Sneakin' Out The Hospital
I spent the weekend doing things to prepare for my surgery. I've been asking friends to recommend their favorite books to me; I went to the library and borrowed those books so I can read them while I'm recuperating. I went to a nice, long yoga class for a good little workout. I ate good food and drank great beer and wine (which is really a good way to prepare for anything). This morning I baked muffins for my parents so they'll have something yummy to eat while they're waiting around in the hospital. I bought some seasons of the Simpsons so I have something to watch while I'm recuperating, just in case the books aren't enough. I washed my pajamas, I packed an overnight bag, I set an alarm. I guess I'm ready.
Last Monday
Today was my last full Monday with my thyroid. Only a week now until my operation. I'll miss my thyroid. We've had some good times regulating my metabolism together.
Bring My Car I Feel to Smash It
The person who hit my car eventually, grudgingly, supposed it seemed like she had hit my car and went with me to the police to file a report. In Doha, one has to have a report before going to get repair work done. Aside from temporarily misplacing my insurance papers once I had handed them over, the police were pretty efficient. The whole process, like many other things in the Middle East, involved getting multiple stamps and signatures and going to several different buildings to get them (I'm always very charmed by the stamps, somehow. They're like postage stamps, but are made specifically for these sorts of tasks).
I got that report just a few days before I had to leave to come back to the US and most of my time between getting the report and leaving Doha was spent running around to various doctors and hospitals trying to get appointments. So my car is still sitting in my apartment building's garage, waiting to be fixed. I've driven that car a total of something like three weeks and now it will be at least September before I am back in Doha.
All the credit for finding out who had hit my car goes to my friend who makes me coffee in the mornings. In addition to making fabulous coffee, he's a pretty fabulous friend. I'm not going to cover myself in glitter and have a parade for him, but sometimes when he does this sort of investigative work for me, cooks me dinner, and gives me good music, I feel like I might at least shower him with confetti.
A Strange Turn of Events
A while ago I wrote about coming down with an odd rash while I was on vacation. One visit to the doctor and not only was I diagnosed with a bacteria-caused rash, but it also seemed likely I had a growth, a goiter. Another trip, another doctor, and the doctor confirmed I had a goiter and recommended I have an ultrasound on my throat.
One ultrasound later and it turned out my goiter was not just any old goiter: it's a multi-nodular goiter, and a huge one at that. My neck is significantly thicker than it used to be. My doctor recommended I have it biopsied and, rather curiously I thought at the time, asked if I had undergone radiation treatment as a child. I hadn't.
I had my biopsy and the results came back negative, which is the good news. The bad news is that I have to have a total thryoidectomy, which is exactly what it sounds like: a surgeon will remove my thyroid. Since the growths are large and on both sides of my thryoid, it's what's recommended. Once the growths are removed, they'll be tested and, hopefully, they'll be benign. The question about whether or not I had radiation treatment now made sense.
One of the odd risks associated with this surgery is that I could lose my ability to sing. I'm no opera singer, I'm not even a good kareoke-er, but I do like to sing. I like kareoke so much I dragged most of my classmates in my Masters course to a kareoke bar for my birthday. And one of my not-so-secret goals in life is to finally take singing lessons. So while I realize that losing ones ability to sing isn't the end of the world, it's a little bit of the end of my musical world. I hope it doesn't happen.
After my diagnosis and my consultation with the surgeon and learning all the risks associated with a total thyroidectomy, I had lunch with my parents and then went home, where I took off my necklace. All of a sudden I realized that, for a while now, my necklaces haven't been fitting me as well. A lot of them have felt tight around my neck. It was something I noticed but didn't really comprehend until taking off my necklace that day. I don't know if I had thought I was just getting fatter, but for some reason it didn't occur to me that it could mean that something was wrong with my neck. I just brushed it off.
Apparently that's how some people notice they have growths on their neck: stuff doesn't fit like it used to. Men will be buttoning their shirts and notice that their collars are too tight.
I wonder how long it would have taken me to notice the growths on my neck if I hadn't gotten a strange rash. As odd as the rash was, I'm so grateful I got it. Without it, I think it might have been a few more months before I noticed something abonormal about my neck.
