Life with a Goiter - Part 3

Going into surgery this time was much different. There were more things on my mind and knowing that I have thyroid cancer made the thoughts uncontrollable. I kept thinking about if it had spread. I was just thinking about what else may be wrong. What if things are much worse than they are? How will my life be now? Will the cancer come back? Etc...etc...etc...
So, just as the first surgery, I had limited talking and pretty much followed the same protocol as before. I knew I would be on medication the rest of my life to replace the hormone that my body can no longer produce without a thyroid.

Goiter - Left Side

As you can see in the pictures, there is the goiter and the right thyroid gland. Immediately, I noticed a huge difference in my neck. I can't believe how small it is now. I was told that my recommended medication would be Synthroid.  I mentally prepared myself as it was to be my life-long partner.

After a few weeks, I was place on a low-iodine diet to prepare for my radioactive iodine treatment (RIT).  Having thyroid cancer doesn't mean radiation. But, it was necessary for me to have the RIT. OMG!

Right Side

The low-iodine diet completely drained me. I was teaching my fitness classes and thinking where do I pull the energy to do so.  It was like functioning on a drained internal battery. All I wanted to do was NOTHING!

Figuring out what eat and what not to eat was, actually pretty interesting.  I learned even more about discipline and my cooking skills.  Found myself making my own sausage. When you’re on limited foods and the foods you buy contain things you can’t consume, you find yourself getting very creative and resourceful.

Hash Browns, Turkey Sausage and Egg Muffins

I love breakfast, who doesn't? Well, you should. It's a very important meal of each day. I came across this recipe and I just have to share.  Originally, it was in Clean Eating Magazine's November/December 2012 issue. I've made it with both the frozen shredded potatoes and the refrigerated shredded potatoes that are usually found near the cold juices and eggs in the grocery store.  I like both chicken sausage and turkey sausage. By all means, use what you like.  Just remember to keep things "healthy". 

Make these on one of your "cooking" days and just store them in the frig for grab-n-go mornings.

Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

  

1 1/2 lb shredded potatoes 

  

1/2 tsp sea salt 

  

1/2 tsp pepper 

  

Olive oil cooking spray 

  

3/4 cup grated low-fat Swiss cheese 

  

3 ozs. chicken (or turkey sausage), cooked and diced

  

3 chopped green onions 

  

3 large eggs 

  

3 large egg whites 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Spray muffin tins (12 ) with cooking spray.

Transfer the shredded potatoes to a colander and press firmly to get out all the excess water. You can skip this step if you're using the refrigerated version.  They tend not to have a great deal of moisture.

Transfer potatoes to a large bowl, and add 1/2 of the salt and pepper. Mix.

Add about 1/3 cup potatoes to each muffin cup. Press the potatoes into the base and up the sides of each muffin cup. Making a little nest.

Bake until the edges on the potatoes are golden brown. About 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 F.

Lightly mist the muffin tins around each potato muffin cups with cooking spray.

Divide the cheese among the potato “nests” followed by sausage and green onions.

In a bowl mix eggs, remaining salt and pepper. Pour into the nests, and spread the remaining cheese on top.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. Or until eggs and cheese are melted. Cool in a pan for 10 minutes before serving

Fun with Grace and Elegance

You can truly gauge how fun your exercise routine is when you are asked to share it with a group of little and not-so-little girls. Grace and Elegance is a local group that instills many basic fundamentals in the development of lovely young ladies.  Part of their mission statement is to empower young women with a purpose to succeed and overcome odds.

 

Eating healthy and exercising is also a part of the guidance from the volunteer leaders of this group. 

We had fun! Talk about the energy level being high! I truly enjoyed their enthusiasm for learning. Of course, I had to bring in the balloon game. Can’t be around a group of kids without playing with balloons.  We talked about good foods and bad.  Then, they were so very anxious to do Zumba.

When we got started with Zumba, their faces lit up and we had a party. You would have thought that they would have tired me out.  Funny thing, they were so cute, they raised their hands and asked for a break…LOL!

I had to share.  Our children are wonderful and it is worth all of our efforts to continue to work together to help guide them into becoming healthy, beautiful and smart women (and men). 

Life with a Goiter - Part 2

Many thoughts went through my mind. Such as, "gray" areas, well there are many shades of gray, right? What impact will this have on me? Should they just go ahead and remove the whole thyroid gland? Who knows what else may be wrong? Better to be safe than sorry later. Does this "gray" mean a higher chance of cancer? What if my voice changes?

First surgery - Removed left nodule. 

The most important thing was to just take it day by day and prepare for surgery. They wouldn't have any concrete information until they went in and removed the left side. I have to admit, I did wonder just how long did this questionable area exist.  Apparently, ultrasounds and blood work are not the only things that should be used to monitor situations like this. Who knew?

So, my family and I had our "let's talk about the surgery" meeting with my doctor.  She shared with me that they'll remove the left side, send it off for testing and how she really didn't feel there would be any concern with removing just the one side. She favored for me keeping the right side and that I wouldn't have to worry about taking thyroid medication the rest of my life. 

