Cramps!

Three out of four limbs cramped up this morning! That must be a hypocalcemic record for me.

I woke up with a terrible cramp in one of my calves and a normal cramp in the other.  I have to stretch my legs in a certain way to make the cramps go away.  Sometimes I leap right up out of bed to make the cramps go, although being launched from a deep sleep immediately onto one's feet on the bedroom floor can be jarring and can cause injury. Sometimes I stay in bed and try to make the cramps go away from some position I can achieve whilst already horizontal.  I chose the latter today. All of this to say, in the instant in which I was 1) waking up suddenly, 2) getting into a position in which I could effectively stretch my legs, and 3) yelping loudly at Jim, I leaned heavily on my left arm... which then cramped up also! OUCH.

Good thing I called Old Dr. Thyroid yesterday (aka, my endocrinologist) and left a message with regards to significantly upping my vitamin D intake.  It seems that no matter how many TUMS I pop, I'm always on the edge of leaping out of bed in pain. And that's just one of the symptoms of hypocalcemia that makes it clear I'm not absorbing this stuff.  However, I think my vitamin D is pretty low, and the calcium won't do anything if I don't up the D.

Speaking of Old Dr. Thyroid, he tells me that my parathyroids will never come back at this point. That's a bummer.

Old Dr. Thyroid also wants to do another round of radioactive iodine, which I think I'm going to just do, and schedule it for January.  On the plus side, it'll be nice to make sure in the scan that "Everything is Illuminated" (thanks, Mr. Foer). On the less-than-plus side, I may be running out of time if I want babies.

Well, I think that's everything. For once I actually beat Jim out of bed (the cramps).  So now I'm going to sit on the couch and gloat until he wakes up.

Happy Friday!

It's been a while!

Goodness gracious, where to begin?

It looks like the last time I updated this blog was way back in June.  Since then, I've done a few things.  I went to two amazing conferences, I broke my right shoulder in a way that quite removed me from my daily activities for several months, and I got married to Jim!

Of course, this is the very abbreviated version of the last nearly-half-year.  Still, I'm not sure how to do such a sweeping update.  Maybe a short, bulleted list?  Updates are as follows:

• My job is excellent.  I like my coworkers and the work I'm doing.  The company I work for treats its employees surprisingly well.  I have a lot of responsibility, I'm being challenged daily, and I routinely get to dress up like an adult.
• My friends are amazing. Old friends - wonderful. New friends - wonderful.  Thank you all for being so present for me over the last year.  And a special shout-out to a small group of women friends who I met a little more than a year ago. For the last year, they have been incredibly supportive. Thank you, ladies. 
• The wedding was absolutely everything I could have hoped it would be, and I am thrilled to be married to Jim. Thank you so much to all of our family and friends who attended!  The honeymoon, in one of our favorite places - Bar Harbor, Maine - was as relaxing as could be.
• On the thyroid front, my doctor is pressing to do another round of radioactive iodine, this one less potent than the last.  He checked me in August and didn't see anything on my ultrasound, nor in my blood work, to concern him.  However, he would like to treat me with iodine.  He says it is an important part of the treatment puzzle.  I will probably go through with it in January, once my vacation/sick days reset.

Those are some of the highlights for the moment. I will try to update again in a more timely manner.