The Cellar - I really wish they made a balloon that says "It's cancer!"

because I was really jealous of all the "It's a girl!" and "It's a boy!" balloons at the hospital gift shop. I did get a "Get well soon" balloon in the shape of a teddy bear from my bro and SIL. I was at the Dallas Medical City, and I just want to say that all the nurses, techs, and doctors were extremely kind, prompt and competent. I woke up from surgery extremely hot and in a lot more pain than expected. The poor nurse had to keep a close eye on me to make sure I didn't rip my blanket of and expose myself (the curtain couldn't be pulled because she had to watch more than one of us). I also decided to have a small panic attack on her and tell her that I couldn't breath repeatedly. She was very good at reassuring me that I was breathing just fine and was able to avoid a major incident. My mom, dad, and nanny (AKA grandma) stayed with me on Tues. I did end up having to stay overnight because my calcium was low, but my mom stayed with me overnight and until they sent me home today. It was good to have her even though I was in good hands anyway. I'm a bit stiff and swallowing hurts a lot (you dirty minded birdies!) but I've been up walking around on my own. Might have overdone the walking a bit because I crashed shortly after getting back to my parents and woke up in a lot of pain. A hot shower has helped.

After they took my thyroid out they did a preliminary biopsy and it did show my lesion was cancerous, so they took out two of my lymph nodes on that side also. The lymph nodes were biopsied today and show a bit of cancer. I will probably have to get some radiated iodine treatments, but that should not be a very big deal and the prognosis is extremely good.
All in all, a good experience considering I had surgery and I'm glad the cancer was caught and treated quickly.

I only have one real complaint, I will probably tell the hospital this too, after I tell them how nice everyone is. The chaplain was not a very nice chap though. When he came to my room, I thought it was very nice for someone to go around offering to talk if need be, but he was on a mission. He came in and announced that "they" were praying for me and with their prayers they were going to get me better! I thought "Uhm, I have very good doctors, they are the ones who deserve the credit, not you with your prayers." I let it slide though. Then he decided to offer to pray with me and talk about God, blah blah blah. I tried to be polite and just said "No thank you, I'm agnostic but my mom is Christian and might want to talk." Apparently he didn't care about the already converted and proceeded to tell me "That just means you have questions." I smiled and said "No, I don't have questions. I'm secure in the fact that I don't know and will probably never know except maybe when I die. There are no answers to the questions you're talking about, so I don't ask them." He thought that this was the time to tell me that "Yes, there are answers, you just haven't been taught them." Them's fightin' words right there, he just insulted my mom and dad. I told him that I was taught very well and it was funny he was standing there telling me about my life when he has never even met before and that he didn't know the first thing about my views or education. He told me that I was being close minded because I wasn't willing to discuss it! WTF? He's the asshole that doesn't want to respect my religious beliefs and he's invading my privacy by not leaving my room when I had made it clear I was not interested. My response was that I was willing to discuss it just not with him. Goodbye. He decided to tell me "Well, we're praying for you anyway and 'WE'LL' get you better." As if he's being the better person by praying for me when I'm so clearly lost. Fucking cocksucking twat kicking asshole.