Focht Family Blog

This was a week for doctors. Samantha went in on Monday for her 9 year checkup. She is doing great. She is still at 90% for height and is now about the same for weight. The doctor said that it is normal for this age to start getting a little thicker. He said to just keep an eye out for how much snacks she is eating and what kind of snacks she is eating.

Mom went to the surgeon and I went to the endocrinologist on Wednesday. Mom’s surgery is scheduled for August 27 at 7:00 in the morning. The endocrinologist looked at my one value and told me it was within range. I was fine and I should have my ultrasound repeated in 3 months. Apparently I was supposed to go on feeling like I was choking for another 3 months. I went from there, crying, to my regular doctor’s office. I asked him to test me for anemia (I have had it before) as well as do some further testing on the thyroid. The tests came back on the low end of normal but within range so he basically said the same thing.

I have to say I was getting mad at the doctors for not listening to me and not trying to find out what was causing all of the symptoms I have been suffering from since March. I had the original ENT order a repeat ultrasound because the choking feeling is back. It went away for awhile after the cyst was drained in March. The ultrasound showed the cyst is back.

I decided I will probably have to have surgery so today I drove to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston to meet with a doctor that does a minimally invasive surgery to remove the thyroid. The first thing he said when I showed him my lab numbers is that it is very possible that you can be within normal range but be low for you. He wants me to go to an endocrinologist there to have it evaluated. However, he said that giving me medicines to raise my thyroid will not get rid of the cyst. My original biopsy did not get enough cells to show if it was malignant or not. Your chance raises slightly to about 5-6% if the cyst returns. I can have it drained again and have it injected with alcohol which keeps it from returning 90% of the time. However, I wouldn’t know if it were cancerous or not. The odds are low but we have a family history of women getting cancer at young ages. If I were to get cancer later on I would always wonder if it started in the thyroid and spread so I am opting to have that side of my thyroid removed. The doctor is about a month out in his surgery schedule so I will find out soon when my surgery date will be. If there are no complications I will be released the same day.

Since Nathan will be stuck in GA longer than he wanted we are taking a week or so and driving to Indiana to get out of the heat. The new RV floor-plan we wanted to look at has the first one coming out of production this week so we can get a look at it as well as getting a few things fixed before we are out of warranty.

Well… Samantha should be partied out. We started out with going to Atlanta for her birthday weekend. Friday night, her birthday, we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. Here is her birthday dessert which she shared with her cousin Ashleigh.

The next day we went to American Girl a little bit early so we could buy Samantha a Nellie doll and get my nieces a set of Bitty Twins for their birthday gifts from us. Timmy also managed to talk grandma and I into an outfit each for his doll and Josh’s doll to share. Next we were sat at a large table with 3 adults, 5 kids, and 6 dolls!

Here is Samantha and Ashleigh with Samantha’s “Samantha” and “Nellie” dolls and Ashleigh’s “Ashleigh” doll.

After our lunch was finished they brought Samantha a beautiful cake that had pink and green dots on it. It had 9 candles on it and they sang to her. She let Ashleigh and Josh help her blow out the candles.

Josh enjoyed his dessert with his doll.

After lunch we drove to the local Michael’s craft store and bought Samantha and the boys boxes so they could better organize the doll clothes and accessories. Then we went back to our campsite at Sawnee Park. We were in a beautiful spot that had water on both sides. When you were inside with the windows open it looked like you were on an island. Here is a picture of the view.

That night everyone came to our campsite for pizza. We were planning on eating outside by the lake but somehow everyone ended up inside. I think it was because the kids wanted to play with all of the dolls and toys. Sunday we woke up late and headed home around lunchtime.

Of course this wasn’t the end of her parties. Nathan’s parents came home from NY on Monday and came over for a visit. Because they had driven the whole night before, we didn’t do much else but visit but Tuesday night they came over for dinner and yet more cake. :)

I think Samantha is still recovering. I know that I am! :)

I tried to give the old bikes away and nobody needed them at the campground so I gave them to Goodwill while we were in Savannah. Samantha, Timmy, and I went to the dentist on Tuesday to get our teeth cleaned. I am happy to report that none of us have cavities. Samantha also had sealants put on her back molars to help prevent decay. Timmy is now growing his first permanent tooth. The gap he has had for three years finally has a tooth growing into it.

Yesterday on my way to Savannah I received a phone call to tell me that my allergy serums had been sent to our mail forwarding center. That was not supposed to happen. As it was, my first stop in Savannah was going to be getting my first shots. So… I had to pay for them to send the serums overnight and I got my first shots today….. all 4 of them!!! No major reactions so I am good to have the next higher dosage next week.

Tomorrow I meet with the rheumatologist. My joints and muscles are constantly aching now and my fingers are getting more gnarled looking than before. It is making it more noticeable to me. I am hoping they can come up with what is causing all of these symptoms. If not I also have an appointment with an endocrinologist on Wednesday. Mom also meets with the surgeon on Wednesday so next week we will know when her surgery date will be.

Friday we will drive to Atlanta for Samantha’s birthday. She will be 9 on Friday!! I cannot believe I have a 9 year old! We will go to dinner with her aunt, uncle and cousins on Friday and then Saturday we will have an early lunch with her aunt and cousins at American Girl. I will take lots of pictures this weekend and try to update the blog early next week.

Nathan has been telling Timmy that if he learned to ride his bike without training wheels that he would buy all of the kids new bikes. Samantha and Timmy both had rust on their bikes because of being out in the elements. So Nathan bought Samantha and Timmy new bikes (Josh’s bike is newer so it doesn’t have rust). Here are pictures of the kids out riding their new bikes.

Samantha is with the owner’s daughter from the campground. We also bought a cover for the bikes so now when we are traveling they will be covered.

On Friday Samantha asked me to change her earrings because her left ear was hurting. It had been at least three weeks since we changed them so I went to clean them off and remove them. The left earring came out without problems. The right earring however was another story. I went to remove it and couldn’t find the back. I thought at first it had just fallen off but the front didn’t come out easily. That is when I realized that there was a little bit of blood on the back and I felt around and realized that the back of the earring had embedded itself inside her earlobe. I called her doctor and they said they could remove it but not until Tuesday because he was out of town. I called every plastic surgeon and ENT doctor but nobody could see her or they didn’t deal with stuff like that so off to the ER we went. They numbed her ear and sliced it open slightly until they were able to remove the earring. The ER doctor felt like it had been in there for awhile. Here is what her ear looks like now.

They said the hole should heal in a week and after about 6 months or so she should be healed enough to be able to get her ears pierced again. I guess I don’t have to worry about changing her earrings for awhile. :)