Inside I felt that maybe it would be best that they removed the whole thing. Might as well, there was just too much uncertainty.  Before I knew what happened, my mouth opened and those exact words came out. She felt why remove it if there's no need. At least let us be sure. Then, I asked how long does it take to get the results? UGH!!! I was told the results were not immediate. Which we discussed that there would have to be a second surgery, if the results were positive for cancer. 

She and I went back and forth. She favored keeping the right in and I favored taking the whole thyroid out. Don't get me wrong, I understood her view completely, but I just didn't see waiting to see and having another surgery.  My family and I discussed and we all agreed to just remove the one side.

The surgery went well. It was interesting not being able to talk. Not to say I talk a great deal...LOL. The goiter was a pretty nice size. I failed to mention that it was interferring with my esophagus.  My doctor had informed me that it was starting to expand down into my chest. That explained a lot of the coughing and always clearing my throat.

It was now time to wait and wait and wait. That part was the most difficult part. A few days before I could resume my regular activities, I received a call from the doctor's office. She wanted to see me as soon as possible. As you may have guessed I was starting to not like seeing her office number come up on my phone. I just broke down and cried. I just knew it wasn't good. 

I went to the office with my family. I wanted them with me. My mom was caring for my grandmother, otherwise I would have had her there too. We all sat down and she let us know that I have thyroid cancer. Damn! You hear cancer and your heart truly sinks. 

The second surgery was scheduled...(Part 3 to come).

Are You Getting Ready for 2014?

As we wind down this last week of October, I began thinking that this is the time of year where so many people decide that if they haven't achieved their fitness goals, no need to start now. It is during this time when we start to think about holiday parties and family gatherings. With these gatherings come food, food and more food. Who is thinking about sticking to a healthy lifestyle? What's done is done. If you haven't reached that goal, there's always next year.

My question is WHY WAIT? Why wait to get started? Why take a break if you have been disciplined enough to make it this far? Why let this time of year tempt you into thinking that you should let your healthy lifestyle fall by the waist side? I hope it's not due to the thinking that you'll just start over next year - 2014! 

This is the time of year when you should maintain your "healthy lifestyle" right? Since, when does a lifestyle take a break? I'm sure no one ever decides that they will take a break from bathing, a break from the hairdresser/barber, a break from living? This is when you end the year with just as much force as you did in the beginning, when you set your goal for the year. A year is 12 months, so who are you cheating if you slack off? YOURSELF that's who.

During this time, review where you currently are and set your year-end course to either completing your initial goal of 2013 or getting as close to reaching it as possible. Don't cheat yourself or the healthy lifestyle that you have been living or started living.

 

End this year with a tremendous feeling of accomplishment!  That way, when December 31, 2013 - New Year's Eve - comes around, you will be celebrating your success!!!

 

Feel free to share how you will remain on course to a better and healthier you the rest of the year.

Roasted Turnips

I’ve been on a major adventure kick. New fitness routines, new recipes, tasting new foods.  So, when my mother gave me a bag full of turnips,  I just couldn't pass them up. 

When I talk about turnips, I’m referring to the bottoms. The purple bulbs, or the root of the turnip greens.  During this whole year, I’ve been thinking outside of the box by expanding my food selections.  I’ve had boiled turnips from my mother-in-law, which were delish.  Now, I am preparing them and wanted to have them in a different way.  I decided to roast them.

Turnips have a pretty strong flavor and if you are not a big fan of that, then you and I share the same taste. 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  They were quite easy to prepare. After cleaning the turnips, I peeled off their outer skin. Next, cut them up into cubes, not too small.  Then, I poured about a tablespoon of olive oil over the turnips, sprinkled some kosher salt and pepper and mixed them up so that the oil mixture was on all of the pieces.  

Placed the pieces on a baking tray.  Be sure to keep them spaced apart and not touching each other. 

Roasted them in the oven until they start to turn brown, then flip the pieces over.  Continue roasting until they are brown.

You can serve them with potatoes or even greens. The choices are endless.

Enjoy!

 

Green Apples and Walnut Salad

When it comes to eathing healthy, having salads every day or every other day is not my healthy eating vision.  But, when I do want a salad, I enjoy them to the fullest. While in the grocery story, I really wanted to have some fresh strawberries and have them in a salad with walnuts.  Well, the strawberries were so far from being attractive that day in the store.  I was so bummed because I could just taste the salad in my head.

I had already grabbed a bag of green apples, to have for my apples/natural peanut butter snack. I had went to the grocery store primarily to buy some strawberries for the salad.  Then, it hit me. Slice the apples and toss them into the salad!

DUH!!! Before I knew it, my mind had already came up with making some poppyseed dressing to drizzle onto the salad. I regained my excitement and was happy that my lunch menu for the week was even more exciting. 

I'm sure many of you have those moments. Right?

Ingredients:

• Granny Smith apples
• Salad mix of your choice (I used the Spring Mix)
• Healthy Poppy Seed Salad dressing (click here for the recipe)
• Walnuts (rich in Omega 3s)

Salad rich in fiber, healthy fat, Vitamin E and omega 3s - enjoy!