Slicing and Dicing: Mission Accomplished

It’s official:  I no longer have a thyroid.  I’m feeling tender but fine.  Hospitals are boring.  Realsupergirl and I have made the most of it though.

We played cards.  (Realsupergirl bought them today in the hospital gift shop. )

If Georgia O'Keefe designed playing cards.

I ate! Finally!  No, seriously, they made me wait ’til like 7:30 pm, after having fasted since Midnight.  Eating was a major event today.

Hospital Meatloaf

And we admired my new gash.

My new scar!

We’re now comfortably camped out in a private room.  I’m disconnected from the tubes and wires.  I’ve even had a diet coke!  My temp it slightly elevated, so I’ve got a little breathing exercise toy to prevent pneumonia.  Faulkner Hospital is just full of fun and excitement!

Thanks to Girlsnqueers for keeping my sweetie entertained.  To Patrick for bringing movies.  To my mom, sis, and sister-not-in-law for the pretty flowers.  And to countless others who’ve called, emailed, and facebook commented with support.

Somebody loves me.

Pathology Report

Pathology Report, originally uploaded by kaphine.

Clicking the picture will take you to a larger, legible version.

The Cancer Nanny

Now that the initial shock of the pathology report has settled in, and I know that the medical picture is gonna be OK (even though it’s gonna suck for the next few months), I’ve found another related issue to really stress over.

I’m currently in a job transition, and applying for a new position, hopefully to start in January. I’m afraid that the fact that I’ll need to take time off for surgery, and time off again for RAI (radioactive iodine treatment) will make families choose to hire other applicants. It’s not like an office job, where work can sit on a desk for a week. My time away from work causes a family to do some real juggling. Why would they hire me over someone else? When do I tell a prospective employer? How up front should I be? Should I wait until the job offer, and tell them when we’re working out the terms? I’m really worried that a family will be scared off. And I know that working out time for the various doctor appointments will be inconvenient. At least my health insurance is through my spouse, and I won’t need ongoing chemo or radiation.

Oh, and will this be one of those “preexisting conditions” that will make future health insurance potentially tricky?

Can I find more angles on this to fret about?

Protected: Well, shit, now what? (a medical update)

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Protected: You Call That a Scar? (Day 13)

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Protected: How do you measure recovery?

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Protected: Putterin’ around the house . . .

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Protected: Pretty, no?

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Protected: Twenty-twenty-twenty-four hours to go-o-o, I’m gonna be sedated.

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Protected: Ugh.

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