Half Way

Today I am half way through my week of isolation!  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy spending time with my dad, very much so.  The hardest thing is not feeling any different yet not being able to do all the things you want to, go the places you'd like to, and mostly, not being able to see my babies.

Yesterday my brother stopped by with some delicious strawberries handpicked by himself, Sarah, and my sweet nieces.  My sister and Brian also dropped by with an adorable little mason jar full of flowers from their yard.  My dad continues to take good care of me and feed me very well; I even had buffalo burger last night!  We went out for a walk in the evening too which was nice.  It was sure good to see some of my people:). Best of all, my main man came to visit this evening.  My dad went and sat with the kids so he could come over and see me for a little while after they got home from camping.  Of course I'm taking all the necessary precautions; keeping at least 3ft distance and most of the time 6ft, and continuing to help flush it all out, drinking over a gallon of water each day.  I had phone calls this morning from my Aunt Laurel and Grandma Norma and have received sweet texts and messages from friends checking in on me.  Both my grandma and aunt asked if they had woken me up.  I said, "no, I just always sound tired," (and usually look it too!).  Hopefully after being able to restart my medication on Thursday I will bounce back quickly.  My dad's realtor even called him tonight and gave me some tips; she had thyroid cancer 7 years ago and is doing well.

I'm so thankful to everyone helping us get through this.  It truly does take a village!  My girls will be back at summer school (summer school=swimming lessons, cupcake making, card-making & stamping, basketball, & fitness fun) starting tomorrow morning and Dave back at work.  Dave will drop all the kids off with my sister-in-law, Sarah.  My dad will get them to and from summer school and back to Sarah until Dave gets back to pick them up.  Dave is going to get in on all the before school fun, lunch packing, laundry, and general craziness and I know he'll be great.  Sarah will have the kids again on Tuesday and my mother-in-law will come Tuesday evening and help out until I'm home.  We are blessed.

I woke up just after 3am to my phone going crazy then the tornado sirens going off.  I turned on the tv and they were reporting some rotation detected 8 miles south of Pulaski.  The sirens didn't last long  but the weather got pretty gnarly for a while.  Hoping tonight will be a little less eventful!  Goodnight!

So Far So Good

I'm almost 48 hours post treatment and it's highly likely that most of the radiation has already been flushed out of my system.  So far I've had no side effects which is good.  One of the biggest problems people have after this treatment is painful salivary glands due to the radiation settling in them which also results in dry mouth.  I'm fully stocked with my sour candy for that if need be (sours can help stimulate the glands and push any radiation out).  The only thing I've noticed is twinges of pain around my scar which hopefully means the remaining thyroid tissue is being destroyed! The whole body scan I had on Wednesday showed no evidence of cancer cells anywhere else in my body other than some activity around the area where my thyroid used to be.  This is to be expected because it is nearly impossible to fully remove all thyroid tissue during surgery.  With it's close proximity to the vocal chords, etc. it's a very delicate area and to get all the tissue would likely cause more damage to the surrounding area.  

My dad made us a delicious dinner the last two nights including the best guacamole I've ever had tonight (and it is low-iodine-diet friendly!).  We had it with steak and it was SO good.  I managed to get a little nap in and spent lots of time reading on the deck, finished a book I started last night, and sunburnt the tops of my legs.  I'm missing my babies and the thought of 5 more days apart is hard.  I guess when I say I need a break I need to be more specific; this isn't quite the break I was hoping for.  Dave is sending me lots of pictures of their camping fun and it warms my heart to see them laughing and playing with cousins, 2nd cousins, and great-aunts & uncles; everyone taking care of them when I can't.  One of Dave's cousins French braided Madi's hair today (something I don't know how to do) and I told her, "see, it looks better than it would if I was there."  Dave sent me pictures of their sandwiches all made and in the fridge for lunch at the beach; as much as he hates to admit it, I've rubbed off on him a little.

Here we glow...

This morning I officially became radioactive!  It's strange to know what you just ingested and what it's capable of but not feel any different.  I received a dose of radioactive iodine that was 100 (actually 105.9) millicurie.  I'm now in "isolation" for the next week until my follow-up scan on 6/30.  I'm at my dad's for the week and arrived to beautiful flowers:)  He gave me his room so I could have my own bathroom (probably the most important precaution).  I have books, magazines, some fun new coloring books, and the iPad to watch shows on Netflix.  Dave & the kids are camping got the next 4 days.  I'm sad to miss the annual Welter Family Camping weekend but it was perfect timing to help distract them from our week apart.  Sarah will have the kids Monday & Tuesday while Dave is at work and then my mother-in-law will be down to take care of them Wednesday & Thursday.  Friday we will celebrate being back together at Wyatt's 3rd birthday party...I can't wait! 

Day out with Thomas at the National Railroad Museum

Dave & I decided to try to start giving the kids more experiences for their birthdays and not so many gifts that they didn't really need or love.  Wyatt's birthday is June 29th so even though it's a bit early, we got tickets to the Day out with Thomas at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay.  We could not believe how much there was to do and see when we got there!  The kids and I went to the museum last summer and had a wonderful time without any special event going on; the museum itself is so neat.  I think Wyatt really loved his gift.  My dad went with us and when we were pulling out of his driveway after dropping him off, Wyatt yelled out the window, "Papa, thanks coming to choo-choo train with us, that fun!"  We had gone early but decided we could've gone much earlier to be able to see and do all the extras they had to offer as part of the Day out with Thomas.  Dad treated us to Chipotle for dinner afterwards.  It was a really good afternoon. 

 Thomas!

 Getting a tattoo

 Man talk

 All aboard!

 We rode on this double decker sauna, I mean train.  It was HOT!

 Getting his ticket punched by the conductor

 Mr. Conductor

 Pictures with Thomas!

 Sir Topem Hat

 My 3 favorite guys in the whole wide world

 Wy had to take a break for a drink

 Grace face

 

Safety experts

Green Bay Botanical Garden Storytime and Cousin Fun

Sarah and I loaded up all the crazies and headed to Green Bay to check out story time at the Botanical Gardens.  My mom LOVED the Botanical Gardens and just after we had walked in to the first area of flowers, a cardinal flew across the area right in front of us.  It's one of those things that almost takes your breath away and reminds me she's always with us.  It was a gorgeous morning and so fun to try out something new.  After story time and looking at all the beautiful flowers, we went to Pamperin Park with the picnic lunches we had packed and ate lunch and let the kids play.  Afterwards my girls were asking for ice cream so we stopped at SAM's club and killed two birds with one stone;  Sarah and I both needed a couple things and we got the kids frozen yogurt from their snack bar.  Win-win. 

 Ready for our adventure

 Grace was REALLY into posing this day

 They are quite the crew

 Children's garden

 Story time songs

 Grace and Hannah cousin love:)

 Wy man with his rainbow picture

 This picture would be so sweet if it weren't for Madi completely photo bombing it