So What the Heck is a Thyroglossal Duct Cyst Anyways

I can honestly say that before we found out about Elliah's condition, I had NEVER heard of a thyroglossal duct cyst, let alone what the Sistrunk procedure was and I have spent several hours on the internet doing my best to research them both and I have only been able to find one blog entitled, "Mi Familia Linda" where a woman shares her own experiences of having a TGC. I can not say how relieved I was to finally read about others who have gone through this and to know that I wasn't crazy to have as much anxiety as I have been having was truly a blessing.

Although the majority of the people who have posted on that particular blogs were adults, I was able to find a few people who had small children who had had the Sistrunk Procedure done and I have been in contact with them and they have been able to answer a few questions for me. It's amazing how generous complete strangers can be and the amount of comfort they can provide.

So to answer a few questions..

What is a thyroglossal duct cyst?

A thyroglossal duct cyst is a cyst that forms on the base of your child's thyroid gland. Early in fetal life, the thyroid gland moves from the bottom of the tongue to the base of the neck. As the thyroid moves, it drags some of the lining of the pharynx, which can form a cyst. A thyroglossal cyst usually appears between ages 2-10. It is found equally in both boys and girls. The main risk of a thyroglossal duct cyct is infection. Bacteria from the mouth may cause the cyst to become infected. In Elliah's case the cyst (which looks like she swallowed a grape) literally appeared overnight, thanks to my beautiful Mother who notices every single scratch and wound on her grandchildren, we have been able to have Liah seen by some amazing doctors in a very short amount of time. This cyst also explains why Elliah was always getting sick which is a huge relief because I swear we were taking her to the Dr.s every other week for something!!!

What is the Sistrunk procedure?

The operation is called a 'Sistrunk procedure'. The cyst is removed along with the middle of a small bone under the chin called the 'hyoid' bone, and the tube ('throglossal duct') within the tongue muscle is removed as well. This is done under a general anasthetic (asleep) and usually takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and half, depending on where exactly the cyst is attached. There have been cases where the bone does not have to be removed, at this point we are not sure but as soon as we know...so will you.

What kind of recovery will Elliah have?

This will depend on how her surgery goes. We have been informed that they usually keep the children overnight to make sure they do not have any problems with swallowing or a fever. The normal stay is anywhere from 1-3 days, and we are hoping that Liahbug will recover fast and we can bring her home as soon as possible. She will more than likely stay home for a few weeks, just to make sure she doesn't re-open the wound on her neck.

For those of you who know Liah, know that this kid has A LOT of spunk so I think the biggest obstacle Daryl and I will need to overcome is just getting her to slow down!!! She will not be allowed to have anything 'crunchy' for at least a week, and will only be able to have liquids for a while. Although it took a little bit of convincing on my part, Daryl and I have decided that we will have the same exact diet that Elliah does because the last thing we want to do is torture her with foods that she cannot eat. I think it will be a good way to show our solidarity with her and who knows, we may drop a few pounds too!!!

***All of this information was provided by Kidshealth.com and the CHOC hospital homepage***

I am feeling a little bit better now....we still have a ways to go but I do see a beautiful rainbow at the end of the tunnel.

Mommy kisses can't always fix boo-boo's

For those of you who know me know that I internalize most things until I get to a point where I cannot take the pressure and eventually I blow up, which if you ask Daryl, (my trusty sidekick) is not cute. I do my best on most days to show the positive side that lies within me even though it has been a continual struggle to make that solshine come through..the one thing that I cannot fight and feel like Superman against Kryptonite is when the situation involves my baby girl Elliah. As every good parent knows...there in NOTHING in the world that you would do to ensure that you child is healthy and happy, yet unfortunately life LOVES to throw curve balls at you that turn your world upside down and makes you wonder WTF did I do to deserve this!!!!!!

