I'm awful at blogging! I wrote this two weeks after my surgery and just never published it...sorry! I can't believe it's already been seven weeks since my surgery.  This has been an incredible journey I am grateful I had to experience.

Below is the story of my surgery and part of my recovery. I'm glad I wrote this soon after my surgery because I have already forgotten a lot of the details. This post is really long (sorry again) but I wanted to cover everything I could remember.

I will also do a follow up post on my scar and the healing process. It's crazy!

Also, please ignore all the grammar mistakes. It's either this or nothing.
 
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Today marks two weeks exactly since my surgery. It feels like just yesterday I was checking in at the hospital and waking up from anesthesia. On the other hand it feels like forever ago.

The days leading up to my surgery were a wreck. It was a constant battle between excitement and fear.

David and I didn’t talk much about the surgery as it was approaching. It was something both of us were just trying to not think about very much. We were both nervous and didn’t know what to expect. We tried to make jokes to lighten up the situation—such as joking around with the phrase “I’ve got a tumor” in an Arnold Sworzinager accent. It was funny to us at the moment :)

As the day came closer, the realization was settling in. I knew that everything was going to be ok but I was freaking out. I just didn’t know what to expect. I never had surgery before (except for my wisdom teeth) and I had never stepped foot in a hospital before.

I had done as much research as a person could on the matter and felt fairly prepared for the day after reading other peoples stories and experiences. Some people had a much harder time than others but every person survived and lived to tell their tale.

My sweet mother-in-law flew into town from Seattle the night before the surgery. It was great to have her here not just for me, but for my husband as well. He was just as nervous as I was.

You can’t eat or drink anything the day of the surgery and I was scheduled to check in at 2:00. I’m not normally a person that does well with not having food or water in my system but I was so nervous I didn’t even care. 

My last time with a normal neck.

The morning of surgery was easy and light. I slept in as much as I could and packed my bags for the hospital stay. I watched a couple of movies to help pass the time and get my mind off what was soon about to happen. The distractions didn’t help that much. I was still freaking out. My body was so sore from all the nerves and anxiety. It seriously felt like I had done an intense workout. Deep breathing was my new best friend (seriously though—breathing makes all the difference).

The time came for us to load into the car and head to the hospital. I spent the car ride with my eyes closed and just concentrating on taking deep breaths. I was shaking. I never shake. I just remember thinking that I would never wish this on my worst enemy.

We pulled up to the hospital and walked into the entrance. This was the first time I had been to a hospital. I hear beeping noises and see doctors and nurses all over the place. It was just like a movie when someone goes into the ER. You hear the beeping of the heart rate monitors, see doctors and nurses entering and leaving rooms, and see patients walking with their IV’s up and down the halls. I was soon going to be just like them.

I had just assumed I would be admitted and then would go straight into surgery. That was not the case.

I checked in and payed the thousands of dollars upfront for the surgery. That took about 30 minutes.
I then went to the waiting room where I met with my mother-in-law and aunt (who was a surgical nurse back in the day) and waited for another 30 minutes for a nurse to come get me.

At this point I thought I would already be in surgery. Nope.

A nurse then came and grabbed me and my family. She took us to the pre-op room where she had me change into the surgery gown and where the nurses would attempt to give me an IV.

Umm, does anyone know the size on an IV?! Why wasn’t I warned? There were two nurses who were helping me in the pre-op room. Since I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in the last day I was extremely dehydrated which made my veins go into complete hiding. Seriously, there was no vein anywhere!! I normally have great veins and I’m not afraid of needles.

It took them 4 times to get an IV in me. That was hands down the most painful part of the surgery. These needles are HUGE and they don’t just stick them in you and pull it out if they missed. They stick them in and then move them around a ton to try to get the vein.

I had David sitting next to me during this part and I was just grabbing his hand as hard as I could. The nurses tried 3 times (after bursting 2 of my veins) and then called in the anesthesiologist as the last resort. Apparently if the anesthesiologist can’t get an IV in, no one else in the hospital can.

The anesthesiologist came in and couldn’t find anything. At this point I had already been poked 3 times—I really wanted this one to be the last. He had to try to find an invisible vein by feeling my arm and then blindly poke me. Thankfully though, it was a success!! Hallelujah!

That took about 1.5 hours.






My surgeon then came in the room and introduced himself to my family. I had already met with him multiple times before in preparation for this. He is a very nice (and very handsome) doctor and came and explained what was going to happen next. He said that I would be taken to the surgery room in around 2-3 hours. WHAT! Another 2-3 hours! I didn’t know how much longer I could take the waiting. My nerves were getting worse each minute.

We all got comfortable in the pre-op room and were just talking about life and trying to get my mind off of things. The hours past and I felt like I was going to be sick from the nerves. I called in a nurse and asked if she could put me on meds to help calm me down.

