Day 196

Day 196: After spending the whole week talking about the heat, I went to bed freezing last night. Without a thyroid, my body sometimes decides it is cold, regardless of the weather. And sometimes when I get really hot, my body takes hours to cool down. Without one, I have learned that thyroids are thermostats.

Eight years ago, when my surgeon explained that there was a mass the size of a chicken egg on my thyroid, and both needed to go, he said “Don’t worry. You’ll take a little pill every morning and it will take care of it.” Putting a positive spin on it was probably the best way to assure me at that stage in the game, but I still think about his words.

Every morning when I take that little pill, I say to it (silently, so no one will hear me talking to my medication and think I need MORE medication) “I’m sorry I put such a burden on you. How can you, such a tiny pill, be expected to do such a big job?”

In case you’re worried about me, the pill never answers.

My mother had a handful of pills that kept her going. She had to use inhalers to breath. Watching her struggle through an asthma attack was one of the scariest experiences of my life. I remember her talking about the miracle of medicine and how grateful she was for it. And I am grateful for my little pill, too.

How many miracles of medicine affect our lives? How many of us wouldn’t be alive without them?

Some days we’re the surgeon, caring for people and doing our jobs the best way we can. Some days we’re the thyroid, causing unintentional detours in the journey that require re-routing. And some days we’re the little pill, facing a gargantuan responsibility that weighs directly on our shoulders. In all three cases, all we can do is make the best of the situation. After all, most days that little pill does an excellent job, and most days, we do, too. #MomsCompanyTowels #HotWeek #TheMiracleOfModernMedicine #HotFlashesAndColdSweats