TS What?

It’s amazing what challenges a body can face after pregnancy. Mine went through hell last year and I’m finally getting it back into “fighting shape”. Adam and I are beginning a program called the 20/20 program at our health club. It’s a medically managed health/weight management program that will last the next 27 weeks (15 weeks of program and 12 weeks of maintenance). They get so focused - have you take so many assessments to start, and take blood. Well, one of the challenges that I faced last year was with my thyroid. It failed. It dumped, hard. You see, I know now that it runs in my family. My grandmother’s thyroid failed postpartum. My sister’s thyroid failed postpartum. And, ta-da, mine failed postpartum. On top of just your average everyday thyroid failure I also had a large nodule on it. When they biopsied it the results indicated papillary carcinoma, a form of Thyroid Cancer. So, they decided that it needed to come out. I had my thyroid removed back in June of 2006 and have been working for the last 9 months to get my thyroid levels back to normal. You can live without a thyroid, but not without the hormone. This is where things get tricky. What do I start to notice when my thyroid levels are off? First, I get tired - very tired. And, it goes in degrees - I start off just having trouble getting up in the morning. Then, I don’t feel like I can get up. Then, I just don’t and Adam stays home (we’re catching things quicker, these days so it doesn’t get this far anymore). Additional problems. Well, check out the list of what can happen when your thyroid levels are off:
•Constipation (yippee - what fun!!)
•Joint Pain
•Moodiness
•Bloating - puffy face (another joy)
•Dry Skin (my elbows are like elephant skin right now)
•Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
As you can see, life is a ball of joy when your thyroid levels are off. At my last doctor’s appointment we’d finally gotten them back into range for me, but I found out today that they’re out again - ugh!! Back to the old drawing board. Thank goodness for the 20/20 program, though. They’re the ones who drew the blood a couple of weeks ago. Otherwise, it would be a few more weeks before I noticed.