Kristen Up-date

Hello Everyone!!! How are you all doing? My sincerest apologies for not having posted a new blog up-date in ages. Life, as you will see, has been quite interesting ever since early spring.

O.k., well, I guess I will just jump on in here: In late Dec’06 I had a CAT scan to find a blood clot. The good news is that by the time we had driven the two and a half hours through a blizzard, the blood thinning medicine they had given me at our urgent care had worked and dissolved the clot. The not so good news is that I later got a phone call from the radiologist at the hospital saying that they had found a small tumor/growth on my thyroid gland and that I needed to see my doctor right away.

The “official” name for what they found is Thyroid Nodule, and all of the research that I did on-line and through my Dad and Mom, etc… all said that they are almost always completely benign. I did go and see my Dr. and she did some blood tests to check my thyroid functions, etc… and then she said that she wanted me to see an endocrinologist in Grand Junction as soon as possible. This was in March, and the endocrinologist couldn’t see me until July 16th! So I had to just let it all rest in God’s hands and not allow myself to dwell on it. By the way, the symptoms are waves of inexplicable anxiety, sleeplessness, and unexplained extreme fatigue. I guess that the growth can cause the thyroid gland to way over produce adrenalin at times and then stop completely; hence the anxiety/exhaustion. The anxiety hits me at random times. Frequently it will wake me up out of a dead sleep. It is completely physiological and not psychological at all, it’s not that I am terrified of being attacked by a T-Rex, so I start hyperventilating. It actually feels like falling over backwards in my chair, but I never land, it feels like I am falling backwards into space. I know that sounds strange, but that’s the best way that I can think to describe it.
To make a long story a little shorter, I saw the endocrine Dr. and he said that he wanted me to get a biopsy done that same day, so he immediately sent me over to the hospital in Grand Junction for a needle aspiration biopsy. That, by the way, was one of the most uncomfortable/painful things I’ve had to go through with out sedation! I was there all by my self and it was rather scary. The biopsy came back, (three weeks later!) that the growth’s tissue is “normal.” Thank You Jesus! However, it is still causing all of these bizarre symptoms and it is likely the reason that I haven’t gotten pregnant yet. So now I have to get another set of blood tests, then get a scan to confirm the diagnosis and then get the tumor removed. I know that I know that at the beginning of this calendar year, God gave me a promise that this was my year for complete healing, and I believe it with my whole heart…this is just one more little bump in the road. Once I get past this, it’s going to be smooth sailing. I have an inexplicable peace about it all. I suppose that is what Paul meant by the peace that surpasses our understanding guarding our hearts and our minds.

So, that’s me…Otherwise, life is pretty good, my back is getting better all the time. I have been able to be much more active and enjoy some of the Summer visiting my Parent’s at their new house on 40 acres and visiting my Sister and Brother-in-law in Moab, UT…the other exciting thing is that my Cousin Emily is having her baby today or tomorrow!!! She and her new husband are so excited to welcome a baby boy into their family! They have chosen Gabriel for his first name, and I think maybe Lewis for his middle, but I’m not sure about that one. They are at the hospital right now walking and hoping that things will happen sooner than later.