My Head Is Spinning

"I don't know what's going on right now. I'm a little foggy, a little dizzy. It's crazy. Crazy!" Robbie Ginepri, American Tennis Player

I know exactly how he feels! I have been getting dizzy spells the last few days, just little ones...but they're becoming more frequent.

My pharmacist warned me about dizzy spells and feeling woozy when I first picked up my script for Eltroxin. She said if I felt a bit weird to head to my GP and get my blood pressure checked, just in case. She claimed that Eltroxin could sometimes cause your blood pressure to plummet, as your body adjusted to it etc.

So I checked my BP at home just now, after my most recent dizzy spell, and its fine (and yes, I have checked the accuracy of my own machine against my doctor's sphygmomanometer). My BP came in at 123/87....at the high end of normal, but not quite into the high-normal range, if that makes sense...but definitely not low, which is what the pharmacist warned me of.

Looking forward to getting my blood tests done again next week, was just discussing with hubby that I *think* I might be going slightly hyper....just a hunch. But the last couple of days I can't sit still, I want to be doing stuff constantly...real ants-in-your-pants, fidgety frustration and anxiousness (without being quite full blown anxiety) to get up and go...do stuff. I'm going to bed stupid late (around 2am) and lying there with my head buzzing to bursting point with thoughts and ideas, because I'm not tired, then up early in the morning raring to go, but with nothing to do, and getting frustrated with that...or with so much to do, but not enough cognitive organisation to get stuck into anything, so I don't know where to start!
I also can't keep a thought in my head for more than 30 seconds, and I imagine trying to hold a sensible conversation with me right now is a total nightmare, as I keep jumping from subject to subject, with no logical train of thought....just blurting things out as they come into my head, because if I don't I'll forget what I was thinking about.

A stitch in time...

...but how much time? How long does it take for dissolving stitches to dissolve?

At either end of my scar I can just about feel what feels like a tiny piece of fishing line. Now I'm sure my surgeon didn't use fishing line, he assured me he'd used dissolving stitches, both internally (obviously!) and externally...and that I could just ignore them, they'll go in time....but how much time.

Hubby kept insisting I was imagining it, we both stared and peered at my scar, but couldn't see anything...but if you brush your finger gently across the scar you can definitely feel the stub end of the aforementioned article, that I'll just call fishing line, one bit at each end of the scar.

So how long until they disappear?

Back to my GP next week for another pre-Endo blood draw, so if they are still in evidence then I'll get her to investigate.

I'm having a mixed response to the Bio Oil. I will of course keep going with it, and I hope that in a few months time I will be absolutely singing its praises to the highest...but my observations for now are both good and bad.

On the one hand, it seems to make the scar sore immediately after I apply it...the soreness is only temporary, and not all *that* sore if I'm honest, but it definitely results in soreness where there was no soreness prior to application. Is this just because the scar is getting direct physical attention for the first time in 3 weeks? Or is the evidence of some possible left-over stitches a sign that I shouldn't be using the oil yet, ie the site is not totally sealed yet?
But on a more positive note, it seems the gentle massage of the area, during application of the oil, gives instant results in improved neck mobility. I find the scar gets tight, and my neck gets stiff, both overnight and as the day wears on, and yet as soon as I've given it some gentle attention with the Bio Oil, the scar feels much less tight and I can turn my neck to the left and right with a lot more ease.

In other news...I finally got the Wii Fit out again, and had an enjoyable 30 minute session on it this morning. I know I mentioned starting again with it a couple of weeks ago, but when the crunch came down I just didn't feel up to it. But I was delighted to find a lot of my regular exercises weren't nearly as difficult or painful as I expected them to be. If anything, I could do most stuff, but obviously took it easier on some of the games. I struggled with anything that involved holding my arms above my head, that really seems to pull on my neck, and some of the more obscure yoga stretches weren't achievable because I was afraid of straining my neck. However I still had a satisfactory session, and worked up a good sweat!

News Article: Nitrates in water and food may increase womens' thyroid cancer risks

Original Article here: Environmental Health News . Org

Authors: Ward, MH, BA Kilfoy, PJ Weyer, KE Anderson, AR Folsom and JR Cerhand. 2010.

Synopsis by Ami Zota, Sc.D

Long-term exposure to nitrates through food and water may increase a woman's risk of thyroid disease, finds a study of older women in Iowa. Public water supplies contaminated with nitrates increased the risk of thyroid cancer in the women. Eating nitrates from certain vegetables was linked to increases in thyroid cancer and hypothyroidism, one type of thyroid disease.

This is the first study to show a link between nitrates and thyroid cancer in people, although nitrates have been shown to cause thyroid tumors in animal studies.

Thyroid cancer is the eighth most common cancer among women. In the United States, the incidence of thyroid cancer has increased steadily since 1980.

Nitrate is a common contaminant of drinking water, particularly in agricultural areas where nitrogen fertilizers are used. High rates of fertilizer application may also increase the natural nitrate levels found in certain vegetables, such as lettuce and root crops.

Researchers from the National Institute of Health studied 21,977 older women in Iowa who had used the same water supply for more than 10 years. They determined cancer incidence using the state health registry. They estimated nitrate intake from public drinking water sources using a public database of nitrate measurements. Dietary intake was measured through questionnaires. Since nitrate levels in private well water were not available, all private well users were combined into one group.

The results show a nearly three-fold increase in thyroid cancer risk for women with more than five year's use of a public water supply that had nitrate levels of 5 milligrams per liter (mg/L) or above. The maximum contaminant level of nitrate in drinking water is currently set at 10 mg/L in the United States. There was no evidence of elevated thyroid cancer risk among private well users.

Women in the highest group of dietary nitrate intake had a three-fold increase in thyroid cancer risk compared to the lowest group of dietary nitrate intake. Thyroid cancer and hypothyroidism risks increased in the women that ate more nitrate-containing vegetables.

Women were exposed to similar levels of nitrate whether they drank from a public water supply or a private well. Higher dietary nitrate levels were found in women who lived in a larger town, were more educated, exercised more and ate more calories and Vitamin C.

In conjunction with prior studies, the researchers suggest the nitrate inhibits the thyroid glands ability to use iodide. Iodine is a necessary mineral for proper thyroid hormone and gland function.

Today...

News Article: New research indicates higher risk for miscarriage in pregnant women with high thyroid hormone level

Original Article: punchng . com

Pregnant women with thyroid function test results in the upper half of the normal range have an increased chance of miscarriage, even when they lack thyroid-harming antibodies, according to a new study. The results, which the authors say show the need to change screening practices for pregnant women, will be presented at The Endocrine Society‘s 92nd Annual Meeting, ENDO 2010, in San Diego on June 22 by Alex Stagnaro-Green, M.D., senior author and senior associate dean for education at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.


Past studies have reported an increased miscarriage rate in women with an underactive thyroid and in women with a positive thyroid peroxidase antibody test, indicating the presence of antibodies directed against the thyroid.


