I beLIeVE

I do believe that the Lord will one day heal me of my thyroid disease. I do believe that He has already healed me from the ultimate sickness...death. So, even if I have to deal with my thyroid disease for the rest of what is left of my life here on earth, there WILL come a day when I will be restored and renewed!!

While I wait upon the Lord to work out His perfect plan in my life, I choose to LIVE. I could write a list of ways that my sickness has affected my life; from day-to-day life to "my" plans for a family. These are all, some more than others, extremely difficult issues to deal with. But, I've tried extremely hard to keep my head up and live life! And the blessings in my life far out weigh my problems!

I did have a bit of good news from my last doctors appointment. All of my thyroid numbers are within normal range and that is an awesome bit of news. Keeping them there is another story, it will involve a constant tweaking of medicine, until my body restores itself or my thyroid just burns up completely.

Thank you for your support during this time and keep on keeping on with me as I live out this beautiful life that God has given me!

The Results Are In...

I received the results from the blood work I had done on Monday.  As I predicted, all of my levels were low!  I could tell by the way that I felt that I had crossed over too far...so I've gone from one extreme to the other.  Which, to a certain extent, is normal.  It is very hard to regulate the  medicine, so there is a lot of trial and error involved.

I'm sitting here typing this blog and thinking that I could really go for a nap right now!  But, life pushes me to keep going and my sheer determination does as well.  Thank you Lord for giving me a strong constitution!!  

I'm back, just a little slow!

I am back from vacation and trying to get back to reality!  I will admit that I am moving very slow, with a very "foggy" brain.  I am going Monday to have blood drawn and my thyroid levels checked.  I am pretty confident in my self diagnosis...my levels are going to be low.  I'm just not sure what the doctor is going to do about it.  Please pray for me and my doctor, that God will give us wisdom and guidance to make the right decision for my care.

Lindsay returned to school on Thursday and had such a wonderful time with her friends and Mrs. Ashley.  I found out that a few of the kids in her class have been ill or are currently ill.  We are all aware of all the sickness that is "going around" right now and our little ones are especially susceptible.  In addition to making sure they wash their hands and sneeze into the bend of their arm, it is just as important that they get adequate rest and a healthy diet to keep their bodies fueled to fight off infection!  Reality is that our kids are going to get sick at some point, but I have a strong conviction of doing my part to help Lindsay's body fight off sickness on it's own!

If you are a steady reader of my blog, please become an official follower!  I know there are those of you that read my blog but do not have a blogger address of your own...you can still be a follower!

Thyroid Update III

During my last thyroid update, which you can read HERE, I told you that my thyroid blood work was showing numbers that were equal to someone that is hypothyroid.  My doctor told me at that time if I started to notice any consistent hypothyroid symptoms to notify him immediately.  Well, this past week I started to notice that I was dragging and had "foggy" brain!  After about the third day, I contacted my doctor to let him know the pattern that I had noticed developing.  He reduced my anti-thyroid medication by 10 mg.  I will be going in sometime in the next few weeks to have my blood checked again to see what's going on.

Please continue to lift me up during this time.  I have made so much progress and I am praying that I keep the momentum going!  The thyroid is a pretty tricky little sucker to regulate with medication, so I may just be along for a wild ride for a few months until we get the medicine adjusted accordingly.  Thank you for keeping our family in your prayers.

Thyroid Update II

Psalm 31:14 reads "But as for me, I trust in you O Lord, I say "You are my God".

Some of you know that I have been battling thyroid issues for about a year and a half now.  At first I was severely hyperthyroid...I was experiencing extreme weight loss, heart palpitations, muscle weakness, tremors and the list goes on.  I was officially diagnosed with Graves Disease (GD) a few months back.  GD is an autoimmune disorder which is most often the cause of hyperthyroidism.  Most patients that suffer from GD are along for the ride and eventually their thyroid burns itself out within 12 to 24 months.

I started seeing a new doctor back in April and started on a new treatment plan.  I was placed on an anti-thyroid medication called methimazole.  Since that time, I have continued to see improvement in my condition and my blood tests have started showing movement in my "thyroid numbers" closer and closer to normal.

My latest blood tests now show that I have gone to the opposite end of the spectrum...while I am not officially hypothyroid, my "thyroid numbers" are low.  Now I am experiencing weight gain and I am so tired at times.  However, my heart palpitations are pretty much gone and I am not having much of an issue with tremors.  So, in a nutshell, I'm pretty messed up right now!  I don't know what my body is doing and it doesn't either!

I do not wish to dwell in my sickness and have it define who I am.  Nor have I chosen for it to stop me from doing anything...except for maybe housework! :)  However, so many of you have been praying for me and my family during this time, so I feel that it is important to keep you up to date on what is happening.  I came across the verse listed at the beginning of this post sometime last week while I was doing my study.  It states very simply where I will choose to put my trust.

Thyroid Update

Thank you all for continuing to lift up my family in prayer during my struggle with Graves Disease.

I started seeing a new doctor at the end of April.  After reviewing my blood work, he decided to start me on a medicine called methimazole.  I had my blood work rechecked at the end of May and have seen much improvement!  Praise the Lord!  I am still out of range in several areas, so he increased the dosing and I will have my blood rechecked in another couple of weeks.

I still have a lot of hope that this situation can be reconciled with medication instead of surgery (which has a whole new set of issues).  My new doctor is amazing and the Lord has really affirmed a lot of things through him.