That being said...here goes....Last Saturday night I left Elliah with my mother, Daryl and I had an engagement party to go to so we kindly asked Grandma Aide' if she would watch her favorite 2nd granddaughter, which she obviously obliged to and life went on as normal as usual. The following day when I went to pick her up, my mother(who is notorious for being a hypo-chondriac) said to me, "Have you seen this before?" as she pointed to what appeared to look like an Adam's Apple on Elliah's neck. Doing my best NOT to be alarmed, I told my mother that I had not noticed it previously and did my best to not freak the F*ck out. (Please excuse the curse words in this post...I'm emotional dammit!!) We went about the rest of our Sunday afternoon, yet I could not stop thinking about the lump on Liah's neck. Throughout the day, I kept feeling it, wondering if I had somehow, someway neglected my child and not noticed it before. I started going through photos and recollecting memories of her sleeping and for the life of me, could not remembering seeing it. As mentioned we went about our day, celebrated a birthday with one of our dearest friend's daughter and while I was so grateful to be surrounded by so many wonderful people, my mind would not stop racing about what could possibly be wrong with my most precious treasure.

The following morning I woke up and immediately called her pediatrician and they asked us to come in that same day. I did my best to convince myself that everything was fine and that they would send us home with some antibiotics and tell me that Liah was going to be okay. As her doctor examined the lump, he immediately stopped talking to me and I began to get nervous. I felt my knees buckle underneath me and sat down because while I was doing my best to be strong for Elliah, I knew that the biggest weakness I will ever have in my life is her. Dr. Azhand asked me how long Liah had had the lump and I told him that we had barely noticed it the day before. After what felt like the longest silence I had ever heard, he said that we needed to see and ENT specialist (ear, nose and throat) doctor as soon as possible. He did not want to say much, other than, he was not confident in saying anything about Elliah's lump until we saw a specialist.

I can honestly say that from a mother's perspective, there is nothing worse than having a doctor tell you that he cannot help you, so you need to see another doctor, who will hopefully have some answers. As I drove home, Elliah was in the backseat telling me how happy she was because she received a Mickey Mouse sticker and a lollipop and how much fun she had at the doctors office...me on the other hand cried the entire way home. I immediately felt a guilt that I could never explain, other than "Mother's guilt", was there something that I may have done wrong or overlooked, was I a bad mom???

The hard part was when I got home...I had a full house...Daryl's mother and brother were visiting from Michigan, Daryl's son was home for the summer from England and I had to disguise my emotions. *The reality was when I got home, no one asked how Elliah's doctor appointment was or what the doctor said* I think they were mostly glad that I brought home hamburgers for lunch because no one said sh*t about Elliah. After I put the food down I went into my bedroom and anxiously awaited Daryl to come home from work so I would have someone to talk to and so I could cry and tell someone how scared I was.

Once D arrived home, we had very little time to talk about what would normally be the most important priority in our lives because we had company over and we were on our way to go sightseeing......to be completely honest, I could not wait for a moment of silence so we could focus on our baby girl and what we needed to do to ensure that she would be okay.

**Fast forward**

This past week has consisted of specialists, ultrasounds on the cyst, more doctor visits and now we have to wait until September 9th, for our appointment to see an ENT surgeon to see what we need to do from here. (For any person who is considering a career as a doctor, I would strongly suggest being an ENT, I literally had to cry in order to get an appointment a month from now, otherwise the wait is almost 3 months!!!!)

What we know at this point is that Elliah has a thyroglossal duct cyst that is attached to her thyroid gland which needs to be removed. At this point I am simply praying that the cyst does not have any thyroid tissue inside of it because if it does, they will have to cut out the center of her thyroid bone and she will need to be on medication to regulate her thyroid for the rest of her life....I have spent the entire week researching this disorder and have found that it has a high success rate as long as it is simply a cyst and not tissue, but let me tell you, this does NOT let me sleep any easier at night. I find myself up at all hours, rubbing Elliah's back and legs and telling her that I am sorry for the road that lies ahead of her while she sleeps. I know Daryl must feel an extreme amount of guilt and pain as well...un-like me, he hides his tears much better than I ever could.

As of now, this story is to be continued because we do not know what is going to happen until September 9th. The only thing we do know is that she has the best pediatric surgeon at CHOC hospital and I am eternally grateful that Daryl has an amazing job with health benefits... I am not sure what we would have done without it. I am so thankful to the heavens and the skies to have him by my side to go through this with, Elliah is so blessed to have him as her Daddy!!! Lastly, I am also very grateful for my dearest friends who I have reached out to, initially out of fear but ultimately out of love.....I know that I needed to hear their words of encouragement and support and I know that my friends/family love me, but more importantly they love Elliah a million times more.....and I wouldn't have it any other way.

To be continued.....