”This study is the first evidence demonstrating that the upper half of the accepted normal range on thyroid function tests is associated with miscarriage in antibody-negative women. This leads us to think that all pregnant women should be screened for thyroid function and any abnormalities treated,” said Dr. Stagnaro-Green.


Thyroid function is measured by the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) blood test, and anything above the upper limit is an underactive thyroid, called hypothyroidism. Since 2007, the recommended upper limit of the normal range of the TSH test for a pregnant woman has been 2.5 milli-international units per liter (mIU/L) in the first trimester and 3 mIU/L in the second and third trimesters. This recommendation was made by an Endocrine Society international guideline committee, of which Dr. Stagnaro-Green was a member. However, he said doctors have not universally accepted this guideline, and some use 4.5 or 5 mIU/L for an upper limit, the same as for nonpregnant women. Also, not every pregnant woman receives thyroid function screening.


To see if TSH on the high end of normal affects pregnancy outcomes, the researchers determined the pregnancy loss and preterm delivery rates of women who had TSH values between 2.5 and 5 mIU/L in their first trimester of pregnancy. They conducted the study at two community hospitals in Italy among pregnant outpatients who had a TSH level at or below 5 mIU/L during their first semester.


After excluding patients who had positive thyroid antibody tests, the investigators studied 4,123 women. They divided subjects into two groups based on TSH level (mIU/L): group A: below 2.5, excluding those who had an overactive thyroid, and group B: between 2.5 and 5.


There was no difference in the rate of preterm delivery between the two groups. However, the rate of miscarriage was significantly higher in group B (higher normal TSH) than group A (lower normal TSH): 6.1 percent versus 3.6 percent, respectively.


None of the antibody-negative women in the current study received thyroid hormone treatment. However, Dr. Stagnaro-Green said previous research shows that such treatment lowers the miscarriage rate in antibody-positive women.


[Emphasis in the article, added by me]


Since my thyroidectomy, starting a family has moved higher on my list of priorities. All the while I was hypER, and taking carbimazole, it was all but forbidden by every member of my medical care team. So articles like this are of increased interest for me, and hopefully of interest to others who may be in my position.


Interesting that the article specifically makes mention of the fact that there's still an increased risk, even for those who test within *normal* ranges...and hopefully provides further strength to the argument that many thyroid disease sufferers have with the doctors and endos, in that just being within 'normal' range is not necessarily good enough to be feeling well, and that the suggested target TSH level of 1 or below is becoming more and more important to achieve, and to be recognised by the medical profession in general.

Bio Oil for Scars

Yesterday I was given the all-clear by my surgeon to start using Bio Oil.

Many, many people have recommended it for helping to drastically reduce scarring (as well as improving the appearance of stretch marks and uneven skin tone).

Because he used dissolving stitches, and thus I didn't have to go and physically get my stitches taken out, I wasn't sure when to start using it...and my pharmacist had warned me that because Bio Oil is very thin I mustn't use it until the wound was totally sealed...so I waited until my surgeon said it was OK to use it.

Today is the day. Thanks to my lovely Mum I have a 200ml bottle on hand to get started with. And I reckon Amazon looks pretty competitive, price-wise, for sourcing any subsequent bottles I may purchase.

And here, gore fans (and I reckon its safe now for non-gore fans) is the latest scar pics, taken yesterday, 24 days after my thyroidectomy.


You can find out more info on Bio Oil here: www.bio-oil.com

And here's a link to Bio-oil on Amazon

Farewell to my Surgeon

Went back to hospital today for my post-op follow-up with my surgeon (yes, I know I was only there on Tuesday, to see my Endo - but that's how these guys roll I guess)

I was called in to the consultation room by his registrar, but then Mr S himself came in to have a peer at my neck.

They both stated that they thought it looked good, and was healing very well.

Apparently its perfectly normal to have good days and bad days, with regards to stiffness, pain and the tight feeling...that its all part of the healing process, where its all healing internally at different rates. And it'll probably continue to feel like this for a good while yet.
The remaining swelling was minimal, and the scar site itself they both declared looked excellent.

They reiterated that I need to keep the site protected from the sun at all times. That it will take up to a year before the scar heals completely and becomes strong, but that within a couple of months it should be barely noticeable.

I was given the all clear to start lashing Bio Oil on it, and we all bid a fond farewell to each other as my surgeon declared that as far as he was concerned I was all finished with his ENT department. But, should there be a further complication down the road (highly unlikely), all my Endo had to do was pick up the phone and Mr S would put me straight back on his patient list.

I thanked him profusely for all he had done for me. The more I looked into the horrors others have experienced after Thyroid surgery, the more truly appreciative I had become of my surgeon and his skills. (I did a bit of Google stalking - and have to say he comes extremely well recommended and appears to be very highly respected in his speciality by his peers!).
Post-op I had no numbness, no tingling. No obvious deterioration in my voice or vocal chords (other than initial soreness form being tubed during the op). No problems with my parathyroids, or calcium levels, either temporarily or permanently. And none of the other awful things that are known risks of this type of surgery, which have happened to others, and which my Fuzzy Thyroid Brain won't allow me to recall right now...

Oh, and one more bit of good news...they send a sample of the goitre/thyroid gland for a histology report as standard during the op...and mine came back *BENIGN*. Thyroid Cancer is one of the most common reasons to do a total thyroidectomy, but was never in question in my case. My thyroidectomy was due to my toxic multi nodular goitre, which, in addition to raising merry hell with my thyroid levels, was closing on my windpipe and slowly strangling me....but even so, hearing the word *benign* will surely always give someone a little lift!

Farewell Mr S, you're diamond!

Noooooooo !

Just back from my first Endo appointment since my thyroidectomy. Dragged my long-suffering husband along with me, as I didn't want to risk driving again, so soon after my weekend adventures.

The appointment went well. We've decided to stick with my current level of meds (150 mcg Eltroxin), his argument being that my FT4 is high at the moment, which should hopefully trigger my Pituitary to stop pumping out TSH. He also stated that this soon after the operation my whole system is still under stress, so we don't want to be chopping and changing the meds too hastily at this point, in other words give the dust a chance to settle, to allow us to see more clearly what is going on.

I asked him if I should be abstaining from taking my medication on the morning of future blood tests, or to just keep popping the pills as normal. He mumbled something about 'circadian' as if to himself, then declared that I should take my pills as normal (around 7.30-8.00am) and this would have no bearing on blood tests taken the same morning.

I also explained that I had learned from various sources, about taking the Eltroxin first thing in the morning and not eating or drinking anything for an hour afterwards (especially milk or coffee!). He agreed with this, and asked me how I was coping. He correctly assumed that this was the approach I was taking with the Eltroxin. I explained my morning ritual, of setting an alarm, popping the pills then going back to sleep for an hour...and sadly, he agreed that this was a good way of doing it. I was hoping he'd tell me some other miracle way of getting optimum results from taking these pills, without messing around with my sleep in the morning...but no such luck. maybe once we have my levels better I can slowly start to experiment....I don't want to f*ck around setting alarm clocks an hour before I want to wake for the rest of my life, nor do I want to sit around counting down the minutes to my first cup of coffee!

