Road to recovery...part 2

Lets take it back to mid year 2003

I meet a college mate - he is selling Old Mutual Life Insurance policies. At that time its only KES 5323 per month for 15yrs and the promise is a good amount on maturity. Sounds like a plan so i take it on. we sign some documents and one step is to see their doctor some place in Upper Hill. She examines me and then asks me about whether I have ever had my thyroid checked..thyroid checked? me...nope..never

She tells me well please have it checked

The start of the life cover is suspended for one year so it starts in 2004 and matured in 2019

Back to my thyroid in 2003 - I go to see a doctor in MP Shah and they do a whole range of tests Xrays, CT Scans, biopsy tests etc..final verdict...yes its had nodules and its euthyroid  - so not over active (hyper) or underactive (hypo) so iko tuu. Monitor it every 3 months for growth - but just manage your stress levels and you will be fine. If you want to remove it, the decision will be purely on aesthetic purposes...am like...remove for cosmetic purposes? nope not me...hehehehehe..large neck it is...

Armed with this....I went on with my life...even got my kids - first one 2006 and second one 2008. Then in late 2011 my arm was feeling tingly all the time...like I have slept on it...no amount of shaking could remove the feeling. Then the pain started! weuhhhh....I was basically reduced to someone who sleeps like am on a seat...I simply could not lie down. Not sure how we landed on Prof Adwoks clinic in Nairobi hospital....but there we were...one early morning...consulting with him. I admired his very clear desk and cryptic responses. Yes the pain could be linked to your thyroid, but no, no guarantees that you will wake up from the surgery and the arm is not paining. weuhhh...what to do?

On Feb 11 2012 (World Day of the Sick) my husband and I sat quietly at the mass for the sick in Our Lady Queen of Peace South B seeking healing to this pain. One morning, Sam was like..you seem to have slept well...no pain? am like...yeahhhhhhh...joy!!! Went back to Prof Adwok and one of the tests to be done before surgery is pregnancy test...good call because guess what? I was expecting Sifa! Prof was like..oh well...we have to postpone all the plans

Sifa was born October 2012 and we named him Raphael (God the healer)

I continued with tests like annually...but nothing major came from that

Then December 2022 rolled in........I had to sleep in a tent in cold Nyeri with my daughter as part of a rite of passage program

Lets just say, once that ONE night was over,  I knew it was time to get the thyroid out!