Then we went for a walk in the Maine woods by moonlight.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Vernal Equinox
Beautiful day out today! A couple days ago we had 65F in the shade, then flurries the next morning. Still getting below freezing at night.
Yesterday was the first day in ages I left the fire out all day.
My driveway collapsed. It ate a Jeep Wrangler. The passenger side axels and bumpers were resting on the still frozen driveway. The passenger tires were no where to be seen. There was water pouring under the driveway on that side; the top frozen layer gave way.
That was the worst case of stuck I ever saw anyone in my driveway. My Hay guy came over the next day with his 4WD pickup and a chain and I got to learn how to drive a standard in reverse, except the Jeep didn't budge.
Three jacks, digging, and chopping the frozen ground free of the tires, and digging two diversion trenches to try and drain the stream flowing through the tire rims away, and several more attempts and we got it out! Yay!
I really wanted to get pictures but the batteries for the camera were flat!
I found it extremely amusing that my driveway ate a 4WD Jeep Wrangler. Until I worked for two hours to help get it out.
Now I have an impassable driveway and I am parking my car halfway up. My road (not my driveway)is so bad, my neighbor came over and told me the postman, who drives an International 4WD, has refused to deliver mail on our road for the last 10 days.
The road commssioner is not taking any calls.
My car has 6 inches of clearance and patched brake and power steering lines, but I have to drive it or walk a mile. I have had it sideways twice and didn't slide in my car once all winter, but the mud is so deep it throws the car.
We had huge winds Friday and lost the power for a couple of hours. The neighbor came over to see if we had power. Thank goodness it came on just as darkness fell even though Willow had the candles and lamps lit.
We have bare ground in places, and 6-8 inches of snow in places. The plowed snowbank on the lawn is still 3 feet or so.
Happy Spring!
Yesterday was the first day in ages I left the fire out all day.
My driveway collapsed. It ate a Jeep Wrangler. The passenger side axels and bumpers were resting on the still frozen driveway. The passenger tires were no where to be seen. There was water pouring under the driveway on that side; the top frozen layer gave way.
That was the worst case of stuck I ever saw anyone in my driveway. My Hay guy came over the next day with his 4WD pickup and a chain and I got to learn how to drive a standard in reverse, except the Jeep didn't budge.
Three jacks, digging, and chopping the frozen ground free of the tires, and digging two diversion trenches to try and drain the stream flowing through the tire rims away, and several more attempts and we got it out! Yay!
I really wanted to get pictures but the batteries for the camera were flat!
I found it extremely amusing that my driveway ate a 4WD Jeep Wrangler. Until I worked for two hours to help get it out.
Now I have an impassable driveway and I am parking my car halfway up. My road (not my driveway)is so bad, my neighbor came over and told me the postman, who drives an International 4WD, has refused to deliver mail on our road for the last 10 days.
The road commssioner is not taking any calls.
My car has 6 inches of clearance and patched brake and power steering lines, but I have to drive it or walk a mile. I have had it sideways twice and didn't slide in my car once all winter, but the mud is so deep it throws the car.
We had huge winds Friday and lost the power for a couple of hours. The neighbor came over to see if we had power. Thank goodness it came on just as darkness fell even though Willow had the candles and lamps lit.
We have bare ground in places, and 6-8 inches of snow in places. The plowed snowbank on the lawn is still 3 feet or so.
Happy Spring!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Wednesday
It's been just about a week since I took the I131 treatment. The treatment takes 1-6 weeks to kill the thyroid. Usually in the interim patients continue with their anti-thyroid meds to prevent a spike in thyroid hormone as the dying thyroid releases the stored hormone.
As I had a rare reaction to the meds, I am not on any, and I am experiencing hyperthyroid symptoms. More muscular/neurological stuff, like back pain out of nowhere that turned into curl up in a ball stomach pains.
My back is still a little cranky this morning and an ankle is now protesting.
My brain is very scattered; I am having a hard time accomplishing anything but the must do's.
The total body fidgets are back.
Total exhaustion.
I am not even sure what the Dr.'s plan is. All I can remember was something about, "see you in six weeks."
I am not sure the natural methods will work when I go hypo, since technically there won't be a thyroid to stimulate. I will be on Thyroxine, I believe, so unless there is naturally occurring thyroxine I will be on pharmaceuticals. Even if there is natural thyroid hormone, if I took it that might effect my prescribed dose.