He asked me to make my next appointment in 3 weeks....yikes! If I have too many blood tests at 3 weekly intervals we're going to have to majorly cut down the food budget to afford them, but hopefully this won't last long, and I can get on to a more financially sustainable blood test interval soon.

And finally, as I headed to the door to make my next appointment with the receptionist, he dropped an absolute bombshell on me. He won't be there in 3 weeks time...in fact he won't be there again....he's transferred to another department!
Nooooooooooooooooooo....just when things were going so well, I really felt we were getting somewhere, and I found an endo who was a delight to work with, a genuinely nice guy, and who didn't treat me like a chart number, who always asked how I was feeling, regardless of the numbers....woe is me :-(

I can only hope that his replacement is even half as good. Watch this space...

Too Much Too Soon

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe" - Albert Einstein, Physicist

I was more than a little dumb this weekend.

Cabin fever was driving me up the walls, and buoyed up by my reasonably successful driving adventure on Friday....the opportunity to go camping near the Cork / Limerick border with friends Saturday night was too hard to resist.

And now I'm really sore....simply too much driving, far too soon. The muscles at the side of my neck feel incredibly tight, I can barely move me head, my oesophagus is complaining rudely at even swallowing water, and my chin and throat area are very tender to touch.
Don't even start me on the totally self-inflicted sunburn....I managed to keep the main wound area covered over with a light scarf...but that did nothing to protect my shoulders, which are glowing as I type!

But sure, for views like this, I'll suck up a little extra pain any day!


In other news...I'm still jumping on the scales religiously every Monday morning, even though I'm not currently, consciously dieting (read: eating very badly, if I'm honest!), or really doing any exercise of note...and combined with the fact that I'm currently hypO...I was mystified, and somewhat delighted, to note that I have lost 2lbs in the last 7 days...if only it was this easy when I *am* dieting and exercising properly...

I will not belch the National Anthem

"I will not belch the National Anthem" - Bart Simpson

...but I could if I wanted to!

I don't know if its a direct result of the thyroid surgery. I do not know if its a short-term effect or not, but I am definitely burping more since the operation, and the feeling of pressure relief in my throat & chest immediately afterwards is very satisfying.

Anyone else out there in thyroid blog-land experienced this after thyroid surgery, or is it just me?

Driving Miss Stiffneck

I drove out late this afternoon to collect my blood test results.

This is the first time I've driven since the op...and in hindsight, it was perhaps a little too soon. I still have very little neck mobility, so checking to the left & right at junctions and roundabouts was interesting to say the least. And because I drive ancient old German cars, with no power steering or other modern nonsense, sharp corners and turns were harder work than my neck & shoulders would like them to have been. I have a feeling I'm going to pay for my precocious driving adventures later this evening, and possibly tomorrow too...so, in anticipation of that, whilst I was out I stocked up on extra painkillers too ha ha!

I think I'd have just ploughed right through the middle if I'd had to deal with this set of roundabouts today...



With regards to my blood tests, I was little dismayed to see that I'm slightly hypO. I say dismayed, but lets be realistic...I guess perfect bloods, and the perfect Eltroxin dose, immediately after my thyroidectomy was impossibly optimistic.
My TSH came in at 4.07 (range 0.15-3.2), and my Free T4 came in at 21.8 (range 9.9-20.1). Only marginally hypo really, but with results like that, the labs obviously didn't bother testing the FT3 and T3.
I'm certainly not experiencing any major hypo symptoms, certainly nothing like I've experienced in the past when I've been hypo before...which I'm glad of, because those few months, back in 2009 were truly a living hell!

My Urea levels are above normal for the 2nd month in a row. Definitely something to mention to my Endo next Tuesday. This month they were 8.0 (range 2.5-6.7) and last month they were at 7.1. For the previous 2 years they have consistently been between 4.0 and 6.0 so definitely something I'd like to investigate further. It may just be because I've rediscovered my love for filter coffee, and I'm not being as disciplined regarding my water intake these days.

Delighted to see that my WBC count is higher this month, higher than they've been since almost forever. Up to 7.8 (range 3.9-11.1) from last month's 6.1 my WBC has never been out of lab ranges, but there has been a definite downward trend since I started taking the Carbimazole, something I've been keeping an eye on even if neither my doctor nor my Endo have been too worried about it when I've drawn it to their attention. And I hope that is because I'm no longer taking Carbimazole, a side effect of which for some people is lower WBC counts.

I'm meant to be heading off camping with some friends tomorrow night, but I really am going to have to wait and see how much of a fuss my neck makes after driving today...I hate to admit it, but I may just be trying to do too much too soon :(

Beautiful Scar

“There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with.” - Harry Crews, American Writer & Novelist

Not sure I'd class my scar as beautiful just yet...but I think that quote is wonderful!

And here are my updated scar pics, taken on Tuesday, 15 days after my thyroidectomy:




The red marks around the chest drain hole are just where the dressing plaster has been sitting. The swelling has gone down significantly, and my husband is no longer making jokes about my surgeon mistakenly leaving his mobile phone in there!

Painkillers, Bloodtests & Cinnamon Bagels

Today I'm sore again. My neck / throat hasn't physically hurt for a good while. Its been uncomfortable, its felt awkward, it's nearly always stiff, it generally feels like someone has a good tight, choke-hold around it....but it hasn't been sore. Yet today it is hard to swallow, no, painful to swallow...and ironically, swallowing the painkillers this morning was the hardest thing to do. I almost gave up on lunch completely, and was tempted to make a cup-a-soup instead. Its not sore in a 'sore throat' flu way, but sore as in it felt like I was trying to push food or liquids down past a very solid (and bruised) brick...and occasional stabbing pains in my chin area, and in the left-side of my neck.

I don't know why today should be any different, why I have this throat / neck pain. I have a stupid little theory that my painkillers are working so hard on my period pains - which usually cripple me, to the point of lying on the floor flailing & wailing like I'm in labour, and which are currently barely even making background noise in the pain-stakes - that they aren't working on my neck pain. Highly improbable, but its an explanation which my head is happy to settle with.

Hubby and I headed off to my Doctor this morning (I'm still not able to drive) to get my blood tests done, in anticipation of my Endo appointment next week. The first trip was a wasted effort as she had swapped her Nursing Home Visit from Wednesday to Tuesday, so we went home for an hour or two. I made a Chocolate Biscuit Cake (diet is back on the shelf for another week ), whilst hubby made the most of his morning off from work, and caught up on Top Gear re-runs on the Dave channel. We went back after 11.30 am and it was 2nd time lucky. I explained about today's pain, and how I hadn't had actual pain in my neck since I left hospital, but she reminded me that after a thyroidectomy, my oesophagus was likely to be sore for a surprisingly long time. And that it would most probably continue to remind me occasionally that I wasn't as healed as I thought I was.

