The sisterhood of the traveling thyroid....

I didn't mention the fact that Tami had undergone the surgery to remove 1/2 her thyroid a few years before I did. Praise God that hers was not malignant and she was able to keep the other 1/2. She has had to continually monitor the other 1/2 with biopsies ever since, though--gross!! As you can probably tell by now, we have been very good friends for many years, but we do laugh now at our "twinness" (is that a word?) regarding the thyroid thing. However, her scar is a perfectly straight line, and mine is more of a smiley face. (God's way of saying same thing, but different?) She has been a complete sourse of strength and wisdom for me. She recently found out that she will have to have the other 1/2 of her thyroid removed now. She does not have malignancy, but "highly suspicious cells." It is not my story to tell, so I will keep the information just to that minimum. The point I am making is this.......Isn't it amazing how God works and prepares the way? This is another facet in the area of how women will be healed. Tami and I are experiencing the same kind of thing in two completely different ways. It's all about what God is doing in us so that we can give it away to others! God is totally revealing the massive amount of women who are dealing with thyroid issues--mind boggling.

God, we are willing to go through the fire, for we know that you are IN the fire WITH us. We know that in all things You work for the good of those who love You, who have been called according to Your purpose!

The next step....

Can’t do another scan for a year, because it is too harmful to the body. In 6 months my doctor will check the thyrogobulin levels in my blood. Right now it is 237, should be 0. Where that level is at determines if the radiation killed all of the cancer cells. I think the reason we wait 6 months is because the radiation stays in your body for that long. Can't do anything surgically because there isn't a tumor or something that can be seen. In a year, we'll do another low-dose radioactive pill and full body scan.

In the meantime, God is doing a great work! He already has used this to bring so many women together! It is an honor to be used by Him in whatever way He needs.

Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008. Healing is coming!!

God has a plan for healing me! I am praying He will heal me before I'm supposed to take the next radioactive pill on Wednesday, Sept. 24, but I know His timing is perfect, whenever it is. If His will is not to heal me before Wednesday, I will take the radioactive pill. If I do have to take the pill, Roger will be taking Thursday and Friday off work. I will be quarantined in the downstairs area of our home, which flooded last weekend. We have a bi-level home, so downstairs is half of our living space--a large family room, 2 bedrooms, and a bathroom. Currently, the carpet down there is all rolled up and everything that belongs down there is upstairs on our balcony (indoors).

We are asking you to join with us in believing for healing. We are FERVENTLY praying for healing before Wednesday. Please pray for our kids, that they would have peace. Their picture of cancer right now looks like watching their Auntie die from it. The Lord has not given them a spirit of fear, but of love, power and sound mind! We are also asking for prayer for Roger’s Mom. We haven’t told her yet and wish we didn’t have to add this to her plate. She is having a very difficult time recovering from the loss of her daughter to cancer in June. For those of you who don't know....Roger's younger sister, Elizabeth VanAvery, went home to be with our Lord on June 9, 2008. She was found to have cancer throughout much of her body in March, 2008. Please also stand with us against Satan, for our fight is not with flesh and blood.

So here comes the great part……GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED!!! Through this, so many women are going to be set free! I don’t know how or what exactly they will be set free from, but I do know God told me to put on some worship music and worship Him last night. During this time, he told me that women were going to be set free because of this! How fun it will be to see that come to pass!

Some tests may have shown there to be cancer cells in a certain part of my body, but I am not claiming to have cancer!!! I am walking in His victory!!!

The next body scan. Sept., 2008

It is now approximately 6 months after the second surgery (more like 9 months but who's counting). Time for the 2nd full body scan.........................

At this point I have been off the synthroid medication for more than 2 months. This was necessary in order to have the next full body scan (which is supposed to confirm all is well). You would not believe what the thyroid/synthroid controls!!! (If you have noticed that I have been a complete flake or emotional train wreck, this may help you understand why! For example: I could not find my cell phone one day. I looked everywhere for it. Guess where it was….in the fridge, right where I left it!)

On Wednesday, September 17 I took a radioactive pill, which is used during the scan to determine if there are any remaining cancer cells. This pill came with a set of fun instructions--I could not touch my children for 3 days, could not sleep with Roger for 2 days, had to use separate, disposable plates and silverware, separate bathroom, etc. Praise God for my sister Cheryl, who is a flight attendant. She was able to rearrange her schedule to take Jordan home with her for 4 days after the first pill. (Actually, I think she called in sick for at least part of it but she would never tell me that). The girls are 10 and 9, they understand when I tell them to stay across the room from me for a few days, but you can't tell that to a 3 year old.

On Friday, September 19, I went in for the full body scan. I'm really not a worrier at all, nor do I get nervous about much so it wasn't a big deal to me. Besides, this was just a formality that I had to go through. I knew everything would check out fine.

