Thyroid Photo Timeline (and brief catch-up)

This is an odd post, but I figured I'd share it anyway in case someone is going through a thyroid issue and wants to see photos of what to expect. Honestly, it looks worse than it is. I was expecting a scar, of course, but there were some other changes, too.

Anyway, here goes. Starting with a couple of "before" photos, so you can see the large lump in my neck. At that point, I had no idea it was a mass. I thought it was an enlarged thyroid--something that I'd known for 20 years. It got much bigger pretty quickly, though, which is why it needed to be removed.

This is when I really noticed the size increase. I had been taking a photo to do a Wednesday Weigh-In (which I never ended up doing) and was a little stunned to see my neck. (My neck was not the reason I didn't do the weigh in; I just didn't get around to writing it.)

I was taking a pic of my earrings (just to ask someone about a smaller stud length) so you can't see my whole neck, but this really shows the size from what you can see.

After this is when I had the biopsy, which was awful. You can read about that on this post.

This is a hematoma that formed during the biopsy. I felt like maybe I made a huge mistake in doing the biopsy (even though it was necessary)--my symptoms worsened and it looked horrible. It was very painful, too.

A hematoma is basically a pocket filled with blood. Since there is no incision for the blood to get out, it pools underneath.

I didn't realize how serious a hematoma in your neck is until after I got home from the biopsy and it was getting even harder to swallow. If it continues to bleed, it can close off your airway--so it's important to go get checked out. They didn't really do much at the ER (or even my overnight stay) but they said it was good that I went in. If my airway closed, at least I'd be at the hospital.

The physician assistant who did the biopsy told me that I "may have a small bruise that will go away in a couple of days". Well, here is the timeline for my biopsy bruise... the bruise was there for two and a half weeks. The pictures make it look not that bad, but it was very noticeable. I kept forgetting about it until I noticed people looking at it while I was out in public.

In the hospital after removing the bandage. The swelling had already gone down a noticeable amount.

Three days post-biopsy

Five days post-biopsy. The little dot is where the needles were inserted; I think there is one hollow needle and then six smaller needles were passed through that to collect samples. Or maybe I'm just making that up? I think that's what I was told.

Nine days post-biopsy

Eleven days post-biopsy

Meanwhile, I also had a CT scan and saw just how huge the mass was. It was about 5-6 centimeters, which is considered very large (even the surgeons were kind of impressed at the size). It was pressing up against my esophagus (food tube) and trachea (airway) and even my jugular vein and spine. This is why it was so hard to swallow.

I even started to eat softer foods because I'd almost choked a few times. My voice had changed (the voice box is *right* there and I was told there was a chance my voice would change permanently after the surgery (caused from a complication). I honestly wouldn't have minded! I don't like my voice and I kind of liked the bit of raspiness I'd developed.

I think the biopsy bruise was finally gone after about two and a half weeks. Just in time to be replaced by a scar! Hahaha. Thankfully, the biopsy came back negative for cancer!

I had surgery to remove half of my thyroid (including the entire mass). I wrote about the surgery on this post, so I won't write about it again. But here are some post-op photos...

Twenty-four hours post-op. I was horrified when I saw this. After removing the ACE bandage the following day, this is what it looked like. The tape on there is a Steri-strip and it meant to dissolve on its own.

Just another angle at 24 hours post-op.

The next day, I felt like it just got worse. I was relived to be able to shower, though! The adhesive on my neck collected lint and grime and it looks gross, I know. Showering was scary; I was worried I was going to open my incision or something.

Twelve days post-op. There is still some residual adhesive, but touching it gave me the heebie jeebies, so I didn't scrub it.

Thirteen days post-op. I used tweezers to gently pick away the residue from the Steri-strip, and I felt like it looked so much better after that!

Exactly one month later, which is about six weeks post-op.

Another angle. Without tilting my head back, you can see all the loose and puckered skin. I don't know if this will go away or not. It almost feels like the muscles holding my neck skin more taut loosened up or something.

The puckered skin on my neck, along with the puckered skin on my chin (which was from my jaw repair surgeries in 2010), my face isn't looking too good these days, hahaha. They aren't hidden with clothes--even a turtle neck can't cover it up, so I just have to be okay with it. The scar isn't an issue for me, but I really hate the loose skin.

And as of this moment, this is what my scar looks like... not bad at all!

The problem is that it only looks okay when I have my head tipped back. When I put my head down, it looks like this...

I don't want it to discourage anyone from getting the surgery if they need it, but I also want to be honest about what to expect. Nobody ever mentioned anything about my skin (other than a scar) so I was not expecting this at all. I don't know if it will get better over time, but I don't imagine it will.

Other than all of the thyroid stuff, not much has been going on. I'm still not feeling better mentally, but I follow up with my psychiatrist this month about the new medication, so I may just need a higher dose.

I haven't lost any weight, although I do start every day with the mindset of getting back on track with not only my diet, but my life in general. I feel overwhelmed; so far behind on everything. Including email! If you are waiting for a response, I am so sorry. I've been spending as little time on the computer as possible. I've been feeling really nostalgic for the 90's lately; I miss doing things without technology everywhere. So I've been working on that recently.

And still sewing! I've been doing a lot of hand-sewing and hand-quilting lately. My post about recent projects is about a year overdue now, hahaha. I just don't have pictures of things, so I need to take the time to take some pictures.

Noah is living at home again, and I love having a buddy here! Eli doesn't hang out with me like he used to, but Noah has been playing Dr. Mario with me (the old school Nintendo one--I am *awesome* at it, haha), chatting with me about his day, asking me to watch movies with him, show him how to cook things, etc.

I've been working on redoing my bedroom decor as well. The childish theme Jerry and I tried out was fun for a couple of years, but we were ready to move on from the black walls and ceiling! I've painted the ceiling white (and no, it wasn't hard to cover the black--one coat of Kilz and two coats of Sherwin Williams paint) and the walls a sort of medium-navy. They aren't too dark or too light.

My color inspiration actually came from a quilt I am working on right now (I swore I would *never * get into quilting, yet here I am). I bought a bunch of fat quarters (a quarter of a yard of fabric) on Ebay--they are civil war reproduction prints and I absolutely love how the colors go together. (I had to put a safety pin in each of the 806 squares to hold it together while quilting, which is why I have this spread out on the floor!). 

I have a few more things to do to my room (including finishing this queen-size quilt!) and then I'll post pictures. Rose (Noah's "girlfriend"; they broke up but it was very amicable and they are still close friends) loves to decorate and she's been helping me with ideas. I'm still leaving all the cat shelves up; the cats use them so much that I'll never be able to take them down. Most of them are at the ceiling, though, so they don't hinder furniture or anything.

So that's the gist of what's going on with me. As soon as I'm feeling better, I will write a "real" post, I promise!