You may have noticed I haven’t written in the last couple weeks. So much has been happening lately that I was too overwhelmed to write. I didn’t know where to start or how.
First, it was finals. I didn’t manage my time well enough during the quarter and ended up in a crunch for both classes. I did what I had to do to get it all done. I earned an A- in both Music Theory and Introduction to Communication, but my body paid the price.
Second, I got hit with a migraine that lasted almost 2 weeks. My body was telling me in the best way it could that I pushed it too far. I have listened and learned my lesson. I know now that I wasn’t quite ready health-wise to handle a six-credit quarter. When I decide to return to school, I know I will have to be in better health. I also know I will have to make schoolwork a priority over my business in order to not make myself sick again. During finals week I found myself wanting to list new jewelry in my store and work on my business instead of studying and doing class assignments. Because finishing my degree is entirely for my own happiness and not for career or financial reasons, I am re-evaluating how important it is to me. I’ll be taking at least summer quarter off to recover from my thyroid surgery. When I return to school, it will be because I want to finish it just as much or more than I want grow my business.
Third, I was much more stressed about my upcoming thyroid surgery than I realized. Because of my migraine I had to reschedule my consultation with the otolaryngologist. I finally saw her last Wednesday. I came out of the appointment feeling so much better! She said all the right things, provided very clear explanations, used helpful metaphoric examples, and was both comforting and uplifting in her attitude. The plan is to remove the left side of my thyroid. If all goes to plan, it is an outpatient procedure and I will go home the same day. Right now all signs point to my left nodule being benign, but if it looks cancerous during the operation they will remove the right side too and I will stay a night in the hospital. If after my outpatient surgery the lab results show that it is cancerous, I will have to go back in 6-8 weeks later to have the right side removed. I explained to my surgeon that my body recovers more slowly than the average and asked if she would be flexible on the 6-8 week timeframe if another surgery is necessary. She is willing to be flexible if my body isn’t ready for another surgery, but doesn’t want to wait too long. That is about the best answer I could hope for. She also said she wants to make my scar pretty. I’m not terribly worried about the scar, but that made me smile. By the time I got home all the tension I’d been carrying in my shoulders for weeks (that my poor massage therapist couldn’t get to cooperate) was nearly gone. I’ve also been sleeping much better and longer since my appointment.
Fourth, trying to set a date for my surgery was stressful. My more-than-mother-in-law offered to come help during my surgery, which I am so very grateful for. Getting to spend a few days with her is a positive thing about this surgery that I can look forward to. However, trying to find a surgery date that would work with everybody’s work schedules was a challenge. By the time we worked out a good date it was too late on Friday to get it scheduled. I had to wait until this morning to see if the one date that worked best for everybody was still open. Luckily, it was! I will be having my thyroid surgery on July 17th.
I was just so stressed and so much was going on that I couldn’t straighten anything out enough in my head to write. Now that everything is settled, I am settled enough to be able to write this. All that’s left now is to get ready for surgery and recovery. Under doctor’s orders I am supposed to take one full week off from work. I’m working on figuring out some fun, but productive, restful things I’ll be able to do to pass the time during that week off and what work I can do for my business if I am still laid up after that. Until then, I’m gonna rock out my business as best I can.
–Amy 🙂
If you’ve had thyroid surgery, please share! In planning for this, it would really help me to know how long it took for you to fully recover. Also, I’d love to hear any suggestions you have on how best to pass the recovery time. You can leave a comment below or send me an email.
