Healing

Its been about a month since my surgery and so far, so good.  I'm still tried a lot and my voice gets strained easily, but it gets a little better every day.  I've been really lucky that my school was so understanding and compassionate and was able to arrange for me to have so much time to rest and recuperate.  I know it wasn't a "major" surgery, but having the time and ability to let my body recover at its own pace has been a fabulous luxury.  Sure, it's no vacation on a tropical island...but I'll take it.

Adventures in Healthcare: Thyroidectomy, part 6: Almost There!

Wow...this has been a long series, I didn't mean for it to be, but I've tried to be really thorough in my descriptions and experiences.  When I was researching all the stuff that was about to happen to me, there wasn't much information out there, and even less about having the procedure done in Korea.  So, I really wanted to leave a complete accounting so maybe it will help someone in the future.

At any rate, we're coming close to the end of my hospital stay.


So, this is day 3, the day after surgery.  I start with more meds...I get something to reduce sputum, a thyroid replacement hormone, and an ibuprofen.  They ask how much pain I'm in, on a scale of 1 to 10, and I'm probably about a 5 right now.  It's more the whiplash feeling than anything else.  The nurse brings me a gargle solution to reduce the chance of infection and I need to gargle for 15+ seconds 3-4 times a day, but be careful to not tip my head back.  Have you ever gargled without tipping your head back?  I pretty much just let it dribble down my face while I attempted to gargle.

I have breakfast and vitals check, and they free me from the IV needle.  Being able to freely use my left arm and no longer having to drag the IV pole around really improved m mood.  It's a slow day, and I spend it mostly reading, playing around on Facebook, messaging friends, and eating.  Apparently, I was determined to make up for all the calories I missed out on the day before.

The surgeon comes by to see me.  He tells me the surgery went well, and that the cancer had not metastasized so I still have half my thyroid.  Yay, me!  Actually, it's really good news because a lot of times the remaining part will be able to produce enough hormone on its own and I won't need to be on medication for the rest of my life.  The full pathology would be ready when I came back for my post-surgery check-up in a few weeks.  Then he dropped the best news, I'd probably get to go home the next day!  A full day earlier than expected.

It's fantastic news!  I'm already bored out of my skull after one day of recovery.  Plus, that's a day less to pay for hospital care...so saving that extra 500,000+ won would go a long way.

I'm pretty much left to my own devices the whole day.  A couple of vitals and jp checks, but that's about it.  By the time I'm ready to sleep that night, my pain in down to about a 3.

Day 4, the ward doctor comes by and says I can go home later that day.  He removes my jp drain and changes the bandages.  He says I can have a shower.  So, I clean up and change back into my regular clothing.  I can take the bandage off in 3 or 4 days, but I shouldn't worry with the glue holding y incision together.  That's an interesting thought, that I'm basically super-glued back together.  There's a few more instructions, and they set my check-up appointment for 2 weeks later.

Finally discharged and on my way home!

Adventures in Healthcare: Thyroidectomy, part 5: Surgery

Finally, we've made it to surgery.

Sunday night, they nurse comes to take blood and place an IV needle, but not the saline bag.  I honestly have no idea why she had to place the needle the night before.  And it's uncomfortable.  Just to be clear, having an IV isn't anything I ever thought looked comfortable, but having one in is really unpleasant. Because, first of all, it's a needle stuck in my arm and second, I can feel the needle every time I move.  Anyway, I try to get some sleep despite my discomfort.

Adventures in Healthcare: Thyroidectomy, part 4: Ward Life

Let's talk about "ward life" today.

When I booked my surgery, I had an option of staying in a ward (with 4 roommates), a semi-private room (with 2 roomies), or a private room.  Well, I'm poor spinster, schoolteacher-cat lady (yes, I couldn't be more of a stereotype if I tried) so I needed to go with the cheapest option...staying in the ward.  The word "ward" brings up an image of World War II battlefield hospitals (in my mind anyway) and since I had never stayed overnight in a hospital before, was anxiety-inducing in my little introverted self.

Adventures in Healthcare: Thyroidectomy, part 3: Admission

Had to take a few days break from all this writing.  Reliving all this is exhausting.

Anyway, the next stop in the adventure is being admitted to the hospital.

I got an email from the International Clinic that I would be contacted by the hospital on Saturday around noon with instructions for me so I can admit.  So, Saturday morning I had to rush around and get to and home from the market before noon so I am home and not distracted from what the nurse has to say.  I wake up early and run to get the last few things I needed for my recovery time...and proceed to have a small, crying nervous-breakdown in the store because they don't have my flavor mouthwash.  Yes, at this point in my life I am THAT stressed and emotional.

Anyway, I pull myself together, get checked out, and get my stuff home.

Adventures in Healthcare: Thyroidectomy, part 2: Pre-surgery

July 3, I had to go in for pre-surgery testing.  I've never had surgery before, so I was expecting a couple of basics, but it ended up being a ENT visit, blood work, x-ray, urine test, CT scan, ECG, and ANOTHER appointment with the surgeon.

Not to mention, I was already irritated because I had to go into work for an hour and half and THEN go have all these tests done.  I mean, I get it's "my job" but they really could have just given me the whole day off, but apparently that's not how things work here.

Adventures in Health Care: Thyroidectomy, part 1

So, today, I want to talk about my surgery experience here in Korea.  Again, it was another first, although not one I was looking forward to.  This is quite a long experience, so this will be a multi-entry posting.

A few months ago, I told you that I had thyroid cancer...aka, "the best cancer."  And I'm going to do a quick PSA: Ok, NO cancer is good cancer...let's be clear...and although it's not life-threatening and people can live without their thyroid, it's just a $hit thing to say that "it's not serious."  I know...I KNOW...people are just trying to be comforting and supportive when they say things like this, but really, it's unhelpful and comes across as dismissive.  Yes, I knew I wasn't likely to die, but there was always the possibility of it spreading into my throat, vocal cords and lymph nodes.  So, while I was very lucky that this was NOT my case, still...when you are talking to someone about their illness, try hard to not trivialize their thoughts and feelings.  ANY illness takes a mental and emotional toll, not just a physical one, so please use a little sensitivity.

But I digress.

First, of course, there was some drama concerning my surgery date.  SIGH.