"No longer Glowing"

I'm officially done with my radiation restrictions! It was hard but I'm praying for good health now. Bless Natalie's heart...all she could do is hug me today! She about knocked me over once because I didn't see her coming. Maggie's older now and isn't as snuggly but I got plenty of hugs from her too. We celebrated by going to see a movie...just the 3 of us! Natalie sat in my lap for most of the movie:)

As for how I feel...I feel the same. My symptoms have let up yet (unsettled stomach, irritablity, the shakes) and I've added a new one...tiring easy. The good news is the doc said I'll start to see improvement in the next week or so. Just in time for school to start!

Now it is time to get ready for school and do some final fun things before the girls start school next Tuesday. We are going to Holiday World Thursday and bringing home my cousin Jeff, his wife Michelle, and his 3 children to stay with us for a couple of days. Friday we'll have the entire family here to visit! Saturday night we'll have 10 little girls here dressing up and posing for Maggie's Fashion Birthday and Sunday Mike and the girls will go to his sisters for a swim party while I go to driving school! I guess they'll teach me to slow down...good luck!

To all of you I want to thank you for your good thoughts and prayers. I am truly blessed to be surrounded my such wonderful people. Through you I see God smiling down on me. Thank you!

Day 3 is done!

I am finally at the end of the 3rd day! I can now see the girls tomorrow!!! I really just want to go home and sleep on the couch and keep my 7 feet distance from the girls, but Mike isn't too keen on the idea. He thinks it's easier on the girls just for me to be gone than to stay away from me.
I've been pretty successful filling my time away. I read the first book in the Twilight series then watched the movie. I went to see The Proposal and laughed my butt off! I even went to Edinburgh and did some shopping at the outlets to help out the economy. I may try the flea market tomorrow...who knows.
Mike got to register the girls for school today...I'm kind of glad I missed that! They are very excited and called me to make sure I ordered their backpacks. They are so cute...they keep calling me on speakerphone but don't realize I can't understand them that well when they talk at once. Oh well, it's just good to talk with them.

Treatment Started

I had to cancel my Girls' Trip to Gatlinburg to start my treatment since I was going to have to be away from the girls for 7 days instead of the 3 that I was first told. So, once again I went to the hospital to take a scary looking pill from a scary looking container. I feel great except for being very thirsty. Which it is good to drink alot to "rinse out" the excess radiation. The good news about all of this is that I can go out in public and passing by people is not dangerous. I'm not dangerous to adults just children and pregnant woman and sleeping beside my husband. So, I think I'm going to go see a movie with Mom. The other good news is that I can visit with the girls on Friday...just not cuddle or stay close to them...just a quick hug and then that's it.
As far as medically, it will take a couple of weeks for me to start feeling better and about 6-8 weeks for it to fully kill my thyroid and take effect. Then I'll start taking a thyroid hormone for life...not so bad I guess. I've been told by friends of work of family and friends that have had the same treatment and live a normal, long life. So, I guess that is not all bad.

Goodbye Otis

I finally threw in the towel and found a new home for Otis. Jill McQuillen gave him a trial run but Otis didn't get along too well with her dogs. Then while I was picking up Otis from Jill's my friend, Angie, called and told me her parents wanted him. Otis got along well with Sandy from the start and I believe that he will become very spoiled. I felt very good about him leaving and feel that God brought him to me to wait for his new home. I admit I will miss him and wish it would have worked out. However, I feel much less stress and I really need that right now. Good bless Otis and his new home!

The Test is Over!

So I went yesterday and took my "radioactive iodine" pill for my test. It was a little scary since it came in this metal chamber. She pulled a glass tube out of the chamber and I had to dump the pill in my mouth straight from the glass tube that had a bright colored caution radioactive sticker on it. The lady's name was Dory and she was so nice. She assured me it was for her safety since she handled it so much. I still wasn't sure so I said a quick prayer and downed it. I went back to day and they took various pictures where I had to sit perfectly still for 3 mintues each....OMGosh the itches that arise when you can't move!!!! So now I'll wait the long weekend and call on Monday to get my results. I'll keep you all posted! Please pray :)

The Girls' Swim Season

Maggie and Natalie just finished their swim season. It was a pretty good year and they finished with medals and ribbons. The funny thing is at the Champs final meet Natalie got a free pass for the Jeff Aquatic Center for winning her heat...but she got 6th place overall because there are several heats for each race. She was more excited about that free pass than winning. Her innoncence is precious!!! Maggie also got a free pass for winning one of her heats so I guess we are going swimming for fun!!!!

My Prognosis

For all those of you who have been concerned with my weight loss and health I finally have a prognosis. I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease. Pretty much it is that my immune system attacked my thryroid and now my thyroid produces too much of a hormone. One of the worst side affects is that it increases my heartbeat to an unsafe amout so now I'm taking heart medicine until I go through treatment. This week I'm having a radioactive iodine scan that will determine the cause and treatment. The doctor has told me that pretty much the best treatment is radiation in a pill. It will kill the thyroid. The good news is my heart will go back to normal but the bad news is that I could then have hypothryoid disease, but I can take medicine for that and go on with life as normal.
I'll try to update this blog after my treatment. Please pray for us and especially for my girls as I can't be around them for 3 days after the treatment.