T-Day. (Updated 4:10 pm)

No.  It's not Turkey Day.  no Football game worth watching.  It's Thyroid day.  Time to get it out.

Recap of yesterday:
We arrived at MD Anderson yesterday to have an Ultrasound of Jenifer's thyroid and to go through the pre-op routine of giving blood (twice) and getting clearance from the ane anast anesthesiologist.

The ultrasound results showed spots on the thyroid.  The technicians wanted to do a needle biopsy, but Jennifer convinced them that its pointless since the thyroid is coming out today.  Score One for Team Jennifer.  The lymph nodes in the surrounding area did not sow any abnormalities....great news.  I believe that means we are only looking at a thyroidectomy with local dissection of lymph nodes...not near as intrusive as last time.

The ane anast anesthesiologist meeting was standard....don't sue us if anything bad happens.

The surgery will take about 4-5 hours.

Side note good news:  JJ, I'm excited to hear your daughter did not have to go through the follow-up radiation.  You're blessed in many ways.

Today:

We arrived at 5:15 am....geez, are there any doctors that like to sleep in?  We checked in, and went to pre-op.  the pre-op/post-op area is a large semi-private room that houses about 34 bed stations. once we were placed in station 5, we sat there for about 45 minutes (just like a regular doctors visit).   Than the flood gates opened.  Teams of surgeons, ane anast anesthesiologist, assistants, OR nurses started the cattle call.  All of our visit was completed in a span of twenty minutes.  The surgeon confirmed that the ultrasound only showed the thyroid as being problematic.  The lymph nodes looked good.

Now...I sit back in the Geranium Waiting Area with my Diet Dr. Pepper and wait.  My first update should be in a couple of hours.  I'll update my post as soon as I am able.

Please pray for Jennifer.

Update: 10:05 am
Met with Dr. Meyers.  The surgery went better than expected.  Was able to remove the thyroid, re-implant the parathyroid glands (smaller glands embedded in the thyroid).  He also removed a few lymph nodes on the left side of the larynx.  She breathing on her own which is a good sign the the recurrent laryngeal nerves were not damaged.  The also control the vocal cords.  The impact on her voice is yet to be determined.   She will be in recovery and well get to see her in about an hour.....
More to come...

Update 1:45
Just saw Jennifer in recovery.  She looks good....much better than when that Mac truck hit her in May.  She's still under the influence of the ane anast anesthesia and pain meds, but her voice is clear -- no nerve damage that we can tell so far.  I've just grabbed a bite to eat (I know-- not exciting or pertinent to the story, but I haven't had Anyang since supper last night...I WAS HUNGRY!!!!!).  Anyway, I'm going back into recovery until they can find her a room.  Talk to ya later.

Update 4:10 pm
Jennifer FINALLY left recovery and is in a room.  It took a while for her to get processed.  Met with the Endocrinologist to discuss the impact on her thyroid hormone and calcium.  Obviously, she's looking at synthetic thyroid hormone for the rest of her life...nothing new.  The calcium is regulated by the parathyroid glands that were mentioned earlier.  There is a chance that the PT may not "take" when it's re-implanted into the body.  If it doesn't take, then we'd see a significant drop off in her calcium levels.  Initial readings are good.  Still waiting on the Parathyroid Hormone (PHT) levels.

She's resting now.  I probably should too, but there's too much to do.....surf the Internet, play Angry Birds, talk to the nurses, etc.  go home to see the kids -- thanks Grandma and Grandpa for covering for us...make the kids do their homework and go to bed.  Maybe they'll listen to you.