I also surprised myself by explaining to her that whilst in general I feel OK, I also feel like I'm still 'treading water', only now instead of waiting for my op, and thus in my head for the rest of my life to begin, I'm now sitting around waiting to start feeling hypO. I was just sitting there in the waiting room, thinking to myself how cold it felt. Then I started looking at the other people sitting there, and wondering if they felt a little cold too, or if it was just me. I almost collapsed with relief when one lady piped up to her neighbour and commented on how cold the waiting room was, given the sunny weather outside! Phew, not just me then! Until that moment I don't think I'd even confessed to myself how much I have been possibly over-analysing every little feeling and trying to fit them into the well-known list of classic hypO symptoms.

We also discussed the info I'd discovered on possibly interactions between Xenical and Levothyroxine / Eltroxin. And she reassured me that she had a few thyroid patients successfully combining Eltroxin and Xenical, showing good weight loss, with no significant impact on the efficacy of the Eltroxin. So once the Chocolate Biscuit Cake is safely eaten up and out of my fridge, I'll consider digging out the magic blue pills again. She reassured me that they would be monitoring my thyroid levels *very* closely over the next few months, and that any dose changes needed, would be picked up very quickly. So now was as good a time as ever to start back on the Xenical, if I wanted to do so. But she did also say that if I didn't feel ready to knuckle down on the diet again, and wanted more recovery time, to make my own judgement as to when to start back on the diet pills again. She knows, as well as any of us girls do, that sometimes, when you're feeling low, or in pain, or just a little sorry for yourself...chocolate *IS* the only remedy! :)
(And chocolate is most certainly *NOT* an option when you're taking Xenical!)

In other news...is there a world shortage of Cinnamon Bagels, or is it just localised to my town? I'm hooked on them...but my long suffering husband took me from shop to shop searching for them, and in the end I had to settle for 'fruit loaf' instead....and there is just NO comparison.

Dear Thyroid...

...you're very dear to me!

No, not *my* thyroid, which I'm very glad to see the back of, but the website Dear Thyroid

If you haven't found the Dear Thyroid website yet, please do click the link and check it out.

Dear Thyroid is a thyroid literary support site; written by thyroid patients, for thyroid patients.

The Dear Thyroid, objectives are clear: Support, elevate, create awareness, educate and come together for the greater good, change and wellness.

Dear Thyroid’s Positioning Statement

• Create a community of thyroid patients that feel safe and comfortable writing about their diseases
• Support each other free of judgment
• Create awareness for thyroid diseases and thyroid cancers
• Re-brand the face of thyroid diseases and thyroid cancers
• Local Community Outreach for support
• Resources for thyroid patients
• Become a non-profit to provide thyroid patients with financial resources for prescriptions and other medical expenses
• Hold doctors accountable when improper treatment and negligence takes place

You can read the Dear Thyroid Mission Statement HERE

You can also connect with Dear Thyroid, on Facebook.

Levothyroxine & Xenical...

...possibly not the best of friends?

After breaking my diet for a few weeks, whilst I had my Total Thyroidectomy, I decided this weekend that I needed to get a handle on my blimp-ness again.

I had planned to drag out the Wii Fit Plus again, and reacquaint myself with the magic blue pills. But something I think I must have read ages ago about hypothyroidism & Xenical was nagging at me from the back of my mind, where I guess I filed the info at the time, so I did a quick Google...and hey presto!

Drug Interactions with Xenical

Drug interactions can occur if you take Xenical with diabetes medications, cyclosporine, or warfarin. When taken together, these interactions can affect the level of medication in your blood and can change the effectiveness of the medication. Tell your healthcare provider about your weight loss program so that you can avoid any drug interaction with Xenical. Your healthcare provider can adjust your dosage and monitor you closely.

Introducing Xenical Drug Interaction

Some of the medications that may interact with Xenical are listed below. Xenical (orlistat can potentially interact with a few other medications. These medicines include the following:

* Diabetes medications

* Cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune, Gengraf)

* Amiodarone (Cordarone)

* Thyroid medications, which include the following:

o Levothyroxine (Unithroid, Levoxyl, Synthroid)

o Thyroid (Nature-Throid, Armour Thyroid)

Thyroid Medications

People who have taken thyroid medications along with Xenical have experienced low thyroid function, better known as hypothyroidism. You should have your healthcare provider monitor your thyroid function while you are taking Xenical, because he or she may need to adjust the dosage of your thyroid medicine.

Moreover, it is highly recommended that you take Xenical and your thyroid medication four hours apart in order to avoid any drug interaction.

More, from the original article, here: Xenical Drug Interactions

And another article...

Xenical's Effect on an Underactive Thyroid

Contributor

By Merrill Gillaspy, eHow Contributing Writer

The diet drug Xenical has been shown to hamper the absorption of hypothyroid medication levothyroxine.

need to diet image by Kimberly Reinick from Fotolia.com

Xenical is a prescription diet medication. Its chemical name is orlistat. Described as a lipase inhibitor, Xenical acts to prevent the body's fat-dissolving enzymes from working, which ultimately interrupts fat absorption through the intestine. Xenical has a range of side effects and contraindications, not the least of which is possible problems for people who have underactive thyroids.

Significance

1. According to the website Netdoctor, Xenical has been developed to act on two key enzymes of the digestive system: gastric and pancreatic lipases. These lipases break down fat molecules in the digestive tract that would otherwise be too large to pass as nutrients from the intestinal wall into the bloodstream. Xenical prevents these lipases from acting on the fat molecules, which remain whole and exit the body as waste.

Function

2. Xenical is prescribed specifically for obese and overweight individuals. The manufacturer recommends its use for people who have a body mass index (BMI) of between 28 and 30 or more. The BMI is a measure of the amount of body fat based on height and weight. A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. These numbers represent kilograms per square meter.

Cautions

3. Xenical should be used with the utmost caution by people who have kidney disease, diabetes (insulin dose may need adjusting), epilepsy (absorption of antiepileptic drugs may be altered) and hypothyroidism--or underactive thyroid (hypothyroid medication, like levothyroxine, may become less efficacious). Also, contraceptive pills and fat-soluble vitamins, like A, D and E, might not get absorbed as effectively. Consult with your doctor about vitamin supplementation if you are taking Xenical.

Hypothyroidism

4. People on the hypothyroid drug levothyroxine have an underfunctioning thyroid. The thyroid is a gland--shaped like a bow tie--that's located at the front of your throat. The hormones it emits control your body's use of energy. With hypothyroidism comes a low emission of thyroid hormones and decreased energy, in addition to susceptibility to high cholesterol and heart attack. Levothyroxine is sometimes prescribed as a replacement for the hormone your thyroid naturally produces, but people on levothyroxine who seek prescription weight-loss remedies must use caution.