We get the results the same day—thank you Lord that we don’t have to wait! Isn’t waiting the worst!! Well, good thing Roger was with me for the results! I really did want him to be there but when I asked him if he wanted to go I made it sound like I was fine either way. I knew he would either have to miss work or coaching tennis in order to be there and I didn't want to "inconvenience" him. (But seriously ladies, why do we play these games with our husbands? All we have to do is tell them what we want and they will do whatever it takes to give it to us! That's what they WANT to do!!) Praise God that Roger said he wanted to be there. He was coaching boys tennis at Goodrich at the time so he got his team started on practice and came to the hospital just in time. Dr. Frederick is the head of the nuclear medicine department at Genesys Hospital and he is the one who gave us the results. Poor guy had no idea what he was in for! I really thank God that He made our husbands to be strong, natural protectors and providers. If it weren't for Roger, I know I would have been on the floor when Dr. Frederick said that there were still malignant cells in the tissue surrounding where the thyroid was. We could actually see the area illuminated on the scan.

It just got worse when Dr. Frederick started explaining that the treatment meant that I would have to take another, higher dosage, radioactive pill. This new pill's instructions were even more fun than the first pill’s instructions--could not come in contact with any small children for 7 days, could not sleep with Roger for 7 days, stay 8 feet away from people for 7 days, stay away from public areas for 7 days, use a separate waste basket even. This news just did me in. At this point, I haven't seen Jordan in 3 days and have been continually reminding the girls to "stay away from Mommy". The thought of another 7 days not seeing Jordan or being near the girls was unbearable. You have to understand, our family is very touchy/feely. Roger and I really love to smother our kids with kisses and hugs! I’m not sure how much they like the smothering, but at least they tolerate it well for our sake! What am I going to do for ANOTHER 7 days of no touching my kids??

Recalling some God and sister moments

In preparing the first surgery, I really felt God impressing on me to be prepared but wasn't clear on what exactly that meant. Did that mean write letters to my husband and kids, have all the laundry done, what??!! I was leaning toward the write letters route when, during a women's book study class that I was taking, my friend Kim had the wisdom to let the other ladies in on what I was feeling. That's when Margie asked, "are you sure it's not be prepared for something great?" That totally resonated in my spirit, and God then told me to be prepared to go through the fire so He can do something great. I got excited--I knew we were on the cusp on something amazing. I had been telling God for quite some time that "I would do anything" and I meant it. I was ready for big changes in me. For the 9 months leading up to all this health drama Roger and I had been really fighting to save our marriage. Praise God that in August He brought people into our lives who loved us and really guided us and held us accountable to what God was already telling us to do. What does that have to do with the health issue, you ask? Let's suffice it to say that there's nothing like a little cancer to put things into perspective! God really used that time to help pull Roger and I together. And that's what I thought He meant by the something great from going through the fire. Little did I know that was just the very tip of the iceberg!!

This was really a great time of family bonding for me with my Mom and 3 sisters, also. Mom, Carol, Cheryl, and Michele really swooped in and took great care of me and my family. Cooking, cleaning, homework with the girls, grocery shopping, driving the girls to and from school. But my favorite was taking care of the never ending pile of laundry that needed to be folded and put away--even the bottomless basket of socks to be mated (Mom's specialty)!! I really don't mind DOING the laundry, I just hate FOLDING the laundry!!! Cheryl just moved right in for 3 days, which I wanted to feel guilty about but was way too thankful to feel guilty. She didn't give me the option, she just knew I needed it. She's much, much older and wiser than I! (just kiddin' Chey!)

The best bonding moment: Me and my sisters took all of our girls to a hotel with a water park over spring break. On the way home we stopped at McDonald's. We were all in the bathroom when I just happened to look in the mirror and proceeded to have a complete meltdown. One of the side effects of thyroid issues (other than emotional instability) is that your hair tends to start thinning. For whatever reason, God chose that moment to show me just how much hair I had been losing--I could see right through to my scalp over the whole top of my head. My sisters cried with me and we moved on--we did have 6 kids with us after all! Sounds pretty sad when I retell it, but it's really just another funny moment to look back on. Besides this one lady at the hotel had a really great haircut and she let me take a picture of it--it's now the haircut I have!! Shout out to Ali Doherty who took me from frumpy with thinning hair to hip and fabulous with her magic scissors! (And my hair did start regrowing after I started on the synthroid!)

The beginning of the journey

Hello all! With the help of my friend, Tami, I decided to start a blog as a way of journaling this incredible journey that God is taking me, my family, and all of us on. I really don't know anything about blogging, except that I so enjoyed following the Fellabaum's on their adoption journey to China through their blog!

This first entry will be long, as I am really trying to journal details for me and my family to look back on, for God has been in every little detail.

