Had a Total Thyroidectomy…

(Part Two)

So my blood was tested at 5 am (Wednesday, June 30th), and I mentioned to mom that I knew my results were not going to come back clean because I still felt tingly. But with that, we both went back to sleep until about 7 when my surgeon arrived to my room. He turned on the lights and woke me up, but this morning was unlike the last morning. My tingling was now so severe that it was all down my legs, arms, my entire face felt like it was tingling and twitching, my arms and legs felt like lead and it was hard to pick them up. My hands were so tight that I could not squeeze into a fist and my lips were puckered, sort of like an old man. I was rather freaked out by such things and when my dad walked into the room for the morning, I realized I was freaking out my parents too.

When my lab results returned for the morning, my Calcium levels had dropped from 7.2 to 6.5. So even though I was taking Calcium, my levels still dropped. This alarmed my doctors and my nurse, because a 6.5 I was very close to seizure levels. So they administered IV calcium and oral calcium with the addition of vitamin D in hopes that my levels would return quickly. My levels would be checked again that afternoon to determine how my levels adjusted to the new calcium.

During the second day, I started to have more visitors. Josh’s father, Phill, and friend John came by to visit me. It was nice to see and chat with them. I even had beautiful flowers delivered from the entire Duckworth family, which was so kind and thoughtful. Later in the day, Molly stopped by and brought me a balloon and silly bandz (zoo animals, which I have three on my arm now :-)).

She stayed and chatted during the afternoon and helped the day fly by. While she was there, my nurse came in to inform me of what my afternoon lab results were (7.6). This showed improvement from the morning, but the doctors still wanted me to stay another night to recheck the levels in the AM to see how I could hold the values. So….this meant one more night (#3).

Mom had already mentioned that if I were to stay another night, she wanted to see if she could borrow a wheelchair for me and take me on a little field trip. The nursing assistant said they don’t normally allow trips (since most patient’s choose to go smoking) but she realized that this was not my reason. So we were allowed to go down to the 2nd floor mezzanine (OUTSIDE!!!). We left a note on my bed and mom and Molly transported me around. Mom wanted to show me around the 6th floor Park Towers where I was staying because she was so impressed with all the amenities. We traveled outside to the mezzanine and it was fabulous. I never realized what it is like to be stuck inside for several days and not even feel outside.

Molly was so gracious to take my picture and I was so delighted to show off my sweet gown and newly revealed steri strips!!

While we were on our field trip, I ran into two other ladies from school: Cristina Carillo and Rachel Amshoff. It was so nice to see more people and talk with people (outside of my hospital room). It helped me feel a little more “normal” if that is even possible!!

After we returned back to my room (my mom was very nervous about staying out too long), Molly had to head back but before long I had more visitors! Leanne came by and brought me delicious sushi and a chocolate frosty, while my Aunt Nancy and cousins, Amanda and Hayden stopped by with magazines. While the four of them were there, it was nice to enjoy typical conversations and just chat with people (again, that were not associated with the hospital). It is nice to have outside influences to keep you going. Before long, it was time for each of them to leave. But it wasn’t too much after that when Jenna showed up. She was so sweet to bring me a PINK Louisville shirt, body fragrances and a fantastic little tote bag! She was too kind and it was great to be able to talk with her too. You never really realize how much your friends care for you, or how much you care for your friends, until you are in a time of need. You realize that your friends are there for you, no matter what.

Around this time, dad had stopped by with dinner for he and mom (left over Fazoli’s spaghetti and two bottles of wine!). It was cute to see them catching up on the past days events (whether it was about the dogs or dad at work), while they enjoyed their wine.

It was getting late, and Jenna had already left. Dad and I were watching a show on TV and mom was starting to settle in for yet another night. We tried to convince dad he could stay longer, but he said he needed to get back to the dogs (understandably so). So he left with a few of the items we had accumulated over the past few days and mom and I decided to settle in for the night (hoping that this would be my last night).

Day #3

My calcium levels were checked again Thursday, July 1 in the morning. My surgeon and endocrinologist stopped by in the morning to chat about discharge plans, because my calcium levels had returned to 7.9. (I had called my general practitioner regarding previous calcium levels taken in March and found out it was 9.3). While they told me I was discharged, it still took several hours for them to get everything together. But it allowed me time to clean myself up and put on NORMAL clothing (what a concept!)

So I was all ready to get my orders and head out of there. But in the mean time, my lunch had not been delivered, so mom and I decided to take a walk to the family lounge. On the way, I saw my fellow classmate, Kevin Beale (whose clinical internships were all at Baptist East, and ironically today he was on my floor!) and sat to chat with him some. It was nice to see yet another friendly face and be able to talk about some PT things too!

While we were out there, my nurse came back to my room with my lunch tray (that for some reason was not delivered to my room…), so I returned to eat up. And before long, my nurse had returned with my discharge papers (which seemed like a decent stack) and my mom went to go grab the car. It seemed like forever before wheelchair transport was at my room to pick me up, and ironically the transport tech was yet another student from Bellarmine (they are ALL over Baptist East!). He took me all the way across the hospital and landed me at mom’s car.

Now I was on the way home…to continue to recover.

For the next few days, I went to the lake with mom and dad. Throughout the weekend, I realized I started to feel stronger, gain more endurance and feel a little more like myself. By Tuesday, July 6th, I was flying back to Philadelphia to return to my internship at CHOP on July 7th. What a whirlwind of a time….

Thanks for taking the ride with me :-)