon. Think I'll watch the Olympics. Later...