A nurse came in and had me lie down on the table. She put the medicine in the IV and within minutes my life was pure bliss. I was calm, happy, and the surgery was the last thing on my mind. In fact, I don’t even think I noticed I was hooked up to monitors with needles sticking in and out of me. Why didn’t I do this sooner!

Around 15 minutes after the heavenly drugs were put in me, a room full of nurses and doctors with masks on their faces came into the room. The time had come. It was around 5:30 now. I remember saying, “I don’t want to go—I feel so good right now." Haha.

I remember being taking out of the room and looking up at David with tears rolling down his face. It was the best "last glance" I could have asked for before my surgery. I sure do love that man.


They took me out of the room and up the elevator to a very large operation room. I remember them opening the double doors and I was asking every person in the room (which was like 15 people) how they were doing and begged them to not let me see the white light. Haha. They then put a mask over my mouth and nose and asked me to take deep breaths.

The next thing I know I am in a room full of other people—the recovery room. I remember trying to open my eyes but I couldn’t. No matter how hard I tried I could not open my eyes. Nurses kept coming up and asking what my pain was like on a scale of 1-10. I remember saying I was around a 7.

I couldn’t talk though. I literally had no voice. My throat was so sore (for obvious reasons) and no words could come out of my mouth except for a slight wheezing noise. I had to tell them my pain scale with my fingers.

I was so tired, but I was cautious. I remember there being a man in the room who wouldn’t stop talking. He just kept talking and talking and I wanted him to shut up so I could go back to sleep.


I don’t remember much else of the recovery room. I was apparently in there for almost 2 hours (and the surgery was about 2 hours). It was close to 9:30 pm now.

The next thing I know is that there are 4 people on each side of the bed taking me somewhere. I remember getting really nauseous with the movement. I remember going into an elevator. When I got out I heard familiar voices. I tried so hard to open my eyes and was able to get little glances of my family who had been at the hospital this whole time. It was great to be back with them.

They got me set up in my recovery room and I could hear my family talk. After a few minutes they told me they loved me, kissed my cheek, grabbed my hand, and then left. I’m glad I was awake enough to remember that moment.

Then I went back to sleep, I was so tired. David stayed in my hospital room overnight with me. I remember lots of nurses coming into my room and taking my blood and vitals. They had to take my vitals every 15 minutes for 3 hours.

I remember getting really annoyed because people kept coming in and out of the room and kept asking me lots of questions. I was so tired and had no voice. I just wanted them to leave. This goes on until 3:30-4:00 am. David was awake for all of this though. I remember him having conversations with nurses.
They came and took my blood around 4:30 am to check my calcium levels. With a thyroidectomy it is important to check calcium levels to make sure you have enough. They came back around 7:00 and said that my calcium levels were .1 below normal range so they would have to do a calcium drip through my IV which would take 3 hours to complete. I was so tired that those extra 3 hours meant nothing.

They did make me get up and walk around a few times as well. Lets just say I walked very, very slow. It always felt like my butt was hanging out of the gown. It's just awkward feeling.


They didn’t bring the calcium drip to me until around 10:00. A lot later than both David and I thought it would take. They got it started and I just fell back asleep.





In the meantime I was brought breakfast. This included yogurt, cream of wheat, milk, applesauce, and every other soft food they had. My throat hurt so badly though that I had no appetite to eat. It hurt!



My mother-in-law came to the hospital to hang out with me while David went home to take a shower and nap. He was gone for like 2 hours and when he got back—I was a changed woman.

My voice was about 75% back to normal and I was starving at this point. They brought me lunch (all soft foods again) and I ate just about all of it. I don’t know why people complain so much about hospital food—this stuff was awesome. My favorite was the pumpkin pie.

Once David came back it was time to check my calcium levels again. They drew more blood and took it to the lab. An hour or so later my nurse came back and told me that I was good to go. Hallelujah! She just had to grab some more paperwork and then we could leave.
My best friend Megan stopped by the hospital right as we were packing up to leave. It was nice to have her there. She is such a great friend!

I was still really weak and so they took me to my car in a wheelchair. David picked me up at the entrance and we were off to go home. He was more excited than I was to go home.

The scar... yummy.

Recovery was tough. Some days were (and still are) better than others. I mainly just slept and read books. I could get up for about an hour each day-- but that was it. I was simply exhausted. My pain levels were getting better every day though. Everyday it was easier to eat, move, and be more independant.

My amazing mother-in-law!

I went back to work the following week. BAD IDEA! I should have taken at least 2 weeks off of work. My work was extremely nice though and just had me work partial days for the first couple weeks back. That made a huge difference!