It started in February 2007. I got this pain in my side that would not go away. After a few days it was so bad that I knew I couldn't go to work. I had just started a new job in January, so after just a few weeks I was already calling in sick-how embarrassing! Thankfully, my new job was with a great chiropractor in town. I was mortified to be calling in sick, but he just said to make sure I still come in to get adjusted so we can get the pain taken care of! I also went to my regular doctor, who ordered all kinds of tests, one of which was a chest and abdomen CAT scan. At the time, I kind of thought he was going overboard but I'm a better safe than sorry kind of gal--and I have great insurance so why not! By the time the results of the scan were back the pain was gone but the reason for the pain was just beginning to be revealed. The scan showed a nodule (bump) on my thyroid. For those of you who don't know, the thyroid is located in your neck, not chest or abdomen, but it wasn't until much later that I realized that this was God allowing the pain in my side in order to discover the thyroid issue. You see, I had my thyroid levels checked several times and they were always completely normal. Dr. said that nodules are very normal in lots of women, doesn't really mean anything but we need to have an ultrasound of the thyroid. Ultrasound determined that biopsy was needed. Without realizing it, I kept putting off the biopsy. My friend, Tami, told me that it's an uncomfortable procedure but really not a big deal. I am a big baby, so the thought of something being stuck in my neck to extract tissue really grossed me out. And the fact that she said it was uncomfortable for her told me it was probably excruciating for us "normal" people. Eventually I did go have the biopsy--which was uncomfortable, not excruciating. I cried through the whole procedure anyway. Mostly because I was just grossed out at the thought of it, still am. The poor doctor thought he was killing me--he even gave me a sucker when he was done! I have to mention at this point that it is thanks to God prompting my mom to ask me why I keep putting off having it done. For whatever reason, that really got me thinking and praying about why it was that I was putting it off. Biopsy led to a nuclear uptake scan at the hospital, which determines if the nodule needs to be surgically removed or not--of course mine did because the test determined that malignancy could not be ruled out. I was assured that the chances are very very low and even if it was malignant it would be taken care of by removing 1/2 the thyroid. By this time I had already done a bunch of research and had a file of information, but I never really even gave a thought to the fact that it really could be malignant. I don't know if it was my defense mechanism or denial or what. It is now the end of August, 2007. Sidney and Reilly were going to start a new school, Roger had already started his tennis season--he coaches boys tennis @ Goodrich High School, where he also teaches, and I work 4 days a week. There is no time for the Mommy to have surgery! My endocrinologist did give me the okay to wait until November to have the surgery. So guess what I did over Thanksgiving break! The surgery included an overnight stay in a luxury suite at Genesys Hotel, I mean Hospital. I came home the day before Thanksgiving. The next day, my 3 sisters and mom brought over the full Thanksgiving extravaganza--and all I had to do was enjoy the food and being waited on! The surgery was to remove 1/2 my thyroid. During the surgery, they send the removed tissue to pathology and do what's called a frozen dissection. That determines if it looks malignant or not. If malignant they go ahead and take out the other 1/2 right then, if not they leave in the other 1/2. Mine looked good so they left the other 1/2. Duh--I already knew it wasn't going to be malignant! The tissue still gets sent out for further testing, though. They put on these clips to hold the skin together where the incision is (again, gross me out!). 5 days later I go in to the doctor's office to have those removed and make sure the incision is healing properly. Before I know it, the doctor is telling me that upon further testing, the tissue was determined to be malignant--papillary carcinoma to be exact--and I need to go in for surgery again to have the other 1/2 removed. Have you figured out yet that this option wasn't even anywhere in my thoughts, ever. So of course I was completely taken by surprise and in shock. I went to the appointment by myself because I thought he was going to look at the incision site and say how great it looked and send me on my way. Never once thought about getting any test results--it was already determined to be benign, I thought. I wasn't completely hysterical at the office, I actually held it together pretty well until I called Tami and said it out loud. I was driving at the time and had to pull over and park, actually. After we cried together, thankfully she kicked into action and gave me instructions and agreed to call whoever needed be called because I didn't want to or have the emotional capacity to do so. I remember telling Roger when he got out of class and he came right home, but now that I think of it, I can't remember how the girls even got home from school that day. It took me until the next day to tell my mom and sisters. When we got over the shock and were able to think straight again, Roger and I agreed that Christmas holiday would be a good time for the next surgery--it was just a few weeks away. So I went back to work for a few weeks, got everything wrapped up (literally) for Christmas, put meals in the freezer, and off to surgery I went again. Surgery went well but left me with a whisper of a voice for almost 3 months. Next in line was taking a radioactive pill and having a full body scan. The scan showed that there were no cancer cells anywhere else in my body and the radiation was attacking the remaining tissue that surrounds the thyroid, just as it should have been doing. Everything was completely normal, see you in 6 months and we'll take another radioactive pill and do another scan to make sure all the cancer is gone. Why do they keep talking to me like I have cancer??

WELCOME

This is Liz's new blog.

It has been set up to give glory to God in all things!

God is moving so heavily right now, it is hard to keep track of everything.

Please leave comments, prayers and let her know what God is doing in your life.

Signing off and handing the reigns over to Liz.

- Tami Kromer