The good news was that when they took my thyroid out the tumor turned out not to be cancerous. The bad news was that within 24 hours after surgery horrible things began to happen that would change my life. First I wasn't able to feel my lips and my legs kept going to sleep. Eventually my legs and arms started to spasm and draw up uncontrollably. My lips and eye started twitching constantly. They put me on a heart monitor and seizure watch. As I sat in my hospital bed I felt very scared. My parathyroid glands, though still intact, quit working. It is a rare complication of surgery. My 24 hour stay in the hospital turned into a week. Once I was released I had to get my blood drawn and my calcium levels tested every other day for about 6 months. Gradually it tapered down over the next year to 2 times a week, to once a week, and to once every two weeks. I continued to experience a great deal of numbness and extreme fatigue. Somedays it seemed getting out of bed and taking a shower would wipe me out for the rest of the day. Another side effect was depression. While I thought I had been "depressed" before, I had never even been close. I couldn't snap out of it. The doctors kept messing with the dosages of my medication trying to get all of the hormones right so that I could function. At one point I was taking upwards of 25 pills a day juts to control my calcium levels. That doesn't include my Synthroid or depression medications.
Year two after surgery I saw some improvements and was able to move my blood draws out to every 3 months. I began exercising again and lost some of the weight I had gained. Iw as starting to feel good again when I began getting kidney stones. I passed 2 on my own and found out I had 7 more to go. One was way too large to pass. I was banned from exercise. I had my kidney stones blasted and then passed two more extremely painful ones. Once they were able to analyze the stones they found the calcium had effected my kidneys and they were not filtering properly. I had extremely high levels of protein in my urine and the doctors feared I was moving toward kidney failure.
My urologist and my endocrinologist agreed that I needed to go on a strict vegetarian diet. No meat, no dairy, no whey protein. They told me an occasional egg or fish would be okay. At first, I thought I would never make it. Because my family still ate meat and I was the primary chef for the family I ate mostly salads and fruits. I bought a Vitamix because my blender broke and began experimenting with smoothies. I found some I loved! The kids wanted to try them and they started requesting their favorites as well.
I noticed that I was feeling a little better eating vegetarian. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, though. That evening I saw a clip on the local evening news about a woman who had breast cancer who went on a raw food diet. Her cancer had shrunk and her incurable stage 4 cancer was now thought to be curable. The woman was young and had three children. She looked so vibrant and excited about sharing her secret. I think she went to the Hippocrates Institute in Florida. I told Wayne, "I could never do that." He said, "You pretty much are already."
The next day I began to do some research on a raw food diet. The more I looked at the information the more excited I got. When I told Wayne I was going to do it, he thought I was a little crazy. He thought I was taking things a little far, but when I showed him what I had learned he was supportive. I even happened upon a link that said two prominent raw foodists, Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes were going to be speaking in our area that weekend and he agreed to go with me to hear them talk. After their talk, I was ready and went 100% raw.
Within one week I saw such an enormous difference! I had so much more energy! I had lost about 4 pounds and I felt great! I couldn't believe it. The next few weeks I lost even more weight, my skin completely cleared up, I was having no trouble sleeping, needed less sleep, and overflowing with energy. Although I haven't seen the endocrinologist again yet, my urologist told me I looked great and my kidney labs had improved (this after being raw about 1 1/2 months) and to keep doing whatever I was doing because it was agreeing with me.
I have been raw for about 3 months now and I have lost 25 pounds. I weigh less now than before I even had surgery! I feel 10 years younger and continue to have tons of energy. I see my endocrinologist next week so we will see what he has to say. Many of my family and friends have commented on the way I look, not just the weight I have lost, but my skin and hair, my confidence and my enthusiasm for life. I am happy and enjoying life again. I feel like I can do whatever I set my mind to do. Currently, my medications include my Synthroid and I take 1 pill a week to control my calcium levels, and I am not taking anything for my kidneys. Also, I no longer take anti-depressants. This has truly been a journey for me. I am eager to see what happens next.
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