1 Year Ago

This is me one year ago with my "caterpillar owee".  (That is what Braden called it because the stitches on my neck looked like a caterpillar.)  This was one of the most stressful times of my life.  I had to have surgery 5 days before we moved to Utah and we hadn't started packing yet because Andy had taken the 15th-20th off so we could have a "packing marathon".  I didn't find out until 4 pm on the 14th that there was anything wrong and that I needed to have surgery on my thyroid.  The doctor was "highly suspicious" that it was thyroid cancer due to the size of the mass.  So there I was the very next morning having surgery.  Of course during my surgery it was inconclusive of whether or not it was cancer so I had to wait 48 hours for the results to come back from pathology.  It was the best phone call Friday morning to have the Nurse tell me that I didn't have to go back in for surgery and that it was benign.  I remember my brother, Jared, and Andy were in the kitchen packing and Jared shouted "Yes!!" and immediately called Annette to tell her the news.  And yes, my brother Jared was a lifesaver and flew up the day after my surgery to come pack up the house since I couldn't do anything, literally.  I was in a lot of pain.  We really were debating on moving to Utah because we just didn't think we had enough time or resources to pack our house and move.  Andy and I were discussing this very issue in the hospital when we received a phone call from Jared saying Annette had bought him a plane ticket to Boise and he was coming to help us.  Every time I think of my thyroid surgery and moving to Utah I think of Jared because there was no way we would have been able to move without his help.  It has almost been one year since we moved here and we couldn't be happier with our decision.  With all the ups and downs that came moving we really feel blessed to be where we are.