Redwood City, CA
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A Special 911Cares Message Update!

Almost every day we hear stories about how our thoughts and prayers can have a positive impact on others.  In my case, your wonderful thoughts and prayers were no different. 

The surgery to remove my thyroid last week went very well.  I only had to stay in the hospital overnight and by the third day, I wasn’t taking any pain meds.  I had my post-op appointment yesterday and even the surgeon was surprised.  My voice is a little raspy when I over use it, but I never lost it completely.  I was warned I may lose my voice for up to two weeks and be very hoarse after that.

My thyroid, the lymph nodes behind it, and one parathyroid gland was completely removed.  That turned out to be a good thing as there was a second tumor that did not show up in the ultrasound.  It was nearly as big as the first.  The first tumor was growing and had we not found it, it would have been as large as a ping-pong ball in three months.  Now, I have about a 4-inch incision at the base of my neck.  (They promise the swelling and bruising will go away soon.)

I received the lab’s pathology report yesterday.  My cancer was stage 3.  It was staged this high because of the fact I had two malignant carcinomas and the first was growing, which is very unusual for papillary thyroid cancer.  The lab report said there was no invasion of the cancer into the lymph nodes, adjoining tissue or parathyroid gland that was removed and that is a good thing.

So what happens next?  I’m on a special diet to eliminate as much iodine as possible from my system.  In about one month, I go back to the hospital for radioactive iodine scan and treatment.  The doctors have warned me my weight and energy levels will bounce around until they get things stabilized.  Right now I’m just glad this was not as bad as it might have been and we caught it early.

Once again, thanks for all your well wishes and prayers.  It meant the world to me!  When I come back to work I will be at 125%!!!

Take care,
Rosanna

If you wish to contact me, my personal email is:  rosannamckinney@yahoo.com

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