A Pain In The Neck!

Today was another exhausting day. This morning I had an appointment with an Endocrinologist that my Internist referred me to since he didn't feel comfortable prescribing Armour Thyroid in addition to the Levothyroxine. The appointment was with Dr. Julia Warren at Carolina Endocrine. I have to say that I was really impressed with Dr. Warren and instantly liked her. She was also very open to having me remain on the Armour Thyroid.

We discussed the Thyroid Cancer and her immediate response was to have a Total Thyroidectomy. After discussing the Thyroid Cancer with her in greater detail, we've decided that I should get a second opinion regarding the surgery with a Dr. Faust who is affiliated with Duke Medical. Dr. Warren isn't familiar with Dr. Catz and definitely felt I should see Dr. Faust for a second opinion also since he is a surgeon that specializes in Thyroid & Parathyroid surgery with a high success rate.

With today's appointment Dr. Warren also did another ultrasound to look at my thyroid specifically to measure the size of the nodule on the thyroid. Based on the size of the nodules, she said the size would possibly indicate Stage 1 to Stage 2 Thyroid Cancer. This was also an opportunity for her to look at the surrounding neck especially the Lymph Nodes. She did find one Lymph Node next to the right lobe of the Thyroid that looks to be enlarged and that she would recommend having removed.

Now... for the literal pain in the neck! She decided to do another biopsy. While doing the ultrasound she found a small mass that may be related to the thyroid so she decided to check it out to make sure it wasn't cancerous. If it is cancerous, it would also have to be removed which would mean the whole procedure would become a bit more complex since the small mass is on the lower left side of the neck near muscle.

I have to say that I'm really glad that my Internal Medicine Dr. sent me to Dr. Warren. We now pray that the small mass is not cancerous, that I can get in early next week for an appointment with Dr. Foust and that God would guide Mike and me with the decisions we need to make over the next few weeks.

Pam

Family Room Photos

Decorating our Home!

Well, Mike and I have been in our new home almost 5 months. We love our house and are definitely making into into our "own" comfy space. The only painting we've done is in the Family room and a portion of the Office. We painted the family room walls a Pale Creamy Yellow - Mike says it looks like "mustard" but it isn't that dark! Yellow is the Primary Color with a warm blue being the secondary color with darker red and warmer green as very small accent colors. I really do love the cozy and comfortable space that we've created. The hardwood floors are wonderful!

It is so easy to pick-up the animal hair off the floor. We plan to paint the 2 remaining walls in the office a Burgundy color to match the window shades.

Here are some photos taken specifically for the adoption process but people have been asking...

The Kitchen

I'm thinking of painting the kitchen/breakfast nook a warm apricot color to compliment yet have a light contrast against the family room but I haven't made up my mind yet and have also been considering more of an aqua blue (same color as the sofa) for the kitchen/breakfast nook.

The Dining Room

I love our formal dining room. My original thought was that a formal dining room was a "waste of space" but I've fallen in love with having a large area for family dinners or entertaining. No color has been formally decided on, but I'm leaning towards a darker blue below the chair rail with a light tan above the chair rail. We have a great black and white photo that I want to highlight.

The Big "C"

Well, it seems that the Big "C" is back in my life but this time it is the Thyroid. This past Monday, I received the news that it appears the nodule on the right lobe of my Thyroid is "highly suspicioius of Papillary Carcinoma."

Surgery is scheduled for September 10th and I'll be in the hospital overnight. The plan is to remove the right lobe of the Thyroid along with taking a small cross section or biopsy of the left lobe and if the pathology report is suspicious they will remove the left lobe at the same time. I'm of the frame of mind to have the Dr. remove the thyroid completely although I know that can make it more difficult to regulate hormones.

Since dealing with the endometrial cancer and now the thyroid cancer, I guess I'm not sure I want to leave even a small portion of thyroid in place because that leaves it open for continued cancer concerns with more surgery in the future. Not my idea of fun.

My prayer is that this will not have any effect on our moving forward with adoption. That is what really scares me, I've dreamed of being a mom for so long. Could the fact that I've had 2 forms of cancer (although the endometrial is technically consider "pre-cancer" and is easily cured permanently by a hysterectomy), put an end to our dreams of a forever family? I hope and pray not!