Levothyroxine

5. Xenical has been shown to hamper the absorption of levothyroxine. Consult your doctor if you have hypothyroidism and are taking medication, particularly if you take levothyroxine. Also, should you notice your levothyroxine becoming less effective with the use of Xenical, tell your doctor right away. Most people take levothyroxine for life, which means they must be very cognizant of all the other medications they might ingest. The manufacturer of levothyroxine specifically states that people should not use the drug to treat weight problems.

Read more: Xenical's Effect on an Underactive Thyroid | eHow.co.uk

So I guess I'll hold off on popping the magic blue pills until I've spoken to my GP on Tuesday....but I still plan to spank my Wii Fit Board tomorrow :-)

Out with the Old

My Post-Surgery appointment letters for both my Endo and my Surgeon turned up in the mail yesterday, I'm back to see them on the 22nd & 24th of this month respectively.

And so I've pencilled in this coming Tuesday with my husband to go and visit my GP, and get my bloods drawn. (I still can't drive after the op, so he needs to take me wherever I want to go)

And it occurred to me that this next set of blood tests signified the dawn of a new era for me....my first set of bloods sans thyroid gland...and so my blood tests slate is effectively wiped clean, and we're starting all over again.

So, just to allow me to mourn the passing of all my old lab tests, here, for one last time are my most up-to-date lab graphs...

[the FT4 range 'wobble' is where the labs changed their testing technique,
and thus the ranges changed]

Looking forward to making new graphs, with my new results, in my new life :)
If nothing else, because they give my Endo a good chuckle - he loves them, and loves to show them around to his med students ha ha!
But also because *I* find them interesting, even if no-one else does!

Follow-up to "Singing In The Shower"

...he's just fixed the washing machine too, after months of me having to double-spin everything because the drive belt was too big!

Mr. Husband....wiv ziz shower and washing machine you are reeeeely spoiling uz!

Singing in the Shower

Thanks to my multi-talented husband, we finally have a fully-functioning shower, with hot water & everything!

Its only taken 2½ years to get it fixed....but initially we waited for our landlord to get on it and sort it out. After a while we decided it was going to be an expensive job to fix, and thus less likely to ever be sorted by the landlord...then I guess we just got used to using the bath instead. And one day we realised it had been over 2½ years since the shower last worked...

But since the operation, getting into and out of the bath was out of the question. Amazing how many neck muscles you use doing something like that, truly! And washing my (very long) hair in the bath was impossible.

So hubby went to war on the shower, ordered a few likely parts...and whilst we waited for those to be delivered, my local campsite very kindly allowed me to use their showers.

But last night, I had my first shower, in over 2½ years...in my own home! Bliss :)

--

In other news my scar is starting to look and feel better, and during a dressing change on my chest drain hole I sneaked a peak at the 'hole' for the very first time (I was far too squeamish before!), after hubby expressed surprise at just how good that looked too after he took the old dressing off.

[the chest drain hole is the dark smudge about an inch below the main scar]

We've decided to leave the dressing off during the day, to let the air at it for a few days...and just replace the dressing at night, so I don't inadvertently do something stupid to it during my sleep.


As an aside, I was chatting to a friend this morning, who's a paramedic, about my concerns regarding my current meds and the chances of being run over by a bus [no they're not related! although with thyroid brain fog any thing's possible?].
And I asked him if I ought to keep a card or something in my wallet, regarding the medication I'm taking...and he reassured me that all the info they needed, in the rare case that an emergency case cannot communicate, is my name and DOB or next of kin...and the rest would be dealt with by the computer systems. He said in his experience the ICE method doesn't work, as generally at the scene of an accident the paramedics have better things to do than scroll through someone's mobile phone looking for an ICE number. If it would make me feel better, I could stick a note in with my meds, but it'd be far more handy to just have hubby's details written somewhere prominent, especially as my meds and dosages are liable to change.

Some (very) Dark Thyroid Humour...

I guess I'll be avoiding Bok Choy from now on...time to re-read that list of goitrogenic foods!

Back away from the bok choy, ma'am
JoNel Aleccia writes:
Eating extra veggies is a good goal, but an 88-year-old Chinese woman took the quest too far, consuming enough raw bok choy to send herself into a life-threatening, thyroid-induced coma, doctors say.
The woman showed up at a New York emergency room last summer, complaining she couldn't walk or swallow. But the real trouble, according to a report in Wednesday's New England Journal of Medicine, was that she'd been chowing down on 2 to 3 pounds of bok choy every day for several months in hopes of controlling her diabetes.
For those unfamiliar with the vegetable also known as Chinese white cabbage, that's the equivalent of eating two or three large heads a day of the stiff, leafy stalks.

More here:
http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/05/19/4380005-back-away-from-the-bok-choy-maam/from/toolbar

Light at the end of the toilet-roll tube!

No side-effects from the Eltroxin today!

Hurrah, and long may it continue!

Very impressive!

I ordered two new thyroid books on Amazon last Saturday...and they arrived today! Estimated delivery date was for the 11th !

Really can't complain at service like that. We ordered a shower part on Thursday, to be delivered to our local hardware shop from the depot in Dublin, and that's not expected to land in the shop until Wednesday...

So Amazon can deliver 2 books from their European depot, within 3 days (2 of which were over a weekend) but it takes a shower parts company, located less than 80 miles away from our town, 6 days to deliver a small & eminently 'post-able' part.

Anyway, enough grumbling...the books I ordered were:

The Thyroid Sourcebook - M Sara Rosenthal (to compliment the Thyroid Sourcebook For Women by the same author that I already own)

and

Your Thyroid And How to Keep It Healthy - Barry Durrant-Peatfield (after a glowing recommendation from a close, hypo friend)

Looking forward to getting stuck into both books!

New Balls Please!

Happy Birthday Mum!

Boringly, my Eltroxin side-effects are still very much in existence...not aided by going out to a local pub for a light "Birthday Lunch".

When will it stop?

On a lighter note...we dragged out the Nintendo Wii this afternoon, and I managed to thrash my Mum at tennis, without so much as perspiring
Felt good to be feeling well enough to be doing something energetic, even if it was only gentle exercise.

Good to speak to my brother on the phone too.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention....despite going off the Xenical on the 26th May, in anticipation of going into hospital, and despite eating like a horse since I came out, I jumped on the scales this morning to discover I haven't gained a single pound in weight since my last proper weigh-in on the 24th May! Maybe there's an up-side to these Eltroxin side-effects after all ha ha!

Eltroxin Hell & Chocolate Heaven

Of course it is inevitable that if you need something urgently from a pharmacy, it's a Sunday.
Or even better, in this instance, its Bank Holiday Weekend, so the pharmacies won't open until Tuesday.

I've noticed the same law applies with my dogs...if they fall ill, or have an accident, requiring veterinary attention it'll nearly always be on a Sunday...and trying to find a co-operative vet on a Sunday around here is even harder than finding an open pharmacist!

So this afternoon, having run out of Imodium, I found myself on the phone to the local Out-Of-Hours Doctor Service...begging the doctor to tell me that this diarrhoea hell will eventually stop, and asking the hours of the On-Duty pharmacist.

