Hello? Is anyone out there?

Things are a little dusty around here I see. I didn’t mean to abandon this poor space but many, MANY goings-on have been vying for my time and attention.

My sister finally left the hospital on August 5th. Nearly a month after she was admitted. She came home with a defibrillator but minus the thyroid that started all the trouble to begin with. She is lowly re-gaining her strength and she may be able to return to wok the first of September.

Both of my girls are back at school. Actually, Precious Oldest did not come home this summer, but last Saturday we moved her into the apartment she will share with three others for her last year of college. She has lived in the residents halls her prior years, so this is very exciting for her.

Precious Youngest was deposited at her residence hall on August 7th. Much too soon for her mother’s taste, but she had to train as the desk supervisor so she in turn could train her desk attendants and be ready for the first wave of residents who arrived yesterday.

My nails, house and gardens all show the signs of neglect. I haven’t done a proper grocery shop in I can’t say when. Probably prior to the 4th of July. Work, well work is still here. It has been a relatively quite summer and thank goodness because I did not need to have the office weighing on my mind too!

Slowly I hope to fill in some of the pieces. Some are good, some are wonderful and some are not too nice at all. In the meantime I do appreciate the comments and e-mails of support and concern. The power of prayer has pulled us through some very dark days and I appreciate your prayers good wishes on our behalf.

XOXO Fannie

Update

Lordy, I had to go back to see what I posted last to even DO an update!

On Tuesday the 27th it was discovered that one of the leads on my sister’s AICD had become dislodged. She went back to surgery that afternoon to have it re-attached.

The next morning, the 28th, they discovered the OTHER lead (there are only two!) had also dislodged. The odds of this happening was .01%. Back to surgery, re-attached, all double reinforced.

All went well and by evening we were able to watch “Top Chef” together.

The surgeon has finally agreed to do the thyroidectomy. He is an ENT surgeon who specializes in cancers of the Head and Neck. he has been deemed by the Endocronology team to be the most qualified to do the procedure. Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday the 3rd. There are a number of things they need to do to prepare her for the surgery and he wants to give her body a little more time to heal.

So there we are. Baring unforeseen complications we hope to be on the road to recovery next Tuesday!

AICD

Automated Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator

My forty-six year old sister has a pacemaker. She came through the minor surgery no problem. From a cardiac perspective? They are ready to discharge her from the hospital.

Endocrinology on the other hand? Not so much. We were told two things on Wednesday night in a pow-wow with the cardiologist, endocrinologist and electrophysiologist:

1. Surgical removal of the thyroid gland is the only treatment option left for her

2. No surgeon will touch her thyroid in her/its current condition

So, yeah. BUT, last night they found a surgeon who has agreed to at least review her chart. He is a surgeon who specializes in cancers of the head and neck. Who knew?

Questions; No Answers

I am seriously bleary eyed from stress and sleep deprivation and I’m not the one in the hospital. After 21 grueling days in the CICU and then the cardiac unit it looks like my sister is facing some tough decisions.

Number One:

Sib 2 had a heart MRI and a heart cath on July 16th. There was evidence of scarring on the front wall of the heart which indicates a heart attack (different than sudden cardiac death, which we know occurred on July 8th) at some point. No one can tell us when or whether it is related to the thyroid or something else entirely. .

Yesterday they did 2 heart CTs to get a definitive answer as to location and extent of the scarring. It is the opinion of the cardiac team to put in an ICD (pacemaker). My sister is 46. Holy shit.

Number Two:

Her Endocrinologist has not been in favor of removing her thyroid surgically. It will take 8 to 12 weeks to determine if her course of radioactive iodine (June 4th) has had an effect. The surgery is risky because her sever hypothyroidism has made her thyroid gland very vascular. In the surgery the manipulation of the glad to remove it could flood her system with thyroid hormones and send her into cardiac arrest. Nevertheless, they now feel they may not have another option. Holy shit.

My overriding concern remains that the trauma she has been though emotionally and physically make her a poor surgical candidate. Which surgery do they do first? Does one affect the other? Questions; no answers.

CICU

Quick update. My sister is still in the CICU. She is extubated and so is awake and talking for which we are very grateful.

Unfortunately she is still experiencing periods of AFib and her thyroid levels are not trending down as quickly as they would like.

Her health is still fragile and we are taking things one day at a time.

Thank you all for you kind words of encouragement.