****
The roads here are a mess. We had about 3-4 feet of snow pack, then we had torrential rain and temps in the 40's for two days. There are orange cones and road barricades all over the place, from where the road flooded over and washed out the road, or turned to ice the night before as it was flooding, creating these crumbling iceburgs across the road in places.
Parts of my road, which is dirt, are nearly impassable without 4 wheel drive (which I don't have). As the top layer of road thawed, the water and muck stayed on top, making mire pits in low sections.
I'll have to take my camera out and get some pictures of a real Maine spring. :)
As I had a rare reaction to the meds, I am not on any, and I am experiencing hyperthyroid symptoms. More muscular/neurological stuff, like back pain out of nowhere that turned into curl up in a ball stomach pains.
My back is still a little cranky this morning and an ankle is now protesting.
My brain is very scattered; I am having a hard time accomplishing anything but the must do's.
The total body fidgets are back.
Total exhaustion.
I am not even sure what the Dr.'s plan is. All I can remember was something about, "see you in six weeks."
I am not sure the natural methods will work when I go hypo, since technically there won't be a thyroid to stimulate. I will be on Thyroxine, I believe, so unless there is naturally occurring thyroxine I will be on pharmaceuticals. Even if there is natural thyroid hormone, if I took it that might effect my prescribed dose.
****
The roads here are a mess. We had about 3-4 feet of snow pack, then we had torrential rain and temps in the 40's for two days. There are orange cones and road barricades all over the place, from where the road flooded over and washed out the road, or turned to ice the night before as it was flooding, creating these crumbling iceburgs across the road in places.
Parts of my road, which is dirt, are nearly impassable without 4 wheel drive (which I don't have). As the top layer of road thawed, the water and muck stayed on top, making mire pits in low sections.
I'll have to take my camera out and get some pictures of a real Maine spring. :)
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Congrats to the Firebird for winning a trophy for basketball!
So, I'm 50 hours into the radioactive iodine treatment. Although the only known side effect is a possible sore neck, I have been draggin butt and just got up from a three hour nap.
The tech said I was getting a good dose that will knock the thyroid out, so most likely I am looking at replacement hormone the rest of my life. Thanks Tonia, for the tip on the generic, after I took the pill I was thinking that I hope the meds over my loifetime weren't going to cost me an arm and a leg...figuratively speaking.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wednesday
I go for my treatment tomorrow. I am a day behind, since Monday was a soppy wet snow supposed to turn to rain that made me not want to risk a wreck to drive to town to swallow the test pill.
So I took the test pill yesterday and went back for a scan today and go back tomorrow for the big dose.
I find it so ironic, ne, Karmic, that an anti-nuc greenie like myself is facing nuclear medicine. No hesitation. That or get knocked out and go under the knife and hope the surgeon is competent enough not to slice my vocal cords or the thymus gland. Nope, just swallow a pill. Not have a breast removed, or a limb amputated, or half my face taken away, it's just a pill. Or maybe two pills.
And a whole list of recommended precautions, apparently I could shed radiation from my saliva and stuff that comes out the other end, so I have to keep my eating utensils separate for a week, and throw out my toothbrush in a week, and wipe the phone off after I use it, and flush three times everytime I go...but the scientist in me wonders how to handle the volumes of drip that comes out my nose working outside in the cold? What about the tissues and gloves and yes, ok, shirtsleeves?
My favorite part, and I had the fellow from nuclear medicine giggling nervously along with me, is that I get a dr's note in case I try and cross international borders in the next month and set off the dirty bombs alert...lol. well, the geiger counter...
One most likely thing that will happen is that I will go hypothyroid and have to take a pill everyday for the rest of my life. But the meds I was taking came to 7 pills a day and crashed my white blood cells, so I guess I can happily take one a day forever to avoid that!
I suppose some comfort might be gained from hearing that George Bush senior and his wife Barbara both had this treatment for hyperthyroidism.
So I took the test pill yesterday and went back for a scan today and go back tomorrow for the big dose.
I find it so ironic, ne, Karmic, that an anti-nuc greenie like myself is facing nuclear medicine. No hesitation. That or get knocked out and go under the knife and hope the surgeon is competent enough not to slice my vocal cords or the thymus gland. Nope, just swallow a pill. Not have a breast removed, or a limb amputated, or half my face taken away, it's just a pill. Or maybe two pills.
And a whole list of recommended precautions, apparently I could shed radiation from my saliva and stuff that comes out the other end, so I have to keep my eating utensils separate for a week, and throw out my toothbrush in a week, and wipe the phone off after I use it, and flush three times everytime I go...but the scientist in me wonders how to handle the volumes of drip that comes out my nose working outside in the cold? What about the tissues and gloves and yes, ok, shirtsleeves?