Of course, across the whole town, only one pharmacist is opening....for only one hour per day...and I've missed today's 60 minute prescription dash.

Which left me with no option, but to ride out the rest of today's Eltroxin side-effects, and, with the doctor's agreement, to delay taking my Eltroxin tomorrow until 12pm, when my husband can make a dash to the pharmacist to re-stock in Imodium, before he shuts his doors to the ill folks of this town again at 1pm.

The Out-Of-Hours Doctor assured me that my body would indeed eventually get used to my new dose of Eltroxin, and he promised it would be sooner rather than later...I hope he's right, because this is hell!

My husband and I have spent most of this evening driving around all the bigger supermarkets and petrol stations in the hopes that they may have a secret stock of Imodium, but to no avail. Seemingly I can buy all sorts of things off the shelf, but not something that will stop diarrhoea...and now why would that be? I'm quite sure I can do an awful lot more damage to myself with a couple of 12 packs of paracetamol, than I ever could with a boring pack of Imodium!

I'm now going to console myself by making up a huge Chocolate Biscuit Cake, in anticipation of Mum's birthday tomorrow. I just might have to cheer myself up by licking spoons, and licking the bowl while I'm doing it...and if the Eltroxin doesn't like it, well tough!

Out & About

Had a mini trip into town this morning...not sure it was wise in hindsight, but I was very glad to get out and do something, even if it made me feel absolutely shattered and extra-wobbly for the rest of the day.

Of course it was one of the hottest days we've had, so I felt a right wally staggering around town with a scarf wrapped around my neck. In hindsight, perhaps the 'freak-stares' that my scar would have earned would have been preferable to the sweaty, beetroot face I presented to the public instead.

But its Mum's birthday on Monday, so not trusting hubby's card-buying or present-buying abilities, I lost them in the supermarket, and went off to do some secret shopping.

Of course, all this had to wait until the after-effects of taking Eltroxin (see yesterday's blog) had done their worst, and my dose of Imodium had kicked in and started working...ho hum!

I know you're just dying to see how my neck looks now, so here you go gore-fans:

Uh oh - New Meds Blues

Took my first dose of Eltroxin this morning...and it went straight through me :(

Checked the data sheet, and sure enough diarrhoea and stomach cramps are listed as a side-effect.

99% sure that its the Eltroxin...as my other meds haven't changed at all in the last 5 days.

I guess only time will tell. At the end of the day, now that I'm technically hypothyroid, there aren't too many options for medication...so my body is just going to have to suck it up princess!

Other than that...I guess I feel OK. Still wiped out, wobbly & tired....but SO nice to sleep in my own bed last night.
Although I still found myself waking up at 2am waiting for my bloods to be taken, waking up at 4am for my blood pressure to be checked, 6am for the drugs trolley, and was most surprised that my surgeon was a "no-show" in my bedroom at 8am...although, if he had turned up, my husband would have been incredibly surprised! Ha ha!

I'm Free!

Yes!

They let me come home today!

My calcium levels stayed where they should, and showed no sign of going all crazy on us. And all in all, my surgeon was very happy with everything.

My chest drain came out yesterday...which was on the one hand, a total relief, from the increasing pain & discomfort it was causing me, but also a truly unpleasant experience at the same time. It works as a vacuum, and even though the nurse was as gentle as she could be when she was removing it, you could still feel the pipe desperately trying to suck you inside out as it was pulled through the hole in my chest.
It was also touch-and-go as to whether they would remove it at all. Apparently my surgeon doesn't like it removed until the previous 24-hrs have yielded a specified minimum amount of blood & goo, and the nurses had already informed me that when they'd emptied & measured that morning I was still producing too much blood & goo. But he also doesn't like to leave them in longer than 48 hours if he can help it...and so I pleaded with him, and he gave the nod to the accompanying nurse on his rounds that morning! Woo!
So I was left with a sore hole in my chest, covered by a nice white dressing...that continues to absorb all the goo that continues to ooze out, and swells up to bursting point - really very clever. A normal plaster just can't compare!
And I don't care, because I no longer have a rigid fire hose sticking out of my chest, causing huge pain whenever it moves by even the merest minuscule amount...and I no longer had to march around the hospital with a transparent tub of blood & goo clipped fashionably onto the lapel of my dressing gown - happy days!

And now I'm home. I'm wrecked, I'm wobbly, I spent most of the afternoon back in bed, and I feel (and look) like I've been hit by a truck....but I don't care, I can do all that in the comfort of my own home...without nurses telling me to eat more, to walk more, to generally do more of everything that I didn't want to do, and all that other nursey-stuff.

I have to say, on behalf of my poor, drained right arm, I'm home just in time...those poor veins have had a real hammering since Monday (4+ blood draws each day), and the Junior Doctor who came to do my last set of bloods last night did a truly amazing job of drawing blood from the side of my wrist, after we both scratched our heads for a while, watching all the conventional blood-draw veins wave their own little white flags of defeat and proceeded to bury themselves deeper, one after another, no matter what he tried.

But all that is behind me now...I'm home, I'm home, I'm home!!

And now I start my new life, without the help (or should that be hindrance?) of my thyroid gland!

Hospital food, and TV wars!

[posted retrospectively & not necessarily in order - 1st June, day after the op]

At some point in the afternoon I was moved to a semi-private room, where I shared with another girl. She'd just come back after developing some problems a week after tonsil surgery.
She proceeded to hog the TV remote control, stuck it on mute, then when Desperate Housewives came on later that evening I had to endure it at top volume (when she was discharged the next morning, the very first thing I did was grab the remote control from the side of her bed!)
I was still too tired & spaced to bother with resurrecting any sense of fairness over the TV availability, so I just plugged the iPod into my ears, and watched the moving pictures until Mum and Hubby turned up during visiting hours.

I still wasn't eating very much. I'd forced down a yogurt for breakfast, under great duress from stern-looking nurses. I accepted some soup for lunch, but couldn't get past one mouthful.
Don't get me wrong, I know hospital food doesn't generally have a great reputation world-wide, but I was pleasantly surprised by the variety, tastiness and quality of the hospital food I was given. When my appetite did return I really enjoyed each and every meal. But for now, I just wasn't hungry.

At some point during the morning they emptied the vacuum pump on my surgical chest drain. Overnight it had sucked lots of blood & goo out of me, and I was now becoming more aware of this hose sticking out of the front of my chest. They kept calling it a tube, but it certainly felt like a ruddy great hose! And it was really starting to be a very sore pain-in-the-arse. I had a little clip on the container, so when I went off for walkies ( the nurses were adamant that I should be marching laps of the hospital on a very regular basis - what happened to rest & recuperation?) I could clip the vacuum container-thingy onto my clothing...and thus I could march about, with my lovely container of blood and goo on full public show, hanging off the lapel of my dressing gown...nice!

My surgeon came around at some point in the morning, to tell me how pleased he was about how it had all gone. He apologised for the size of the scar, but said it was as small as he could manage, given the size of the goitre.

