Life Update September 23

So, an update on life from Spain when I haven’t blogged in a month (note to self: seriously, write every day. It makes you feel so much better).

Covid cases in Spain are still going up, and in the middle of that they decided to open schools. Not only did they decide to open schools, but home schooling is basically illegal here, and they prosecute truancy really strict – parents have lost custody of their kids for keeping them home too long – so there is some uproar over the whole school-situation. We’re okay with it because our kiddo goes to a school out in the countryside with small classes where they spend most of the day outside, but if she was in normal Spanish school with 25 kids in a classroom, I’d be worried and upset.

While not worrying about school and infections, I’ve been taking advantage of the great Spanish healthcare system for tests on a growth on my thyroid. Apparently thyroid nodules are a thing. And I have one. Who knew? I’d been having difficulty swallowing for a while, and finally decided to get it checked out (because I really dislike doctors) and after an ultrasound of my throat, it turns out I have this lovely 2.5cm long nodule growing out of my thyroid. No wonder I have trouble with bread!

95% of nodules are benign, and mine is labeled low suspicion, but the endocrinologist still wants a biopsy, so I went a couple of days ago. And friends, let me tell you, thyroid biopsies in Spain are no joke. Mostly because they don’t give you local anesthetic. And the needle is crazy long, and you just have to lay there feeling it go into your neck. It’s honestly the least amount of fun I’ve had since childbirth. I started crying after it was over, it hurt so damn much. And I spent 25 hours in labor without an epidural, so I have a pretty high tolerance for pain.

Apparently they do give you local anesthetic in the US, so if I have to have it done again, hopefully I’ll be home and I won’t feel it as much. So now we just wait for the results to kick in. I hate waiting. I’m keeping myself busy by playing mindless games like Lily’s Garden on my phone. It beats reading about politics.

But I am taking this as yet another reminder to get healthy, and I’m taking my diet and exercise to a new level. I’m eating sauerkraut almost every day (fermentation is super good for your gut), adding burpees and strength training to my days, and have given up chocolate and lots of sugar. It’s been rough getting used to it, but I definitely feel better. And hopefully this will be the start of a new story for me when I talk with my grandchildren and say, “yeah, and then when I was 44 I had a scare, and got super healthy out of it…”

So this is my brain dump to clear the way for future posts!