In the meantime-- I knew that my thyroid levels were extremely low. I could barely keep my eyes open because I was so tired. My doctor increased my medication dosage around 4 weeks after surgery. I could tell a difference right away but I could still feel that my levels were way low.

Unfortunately they won't be able to change my medication for another 6 weeks. This sucks because I am still exhasted and have gained close to 10 pounds (which was expected...unfortunately).

Some days I have more energy than others, but as long as I take some time to rest every day I am fine for the most part.  

So for now I am just trying to take one day at a time. That's all I really can do right now.  I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been there during this hard time in my life. I have the most amazing family and friends a person could ever dream of. The support has been amazing and I really appreciate knowing that people care-- so thank you to those who have reached out. It has really helped keep my spirits up.

"My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands." -Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-9

I love flowers! It was nice having them around my apartment during the beginning of recovery.

LOVED my flowers!

 

Note: I originally wrote this post months ago. I didn't publish it for personal reasons. I just want to share my health journey during these last seven months that lead up to my surgery. I hope this helps answer some questions and can be a source of information to people who may be going through a similar situation.  I will write about the surgery and recovery in another post. 

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This kid knows what he's talking about...



Help make this world AWESOME!

I graduated!

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communication emphasizing in public relations. I may be biased, but I think that is the best major is the world. The PR program at BYU is rated 4^thin the nation and it was an honor to be taught from some of the worlds most recognized and respected people in the industry. You can seriously do so many things with that degree and I am almost guaranteed to always have a job for the rest of my life. There is definitely a huge demand out there and I believe it will only increase through the years as well. The job is so versatile-- it's great.





I got my first “grown up” job.

I interned at a marketing agency and was offered a full time job after my internship ended. What an amazing experience! It was such a terrific company and would recommend them for any company who has marketing needs. I was with this company for 9 months. I really miss it, especially my co-workers and clients.

I got my second “grown up” job. 

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the agency I was with but have always wanted to go into corporate PR. An opportunity came up to be the Marketing/Communication Specialist at an fantastic company and went for it! It has been so amazing here! I am now with doTERRA, an essential oil company. I work in their corporate office and love it. I am always learning new things and have the most amazing co-workers ever. Like I mentioned earlier, I blog for a living. Sounds like a dream, right? Although I am learning A TON along the way, I am grateful for a wonderful team that helps me through the rough bumps. If you want to check out my corporate blog, it’s www.doterrablog.com. Obviously, I have many other responsibilities, but the blog is my baby.


I went on my first cruise!

My family moved from Southern California back to our hometown in Arkansas last summer. As a last goodbye to California, my family went on a cruise to Mexico. I am now a lover of cruises and can’t wait to go on a Caribbean cruise one day! :)











 I had/have some serious health scares. 

Not to go too much into detail, but your perspective on life really changes when your body is ill and you think your life could be in trouble. Since August, when my original symptoms started, I have met with too many specialists to count-- still with no complete diagnosis. My doctors think I have LPR Refux, which there is of course no cure for. I have tried dozens of medications and recommended life-style changes to try to help the excruciating pain in my throat/neck go away. Not much luck there. Some days are better than others, but the pain is always there. It makes it hard to live a normal life. Whenever I’m not at work I usually just sit on my couch with a heating pad on my neck. It's really the only thing that temporarily helps with the pain. I can’t exercise—doctors orders. I really can’t eat many things at all (no dairy, fat, processed foods, citrus…). Even with all of that-- I am still in pain. This will be a continual process through this year as well as we try to figure out the source of the pain. I had a CT scan and am thankful to have no tumors (which 5 doctors thought would be the case). I still have to go in to get continual ultra-sounds on my neck, a biopsy, and an endoscopy to try to find the overall problem. It’s scary. But David and my family have been an amazing support through this whole thing. I’m just praying that I will get better and can go on to living life again.

I started a photography business.

I have been a photographer since I was 10 years old. I’ve always had a love for photography and it has been my hobby and escape from life for as long as I can remember. From what used to be just a hobby, I decided to make a little extra money on the side and turn it into a business. It has been so fun! It has been such a great way to meet new people, further develop my talents, and provide photos for families to cherish for years. Check out some of my work on my Facebook Page, Emily Hogg Photography.

Here are some of my favorites from 2012:














We decided to postpone grad school a year.

David was originally supposed to start grad school this coming fall but decided together that it would be best for him to take a year off and start Fall of 2014. This way I can continue to work at my job, save money, and give David a little break before starting his doctoral degree and career. Even though I would love to get this whole schooling thing done, I know this is best for our family. This also means that we will be living in Utah for the next year and a half as well. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing yet...
Well, as of now I can’t think of any more highlights from 2012 off the top of my head. I’m just so grateful to have my husband, family, and friends to help me keep my motivation and spirits up. Here’s to an AMAZING 2013! Lots of exciting things to come this year!