Krebs

Apparently, the thyroid nodule they took out was cancerous (low-grade follicular cancer) so now I "have" "cancer." But it's not like really having cancer- you know, the death kind. It hasn't spread anywhere, they caught it really early, it can be removed surgically, they can use radioactive iodine instead of normal radiation, your hair doesn't fall out, and no one ever dies of thyroid cancer anyway. Plus, I feel completely healthy.

So, I have to have the other half of my thyroid gland out Nov. 8th. Then I have to not take any thyroid hormone for a month after that, which can make you all lethargic and cold and gain weight. But fortunately, to counteract the weight gain, I'll be on a low-iodine diet for two weeks after Thanksgiving (starting practically the day after Thanksgiving!) It consists of fruits, vegetables, white bread, and... uh, basically that's it.

After that, I'll take some radioactive iodine on December 7th, and become RADIOACTIVE! For a week. It means that I'm not really supposed to go within 3 feet of anyone. If I'm still feeling ok at that point, I'll want to take my phonology final with everyone else- which means that the teacher can just get a really big room and I'll sit in the corner, since I'll still be slightly RADIOACTIVE!

And after that- I'll be done. Except taking thyroid hormone for the rest of my life, but that's actually less of a big deal than, say, an antidepressant (if you don't take it for a day, nothing happens.) It's really only as big a deal as taking birth control.

Here are some scar photos:


2 weeks after- the first time I saw the scar. For the love of god, why is Blogger doing this to my photos? When I open them up, they come out properly vertical!


Today, 4 weeks after. If I had put up one of the ones with the flash, you wouldn't even be able to see it!

So- don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Unless you are my professors, in which case I'll be on death's door for the rest of the semester and won't possibly be able to do any work.