My mom's post-op appt and a message for you all...

Hi all! I wanted to update you on my mom's post-op appointment that she had on Wed. the 10th with the surgeon who performed her parathyroid surgery. That sounded very redundant. Anyway, he said that the small mass that was found in the x-ray was definitely part of the parathyroid, but the bigger mass that they found when they went into her neck was exactly what they were looking for. In my best attempt to paraphrase him, he said, "We sent it off to the pathologist who said, 'this is it, you can stop.'" Also, both were definitely benign. VERY good news. :)

He removed the stitches and said that my mom would have some scarring, but that if she used sun block every day for about nine months, it would greatly reduce the scarring, and also (of course) to make sure that the scar is safe from UV and other bad rays and such from the sun when she goes outside. The scar is pretty prominent right now, but it's better to have the scar than to be sick. I took pictures again if anyone wants to see! Hahaha. I am SO tempted to put them up for ya'll...pics of the stitches and pics of the scar, with "spoiler" warnings of course.

So the surgeon is very happy with the results. Only minor problem...my mom said that her fingers were feeling a little numb, so the surgeon said that she should take some Tums, 2 tablets 3 times per day, to add some calcium. He said that her bones are very likely to be trying to reabsorb the calcium that they lost when the parathyroid became overactive for so long, and that feeling might be a side-effect. I know that sounds weird...she had all of this extra calcium, so why would her bones be trying to re-absorb it? Because the calcium was NOT going to her bones, it was not being filtered correctly and was messing up her organs (kidneys, gallbladder, etc.). Not sure exactly how it works, but it was running rampant I guess, to everywhere BUT her bones. Very weird the thyroid is.

Other than that, he wants her to follow up with her endocrinologist and she should be able to start taking her blood thinners again (I have been waiting a few days to hear back from both the surgeon and the endo...grr, specialists).

Finally, the message I referred to in the subject. I told my mom how I've been writing about her on here and that you guys sent TONS of prayers and good wishes. My mom told me to thank you all for that. She was very touched by all of your support. And I thank you as well. Oh, I'm getting teary, so I'll go.

Thanks for reading! You guys are the best! :)