Roughly every 6 hours, day & night, a vampire came visiting (different one each time) stealing lots of blood from my poor right arm, and disappearing off with a swish of their cape.
On the strength of these visits I was kept informed of the fact that despite being a Grave's Hyper patient my calcium levels hadn't dipped at all, but that they would continue to monitor them, We all concurred that this can only be due to the sterling work I had been doing with my Endo's Senior Registrar over the last few months, chipping away at my carbimazole dose, ever so slowly, so that for the first time in over 2½ years my blood levels not only come down into range, but had also stayed in range for over 6 weeks. My surgeon had explained to me that the more Hyper I was at the time of the operation, the more my calcium would crash as my body went into instant withdrawal. So thanks to Dr. R and his endless patience and gentle ways, we were pretty much as good as it gets on the day of the operation. But also many thanks to my surgeon, for having a steady hand and not harassing my parathyroid glands whilst he was in there digging about with his scalpel, as that was another common cause of a calcium crash.

Late in the afternoon new girl moved into the bed next door. She was brought in with stomach pains, and put on our ward for observation as there were no beds available on the general wards. We got on great, and came to a mutually beneficial agreement over the TV Remote. She made me laugh so many times, and listened carefully when my mother joined the nurses in nagging me to go walking. She made it her mission to take me off for random walks around the place, as and when she'd decided I'd been laying around too long. If you ever read this, and recognise yourself as that girl, well, thanks J, you were a star!

Meanwhile mum and hubby, when they weren't being doting relatives beside my bed, and listening to my alternating mumbling, croaking & whingeing, were amusing themselves between the 2 shifts of visiting hours, by shopping lots in the local shopping centre and sampling all the muffins in the coffee shops they found!

A friend of mine worked on a neighbouring ward, so she kept me sane too, by popping in whenever she got a chance to make sure I was OK and had everything I needed. She helped break up the long, slow mornings between drug rounds, vampire visits and blood pressure checks. Thanks N, you rock too!

And just for the gore-fans amongst you, here are some pics of my neck and chest drain, taken less than 24 hours after the operation...absolutely no idea what I had to smile about....I was sore, woozy, uncomfortable & grumpy - it must have been a morphine-induced smile, is all I can say! :)

Sleep, At Last

[posted retrospectively]

I don't remember being taken up to the ward from the Recovery Room...no that's a lie, I *vaguely* remember being wheeled somewhere, and muttering about travel sickness.

Then I remember my mother and the Ward Sister working as a team to get me off the trolley and on to the hospital bed. More bright lights, more 'wake up and talk to us' torture.

Lots of unplugging and plugging in of various things attached to my body.

I tried to keep my eyes shut as much as I was allowed, those lights really were bright, and seemed to be directly in my line of sight!

The automatic blood pressure machine was permanently attached to my right arm and seemed to blow itself up every 5 minutes. I had a mask, feeding me lovely oxygen, strapped on my face and just lay there, allowing all these busy folks do all their busy things to me.
I don't know how long hubby and mum stayed with me, but I know they were there for a good while. I can't imagine I was very good company though.
And I do recall Jon going off downstairs to the smoking area for a cigarette, and contacting Mum because the Security Nazis wouldn't let him back up to the ward.
And even when the Ward Sister contacted them directly to allow him up they still refused, and made him sit in the Main Reception Area and wait until *official visiting hours*.
What a pair of utter, utter bastards...and I make absolutely NO apologies for my language.
His wife is up there, having just come up from the Recovery Room after a major op, where she was held longer than normal due to a complication (which hasn't been fully explained to me yet). He's worried sick, and even the dictat of the Ward Sister herself isn't enough for this pair of gob-shite jobsworths to let my husband *back* up to the ward, where he's been ALL DAY LONG! Rant over - but I remember at the time I was distressed because he wasn't there, and the more I think about it, now that I know the facts, the more angry it makes me! Totally unnecessary!

I woke up in the middle of the night, needing a pee, and not knowing how to go about it. I wasn't confident about getting out of bed, added to that all the wires, and tubes had me fixed to the bed in some weird cat's cradle set-up. I couldn't find a call-bell, and so I waited patiently until I spied some nurses, and proceeded to croak at them as best I could...more than a little confused that 'croaking' was the best I could muster. I did succeed in getting their attention and they found my call-bell (it had fallen off the side of the bed) and we formulated a plan to get me up and over to the bathroom. Once I was free(-er) from my tubes & wires, I sat up and swung my legs out....which caught them both by surprise, then I stood up and they both looked a little shocked. Then I sat back down again, fast, before I fell down.....major head swim! We went back to the well formulated plan, and I was soon shuffling towards the bathroom door for a well- earned pee.
Then I shuffled back again, but had a mini panic attack just as I got back to the bed, as I had literally run out of breath, and couldn't breathe....now that was scary. I remember looking at them wide-eyed, and they placed me back in bed, and soon had that lovely oxygen mask on my face again....aaaaah!
Once my breathing had settled and my oxygen levels had improved, they dragged me out of bed again. I was still in my theatre scrubs, and we all agreed that if I could possibly manage to get into my pyjamas than I would a hundred times more comfortable. We picked out what I would wear, and then I stood there feeling utterly helpless, whilst they removed the sexy back-less gown, the sex-kitten disposable knickers and replaced them with much less exotic cotton knickers and comfy pyjamas...I was allowed (told) to keep the sexy surgical stockings on.
Then back to bed, where I was not only *allowed* to go to sleep, it was positively encouraged this time!
At some point, later that night, a vampire came in and drained my right arm of blood..at least I think that's what happened. The vampire was good enough to put a plaster on it afterwards though.

Just Let Me Sleep

[Again, posted retrospectively, as I was in absolutely no fit condition to post on the day]

OMFG! That has to be one of the worst 24-hours in my life.

This update has the potential to be very long, so grab a cuppa and make yourself comfortable...

...are we sitting comfortably, then we'll begin.

Yesterday was the day of my Total Thyroidectomy. We arrived at the hospital at a sprightly 8am, and reported to the Admissions Office. I'd been fasting from 10pm the night before, and hubby and mum had been great in the morning, skipping breakfast out of sympathy and trying to drink their tea/coffee as discreetly as they could (bless!). As we drove past the petrol station with the *best* coffee machine in the whole wide world, hubby very cleverly distracted me with some inane conversation, and continued on the journey to hospital.