Pam

Twenty pounds lost and feeling great!!!!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Pam and I have been on Weight Watchers for the past two months and I love it!! I have lost 20 lbs and Pam has lost 22 lbs in less than 60 days. I want to thank my wife for insisting that we start this plan with Weight Watchers at the end of April. I was skeptical at first, but it really has been great. I love the fact that the Weight Watchers online version has a recipe builder that allows Pam to select ingredients and portion sizes to calculate WW points. It is such an easy system. You will lose weight if you eat less than your allowed points per day.

I like the flexibility - the points system is based on calories, grams of fat and fiber. It rewards you for healthy choices and punishes you for non-healthy choices. Yet, even in this, there is freedom. You can choose the non-healthy option, but have a smaller portion. Or you can splurge occasionally and then eat lighter and healthier in the next few days.

One nice feature in the WW plan is the ability to have a (lowfat) dessert treat after dinner. Both Weight watchers and SmartOne's offer low fat ice cream treats.

Of course, both Pam and I started exercising regularly again since we have a fitness center with a pool in our subdivision. Pam is more aggressive than I am in exercising, typically working out almost every day. I try to work out at least 3 times a week.

I am half way to my goal weight of 150 lbs. Pam has longer term goals of losing even more weight and I am confident that we will both achieve our weight goals.

Randy and Lori, Pam's brother and sister-in-law are also on Weight Watchers and I look forward to hearing their sucess stories as well.

-Mike

Cool Quote...

Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose...
***Tennessee Williams

Pam

Staples Family Adoption Fund

Well, it is official. Mike and I are starting the adoption process and have selected our the adoption agency we are going to use. We will be going through Amazing Grace adoptions located in Raleigh, NC. They were economically priced and we liked the fact that they are located locally so we wouldn't have to travel long distances for educational courses.

The minimum we would probably expect to pay for an adoption is around $15,000 upto $20,000 based on the information provided. We have decided to start the process even though we do not have the required funds and are trusting that God will provide us with the ways and means in which to pay for the adoption. In the meantime, I've applied for a part-time job to help pay for misc. expenses related to the adoption process.

We are planning on creating a cookbook and other items for sale through Lulu.com but have also set up a "widget" to accept donations towards our adoption fund. If you would be interested in the cookbook, photos or just donating in general, we would love to hear from you. To make a dontion, here is our widget...





Our goal is to raise approx. $10,000 towards our adoption fund in the hopes that it will cover at least 50% to 75% of our adoption fees. We would also like to thank all our friends and family that decide to donate towards our adoption fund!

God Bless,

Pam & Mike

Celebrating our 3rd Anniversary... Trip to the Outer Banks!

Outer Banks

For our 3rd Wedding Anniversary, Mike planned a short trip to the Outer Banks. We stayed at a wonderful Bed & Breakfast called the "White Doe." Staying at a B&B is quickly becoming an annual tradition for celebrating our Anniversary! I love staying at the B&B, relaxing and enjoying the surroundings to be explored.

We arrived on the Outer Banks ("OBX") Saturday afternoon which is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from home. The first stop was at the Visitor Center just as you cross over onto Roanoke Island. The gentleman working at the Visitor Center definitely helped us plan what we wanted to do for the weekend. After leaving the Visitor Center we stopped for lunch then made our way towards our first tourist stop of the weekend.

Our first stop was Currituck Beach Lighthouse on the very northern part of OBX north of the town of Duck. Currituck Beach Lighthouse is one of the few lighthouses that you can climb. Mike and I enjoyed the climb to the top. The lighthouse is red brick without any paint on the outside. The view from the top was beautiful if not extremely windy! The photo on the left shows the lighthouse keepers home and in the background is Currituck Sound.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse Photos

Below are the stairs that we took to make our way up to the top of the lighthouse. As you get to the top they become more narrow. The center photo is Mike at the top of Currituck Beach Lighthouse. It was a cool, windy day! The last photo on the right is of me at the top of Currituck Beach Lighthouse. Have to love the blowing hair! It was definitely challenging taking photographs at the top of the lighthouse with the blowing wind.

The White Doe Bed & Breakfast

After an enjoyable trip to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, it was time for us to find our Bed & Breakfast and get registered for the weekend. Mike managed to keep the B&B name and location a secret from me up until the day of our departure. The B&B was located in Manteo (pronounced Meh-nay-o. The "T" is silent) on Roanoke Island. This is the website for the White Doe Inn: http://www.whitedoeinn.com/. It was a very quaint and friendly! We stayed in the Roanoak room.

