2009… wasn’t quite what I expected….

Before I can talk about what has happened in 2009 in need to go back a few years.

After I was pregnant with my first beautiful daughter I noticed that my thyroid seemed to have a not in it. I had it checked out and everything came back fine. I had some nodules in my thyroid and my dr. wasn’t concerned because many people do have these. After my second pregnancy I noticed that my thyroid seemed a little bit bigger again I went to the dr. and they said this can happen with pregnancy and there was nothing to worry about. This happened again after my third pregnancy. I wasn’t having any problems just noticing that it was difficult to wear certain necklaces….I just attributed it to the extra weight gain after each pregnancy.

Every six months I would have my thyroid check with ultra sounds and biopsies. Every time I went to have it checked everything came back fine. Surgery to remove part of my thyroid was an option but not necessary at this time. In the fall of 2008, I went in for a check-up – and they fond a nodule in my thyroid they hadn’t seen 6 months earlier. This was a little bit of a concern. So after many discussions we made the decision to have the left side of my thyroid removed. It needed to be done. Surgery was scheduled for January 2009.

I wasn’t really worried – of course there is always some concern having major surgery for the first time but I knew God was with me and I would be ok. I would still have the rest of my thyroid – so life was going to be good.

Surgery went very well. The part of my thyroid they removed was 3 times larger than it should have been. The surgeon actually took a picture of it because he was so surprised – and I was surprised because I felt like I had a skinny neck again. The biopsy of the thyroid they removed came back clean. It is early January now and I am excited to make this year a great one. Motivated to exercise and get back to life normal again.

The call came a week or so later…You know it is never a good sign when your surgeon calls and says I need to see you tomorrow…At that time I knew something wasn’t right.

They had done additional testing of my thyroid and after many looks at it they determined that they had found traces of cancer cells.

Cancer is always a scary word – however I wasn’t scared because everyone kept telling me that “If you are going to have cancer anywhere your thyroid is the best place to have it.” It is so easily removed and you can take medicine that will do the job your thyroid usually does.

Of course I cried. Or course I prayed. And then I cried some more – I don’t know if I cried because of the cancer or because I had to go through the surgery again. I was tired of not being all they way there for my family, for my church family, and for not feeling like me. So we scheduled the second surgery. It also went well – except for the scar on my next was even bigger at this time. But praise God there was no cancer in that side. As a precaution my next step was Radioactive Iodine treatment.

At 33 I hadn’t really pictured myself having had 2 surgeries, a scar on my neck and on medicine for the rest of my life. But through all of this God has been so close and so good. I have had incredible people pour into my life, people have reached out. My family has been great. My mom has come all the way from Sweden for the 3^rd time this year just to be with me. WOW – what kind of love I have experienced. I have a husband who has gone above and beyond in this season – it has strengthened our relationship and I am so grateful for him.

I am on the final stretch of this chapter of my life. As I am writing this I am sitting in a hotel a few miles away from my home. To kill any of the remaining thyroid cells I yesterday had to “drink” through a straw radioactive iodine. It was tasteless – but still gross. This was a precautionary treatment.

I am doing good. I am not discouraged (at least not at the moment). This year has not been anything that I thought it would be but there has been a consistent part of my life that I could not have done without and that is the presence of the Lord.

I am ready to continue living my life to the fullest and ready to move forward. It reaffirms again that I want my life to be an Intentional Pursuit. I don’t know what tomorrow may bring but I do know that I can be intentional in my pursuit in relationships, I can be intentional in my marriage and with my kids, and I can be intentional in my pursuit of the Almighty God.

What a year - but the best is yet to come!