One year!

I felt it would be appropriate to reflect on the last year of my life - while, and least the stuff that has occured in many ways. today marks one year since I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer - while I enjoy that I am doing fine and feeling great, I know that I still can't ignore the mental struggle I have experienced. I remember sitting in my office and coming from a dept meeting and seeing a missed call from my dr - as soon as i heard his voice, i knew there was an ominous message for me - dr's never call patients back, right - two classes and numerous phone calls I had my answer.

But that is the past. Today, I am very healthy and happy. I love my new job, my new location, and all of the people I know get to interact with. They are a constant inspiration and model for all!

Live from Vegas!

Hello from sunny and HOTTT Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps and neither do I when I am there! I am out visiting with friends and am having a great great time. One of the best perks about my job - the fact that I still get to enjoy Spring Break - and sometimes, a break is exactly what you need.

As for a health update, I just got the results of my last three month ultrasound - I still have swollen lymph nodes, which sucks, but they didnt get any bigger or worse, which is good. I was hoping for better news, but am content with this. As we are coming up on one year since my diagnosis (march 25), it seems right to celebrate the good things that have happened in the last year once again!

love you all,

j

Happy 2010

So I clearly have decided to neglect this blog - you know, now that life is actually good for a change. I thought about doing a recap for the past year, but just thinking of it is kinda exhausting. Relay, Cancer, new job, moving, cancer - haha - ok i think that is enough already. oh, and the torn cornea, which is actually kinda cool - who does that! anyway, rather than making new years resolutions, i think i just need to let this year happen - who knows what will come, and it seems like after so much change, the goal of this year is taking care of myself and fun. pretty sure it is going to go just fine.

Did you know you have between 500-600 lymph nodes in your body?

And it only takes one to mess everything up - and in my case, the answer truly is one. I had my six month and first ultrasound since my surgery - the hope was that all lymph nodes, which are shaped like kidney beans would come back clean. However, I have one rogue node that decided to look more like a pancake. I would like to thank my Dr. for the fabulous food analogies.

What does this mean - I dont know, I have to see my dr. on thursday. It most likely means that i will soon be starting radioactive iodine treatments, which will be not fun, but, hey, it could be worse. The biggest frustration is that we have spend the last 6 months getting my medication correct and now we will have to start all of this over after the treatments. I will keep you all updated, as of now i really dont know much, but wanted to give everybody a heads up. Enjoy the warm November weather,

jess

Great news!

Hi everybody!
Well, I hit my first cancer milestone, the six month mark! I am currently undergoing through my rounds of testing to see if the cancer has returned or if there are just any signs of it left in my body. I had my first test a few weeks ago, which was the bloodwork for the tumorcheck. It came back very low, which is good, and will know be the baseline to work from - if the number goes up, it means thyroid cells are back. If the number stays the same, all is good. This coming Thursday I have the lymph node ultrasound, where we will check the entire neck and throat - if any of them show any signs of anything, we will automatically do radiation treatment. I am anxious and just want to find out soon. I am hoping to know by november 12th. we are also still trying to get my med levels figured out, 6 months later and we are still chaning meds every 6 weeks. I am hoping to get this taken care of after the next round.

Life is great otherwise, it has been fun traveling with a speech team (and coaching them) of course. I dont think i realized how much I enjoyed this activity until I came back - who would have ever guessed this could be my future!!

Greetings from Mayo Clinic Gonda Building

That's right, this blog is coming to you straight from the Gonda building in Rochester MN - home of the mayo clinic cancer center and oncology. And no, I am not writing this as a patient here - thought I should go see if I can access my records, this is where my official diagnosis was made - I am actually attending a conference and the Khaler Grand hotel, which is across the street. This building has a lot of meaning and takes me back to when I used to visit my grandpa in the hospital. We used to watch the construction of this building from his window when he was at Methodist hospital for treatment. The building is gorgeous, to say the least. http://www.mayoclinic.org/tradition-heritage/gonda-building.html you can check it out here. sorry my links aren't more fancy.

It's been a much more difficult day since i have bee here - I have seen so many people who are clearly going through chemo and suffering the side effects, I have heard the words that cancer patients so frequently hear, and the nerves as families sit here in the waiting room anticipating news about their loved ones. The room is filled with such a strange energy, it could drive one crazy.


And grandma, just for you - remember the blown glass hanging from the ceiling - in greens, blues, yellows and browns. I am sitting in front of it writing this now. I bet I even have the pictures back home we took of it on your camera.

Research? Oh yeah!

Hi everyone,
Two posts already this month - yeah, I clearly need more to do. When I think about the amount of work I did in the last six months and what I am doing now, it seems like I have nothing to do. I went from teaching five classes and five preps, helping host the relay for life, planning comm day for my dept, mentoring in the brother sister program to teaching two classes, one prep, and coaching a speech team. My life seems so much more peaceful not - wait until tournament season starts.

For those of you who are academically excitable, I would like to tell you about my new research project. I am doing an analysis of messages aimed at young cancer survivors and how they need to to differ compared to messages that are aimed at older adults. I got my inspiration from a few different places. One was from a pastor that stopped by my hospital room last April and asked me what was my sickness. I explained it to him and he commented that his wife was also having her thyroid out and it became apparent that facing this issue at 27 is much different than 67. I have also been listening to a podcast from a website called "I'm too young for this" that talks about the dirty little secrets of being young and dealing with issues such as dating, fertility, hair loss, body image, etc. I am excited to be working on this project and hope to help others who have dealt with issues related to their age and cancer.

Have a nice weekend everybody! Good luck to my little brother as he will be playing football this week and also to Jason who is training for the Twin Cities marathon!