Each morning, breakfast was served in the formal dinning room or out on the outdoor terrace if the weather was nice. Breakfast was a wonderful time to meet the other guests and chat while enjoying a 4 course breakfast. The "4 course" breakfast consisted of (1) fresh fruit, (2) Grits (we passed!), (3) Main Course, (4) Dessert! Our 1st morning found the fresh fruit to be wonderful and dessert was superb with it being an Orange Swirl Cheesecake . On our 2nd morning, the fresh fruit far exceeded the 1st day and the main course was outstanding stuffed french toast and dessert was also a nice Key Lime Tart.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

For our second day of adventures, we took the southern route to visit the lighthouses located along the southern point of the OBX! We decided our first stop for the day would be the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse since it was the other lighthouse that we could climb. The weather for Sunday called for cold, wet, windy and possibly stormy day. We knew we needed to do Cape Hatteras as soon as possible.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is one of the MOST viewed lighthouses in all of the USA and is extremely well known around the world for its distinctive black and white spiral stripes painted on the exterior as well as being the international symbol of the North Carolina coast. It is known as "America's Lighthouse." The brick beacon is the tallest standing lighthouse at 208-feet high and was built in 1870. In the background, note the nasty dark clouds heading inland off the ocean side of OBX. Those clouds were bringing in the wet, windy and stormy weather.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Photos

Ocracoke Island & Lighthouse

After leaving Cape Hatteras Light Station, we continued our drive south. We were hoping to take the 40 minute ferry across to Ocracoke Island. Our original plan was to stop for a quick lunch however our "lunch stop" was anything but quick with us being at the restaurant nearly 2 hours. By the time we were done it was just after 2pm. We were uncertain whether or not we would make the ferry and assumed the ferries ran only on the hour. Regardless, we decided to drive down to the ferry landing and see if we could get the ferry across to Ocracoke Island. To our surprise, the ferry ran every 30 minutes and we were in time for the 2:30 pm ferry crossing. The ferry was a quick 40 minute trip! In no time, we were on Ocracoke island. We just drove the car right onto the ferry where directed by the ferry operators then turned it off and set the parking break!

Once we were on Ocracoke Island, we drove to the small fishing village of Ocracoke to see the lighthouse. Ocracoke Lighthouse is the oldest, operating lighthouse in North Carolina. It is a quaint, small white lighthouse standing at 75 feet tall and was commissioned to be built in 1822. In 1868, the lighthouse was cemented and whitewashed giving it the appearance it has today. The light shines 14 miles over the ocean.

The Beach!

Ok... So what is a trip to the coast without at least a few stops at the beach? Not a complete trip! Of course we had to "enjoy" the beach! Needless to say, the beach was not a very welcoming environment this weekend visiting OBX... With the stormy weather, it was cold, wet and very windy on the beach. There was also LOTS of blowing sand. We did have the beach all to ourselves with not a sole to be seen for miles!

What I enjoyed the most about the OBX beaches is that there were wide expanses without any development... No HOUSES, NO HOTELS, NO BUSINESSES! Even with the yucky weather, the beaches were beautiful.

Bodie Island Lighthouse

On our last day in OBX, we stopped at our last lighthouse that we had yet to visit called the Bodie Island Lighthouse located within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The lighthouse isn't open for climbing but it is in a beautiful setting set along the coast towards the sound side of the island. The day started out beautiful and partly cloudy yet still windy!

I think the Bodie Island Lighthouse is probably one of my favorites especially since it was less commercialized with a nice walking and nature trail provided. Admittedly, the blue sky may have helped!

Wright Brothers National Memorial

Finally, we had to make a quick stop to visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial. There really wasn't enough time to do everything and completely take in the whole memorial. The Memorial is a wonderful tribute to the first days of motorized flight. It was cool to see the location of the 1st four flights that the brothers took and where they landed in relationship to each flight from the point where they "took off." The first 3 flights didn't go far yet they were a major accomplishment. The 4th flight was over 300 yards and just under one minute in flight!

Mike and I had a wonderful time on the OBX. We look forward to many more future trips to the area to explore, enjoy the beach and new adventures!

Pam