My favorite part, and I had the fellow from nuclear medicine giggling nervously along with me, is that I get a dr's note in case I try and cross international borders in the next month and set off the dirty bombs alert...lol. well, the geiger counter...
One most likely thing that will happen is that I will go hypothyroid and have to take a pill everyday for the rest of my life. But the meds I was taking came to 7 pills a day and crashed my white blood cells, so I guess I can happily take one a day forever to avoid that!
I suppose some comfort might be gained from hearing that George Bush senior and his wife Barbara both had this treatment for hyperthyroidism.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Friday
My thyroid levels are back up following the dicontinuation of methimazole. I have decided to have radioactive uptake treatment. Waiting for the doc to set that up.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
setback
Last night I got the chills. I figured it was because the house was cold after I got all sweaty while skiing yesterday. Then the toilet seat made me yelp when I sat on it. That is always my personal fever indicator.
I am supposed to be watching out for sore throat and fever. One of the rare nasty side effects of methimazole, my thyroid med, is reduced white blood cell count, whose symptoms include fever and sore throat. It can be a life threatening complication.
Last time I went off methimazole for a sore throat, I ended up in the er with a seized shoulder. So I took my meds this morning and called the doc afterwards. I was going in for my three week blood work and figured it would be easier to get the CBC (complete blood count)at the same time this afternoon.
There was a bit of confusion, since the nurse wanted me to go off the meds, but I wasn't going to the lab until this afternoon, and she wanted to know how long the results would take and said she'd call me back.
I got to the lab about noon and they had no CBC order. I told them my situation and they kindly drew the tube and set it aside for the order, and I called the office and left a message that was what was happening.
As I was leaving, the nurse from endo called me back and said she wished I had waited for her call, but that they would get back to me with the results, tonight if necessary so I could continue with the meds if everything was ok. She seemed a little put out, but the blood was ready to go so I was happy. :)
Then she called me this afternoon. My white blood count is low and I have to go off the meds. They will look at the results of the thyroid blood work and then we'll talk some more tomorrow morning.
It's a very serious condition and I can't go to the girls final game tonight because of risk of infection while my White blood count is low. I am under doctor's orders to take it easy and put my feet up! Of course I am still driving him to the game, and driving back to get him, and going to a friend's tonight to watch a movie (I already called to make sure none of them are sick) You can't tell an obsessive compulsive claustrophobic they have to stay home!!
There is another med, but people that react to this one often react to that one as well. That leaves radioactive iodine to kill the thyroid. I knew that was coming I just wish I could have a little more time. My last thyroid levels were still high. I have been feeling pretty good so hopefully it's better.
Wish me luck!
I am supposed to be watching out for sore throat and fever. One of the rare nasty side effects of methimazole, my thyroid med, is reduced white blood cell count, whose symptoms include fever and sore throat. It can be a life threatening complication.
Last time I went off methimazole for a sore throat, I ended up in the er with a seized shoulder. So I took my meds this morning and called the doc afterwards. I was going in for my three week blood work and figured it would be easier to get the CBC (complete blood count)at the same time this afternoon.
There was a bit of confusion, since the nurse wanted me to go off the meds, but I wasn't going to the lab until this afternoon, and she wanted to know how long the results would take and said she'd call me back.
I got to the lab about noon and they had no CBC order. I told them my situation and they kindly drew the tube and set it aside for the order, and I called the office and left a message that was what was happening.
As I was leaving, the nurse from endo called me back and said she wished I had waited for her call, but that they would get back to me with the results, tonight if necessary so I could continue with the meds if everything was ok. She seemed a little put out, but the blood was ready to go so I was happy. :)
Then she called me this afternoon. My white blood count is low and I have to go off the meds. They will look at the results of the thyroid blood work and then we'll talk some more tomorrow morning.
It's a very serious condition and I can't go to the girls final game tonight because of risk of infection while my White blood count is low. I am under doctor's orders to take it easy and put my feet up! Of course I am still driving him to the game, and driving back to get him, and going to a friend's tonight to watch a movie (I already called to make sure none of them are sick) You can't tell an obsessive compulsive claustrophobic they have to stay home!!
There is another med, but people that react to this one often react to that one as well. That leaves radioactive iodine to kill the thyroid. I knew that was coming I just wish I could have a little more time. My last thyroid levels were still high. I have been feeling pretty good so hopefully it's better.
Wish me luck!
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