The ladies in Admissions gave me my file and sent me up to my ward, where I was greeted by the sister...and instructed to loiter near the nurses station and await further instructions.
First was a quick interview with my surgeon's registrar, he drew blood for testing, and filled out some forms.
Then sister came and asked me the same questions, and quite possibly filled out identical forms.
There was no bed presently available...and so we were given the ward sister's office as our temporary HQ...that's when it all started feeling a little surreal. However I was assured my op would be done shortly, and there would be a bed available when I came back up from the Recovery Room.
The next interview was with my anaesthetist...and I have to say she was absolutely lovely! She answered all my stupid questions with confidence and more than a little humour and humility. For me the biggest fear has NEVER been the operation itself, I have been looking forward to getting that gland removed...my biggest fear has ALWAYS been the general anaesthetic....I guess I've watched too many hospital dramas and hospital horror films....and when I asked her if I would wake up, she beamed and said " yes of course, I guarantee it 100%". She must have been a little confused by my look of complete horror, and then understanding dawned on her, when in my small (now shaky) voice I continued "...during the operation"....she laughed, held my hand, and again said "I absolutely 100% guarantee that you will not wake until I allow it"
I was brutally honest about my smoking, and the fact that I had tried and totally failed to give up prior to the operation...but she said that whilst it did make things a little more difficult for her, it certainly didn't make it impossible and wasn't really that much of an issue. She constantly reassured me that she didn't foresee any complications at all. She filled a few more forms out, and then told me she'd see me in the theatre.
Sister bustled back in to the office and informed me that I'd go down to the theatre within the next hour and a half, but first I had to go and get an ECG....this would help the anaesthetics team get a good picture of my heart, immediately prior to the op. So off we trotted, and got hopelessly lost...I'd always gone up to the ECG rooms from the Outpatient's Dept in the past, and approaching it from a different direction threw me completely and I lost my bearings.
ECG done, and all looking good (or so I was told anyway) we trotted back up to the ward.
I was dying for a pee at this point, and hunted around the ward for a loo....aaaaaah!
Then literally, 2 mins after I'd visited the loo, Sister came in and asked me for a sample....but I've only just been!?
Sister said I'd be going down to theatre in an hour, but I had one more little mission to attend to...I had to go to the X-Ray Dept this time, and get a Chest X-Ray (an extra job because I was a smoker I guess). Sister suggested we go for a walk, and see if I could work up a pee sample that way. The chest x-ray was totally clear, which is always nice to hear when you're a smoker. And so we went for a bimble around the hospital. Mum and hubby by this time were flaking from not eating breakfast, so I conceded to let them go to the coffee shop, where they could scoff muffins and cappuccinos...whilst I nipped out to the smoking area (bad girl!). We were sitting around whilst they finished their coffee & cake, and thinking just *how* surreal this all was. Here I was, sitting in the coffee shop, fully dressed...and meant to be being wheeled in for a major operation in less than an hour...?
One more smoke, and then we headed back up to the ward. Sister asked if I'd managed to pee yet...but no such luck. She said I had half an hour to produce, or they'd bump me down the theatre list...talk about putting someone under pressure, and considering I'd been fasting completely (no food or drink) for the last 12+ hours, where was this pee meant to manifest from?
She told me that the pee sample was compulsory to test for pregnancy, and that without it they wouldn't go ahead.
I have an abiding memory of sitting in one of the loos, tears of frustration pouring down my face, pleading with my kidneys to do something, anything, anything at all...because otherwise all this would be for nothing, and if my bladder held out much longer I'd be sent home and bumped to the next day. I should add that Sister did apologise unreservedly for not giving me the sample pot as soon as I appeared on the ward that morning, as is her normal pre-op routine, but we caught her on the hop and she totally forgot...but that didn't change facts...if I didn't pee, I didn't get my trip to theatre.
Then joy of joys....the tiniest of dribbles....but Sister had assured me that even the smallest sample would be sufficient, I just had to hope this tiny dribble wasn't too small, as the thought of going through all the trauma of trying to pee again was too much!
Phew - she rewarded my efforts by giving me a sexy, back-less theatre gown to wear, along with some sex-kitten disposable knickers and a pair surgical stockings to die for (I've brought the stockings home with me - my hubby is a very lucky man!)
And then, dressed for a killer night on the town, we sat in a holding room...where Sister, tongue-in-cheek, asked my Mum if she had provided the sample for me, out of desperation. We all laughed and that helped break the tension that was now building inside me.
Sister explained that I had been moved down the list, but only by one place, and only because of the delay in providing my pee...but that the lady who had moved up in front of me was only having a small procedure done, and would be very quick. And so we waited.

But all too quickly it was time to go. I had hoped for a trolley or something, but no, Sister insisted I could walk just fine...and so, in my best theatre outfit, with my arse hanging out the back, we all trooped down to the theatres...hubby walking shotgun, and mum walking as close behind me as she could, without looking like a complete weirdo ha ha!

The would only let one relative into the Pre-Op Staging Area, and so mum came in with me...and finally I was given a bed/trolley to sit on, with a big fluffy duvet. A troop of various medical staff came along, with various (curiously identical) forms to be completed. A nice young man came u and introduced himself as my anaesthetist, and I think I confused the hell out of him when I told him that he wasn't the lady I met earlier...then he laughed and said she was his partner, and they worked in pairs.
My surgeon also paid us a quick visit. I almost didn't recognise him in his scrubs, I had only ever seen him previously in his suit etc. He talked through the procedure again, and reminded me of the potential problems, and also of the low statistical probabilities etc, etc, and then said if I was good-to-go he'd see me in there shortly.

We were given magazines to read, a stack of OK, and Hello, and I was dismayed to see the young lad in the bed next to me was given a copy of the latest Irish Vintage Scene...which he clearly didn't want to read. So when the nurse had disappeared I suggested a swap. Strangely he didn't want to read OK or Hello, but he did pass IVS over to me, so I could lose myself in lovely Vintage Cars whilst I waited for my call to theatre.

And soon enough, I was collected up and wheeled off down the corridor into the theatre itself. I had to shuffle myself over from the trolley and onto the operating table myself, which was more than a little surreal and most undignified, trying to hide my butt from all and sundry as I wriggled across...and when everyone trooped into introduce themselves I did ask them if they had forgotten something. They looked at me blankly, and so I asked them whether I was...erm...meant to be asleep right now...just in case they needed the fact that I was still wide awake and fully conscious made aware to them. Then my lovely lady anaesthetist walked in and said, "no, that's what I'm here for".
She gently laid my left arm on a sticky-outy panel (I just *know* that's the technical term for it!) and carefully put the cannula in. Various members of staff talked some inane chatter to me, and the last thing I remember is one of the theatre nurses holding my right hand and asking me how I coped walking 6 dogs....I remember feeling a bit frustrated because the words I wanted to use to answer her wouldn't come out...and then nothing...

...until those evil, nasty people in the Recovery Room started up with their Prisoner Of War Torture Techniques....you know the bright lights, the sleep deprivation, and shouting, lots of shouting...everything was so bright, and they all seemed so loud....but they got extra excited and extra loud every time I tried to close my eyes against the bright lights. I'm fairly sure I was rude to them, and more than once, as 'sod off' didn't seem to be working, so I had to reach into my head for much stronger ways of expressing myself. And all the inane questions they kept asking, over and over again....do you know who you are, do know what day it is, do you know where you are, do you know why you're here, will you open your eyes, keep them open, no you can't sleep, we won't let you, yada yada yada.....just leave me alone, I'm very tired and I want to sleep!