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Updated: May 2, 2022

I feel like that's all I do on my blog - write a post, disappear for months (unintentionally), and then come back and say "hi! btw here's another life update!"


Story of my f*king life, right?


Really though, I have drafts saved that I had planned to write. And it just never got done. Call it laziness or life happening. Call it whatever you want. At this point, I will just accept that I'm not a consistent blogger and nobody probably really cares. But this was supposed to be my journal and I like looking back on my posts for memories sake. And so 10 years from now when I look back at the beginnings of this blog, Ima be like "hmmm, guess 2020 & 2021 just wasn't eventful enough to write about huh?" But it's been quite the opposite... I just never got a chance to document it all. *sigh*


Okay, so let's jump right into it.


The biggest most eventful thing that has happened since my last post is: I had surgery. Anything that has to do with my health, I don't share on social media or my blog until I know for sure that I'll be OK to actually share. So now that I've recovered, I feel comfortable enough to share that I had a thyroidectomy back at the end of August.


Quick back story on that: found some nodules in my thyroid in 2013/2014 which turned out to be benign after having gone through multiple biopsy procedures. They were considered to be tiny enough that surgery was not needed at the time. And I was told they can't just remove the nodules. The entire thyroid would need to come out. My endocrinologist said if it wasn't bothering me (swallowing and breathing can be a problem if it gets too big) then I shouldn't have to worry about taking it out. Anyway, after 2 pregnancies and having my hormones go up and down, my nodules grew and caused my thyroid to become enlarged. I was encouraged back in 2019 to have them taken out but I kinda prolonged the event mainly because I was scared. Then when COVID hit last year, I used that as an excuse to prolong it even more. Until I realized that it's been giving me enough trouble with swallowing and breathing and it just caused me so much discomfort that I need it to come out. So after numerous appointments with my primary care physician, my endocrinologist and then a meeting with a head & neck surgeon, on August 25th, I went in for surgery and had it removed.


Pre-Op

I didn't realize how risky my situation had become until I was in pre-op and had conversations with the head anesthesiologist and my nurses. All of which said they hadn't seen a goiter as big as mine in their career here in the US (some of the healthcare workers assigned to my case were Asian and originally from Asia). Then in post-op, I learned that my operation was a bit challenging and took longer than expected because I had many blood vessels attached to my thyroid that needed to be individually cauterized. What was supposed to be a 2-hour procedure turned into a 3+ hour procedure AND included an overnight stay at the hospital. Something I was not prepared for, by the way. I did not bring an overnight bag, not even a phone charger. And the sucky part about it, I was not being able to have visitors because of COVID. I also learned that I lost a lot of blood. Had I known how risky it was to have surgery on a very enlarged thyroid, I would have definitely done it sooner. But not once did my endocrinologist have a discussion with me about any of it. Only that I should take it out because it's big and could really affect my ability to swallow and breathe.


I also learned that my thyroid was growing down into my chest. Had it grown any bigger, I probably would have needed a chest surgeon in there too to open up my chest to take it out. My head & neck surgeon said he had to reach down behind my sternum to take it out.


Now if that doesn't give you a mental picture of just how big my thyroid was...


Anyway, I'm just glad it's finally out. The pressure my thyroid put on my esophagus is no longer felt. I can swallow vitamin horse pills again without feeling like it'll get stuck in my throat. And I can lie down without feeling like I'm being suffocated. Yup, that's the discomfort I've been dealing with for the past 2 years or so. But I also have a battle scar to show for it, too. Because of the size of my thyroid, my scar is a lot bigger than normal. And it's still healing so it's pretty noticeable. And it's definitely an eye catcher. I see the stares from people when I'm out in public. It doesn't bother me... I just wonder what they're thinkin' when they see it lol.


1 week Post Op - after the drain tube was removed

Other than that... life has been good. I'm still homeschooling my girls... we celebrated Everly's 4th birthday at the end of September...




And I've also been decorating my house for Fall/Halloween - which I'm hoping to share on a separate post but who knows if that'll ever happen lol. Here's just a couple of photos of what I posted on Instagram...



Call me crazy, but I'm already in the mood to decorate for Christmas. Yes, I know it's too early. But what can I say - I'm a sucker for holiday decorations. And because this is the first holiday season spent in our new home... I'm just a tad bit impatient.


Also, I may have started my Christmas shopping already... ok ok, I'll stop with all that lol.


Anyway, that's pretty much all the things that have been happening in our lives. Nothing too crazy... which is perfect for me. Let me know in the comments what y'all have been up to!


xo,

Jane





Hi, guys!!! It's me! 🤣 Yeah, I know. It's been awhile. Been thinkin' a lot about how to make an official comeback to the blog world. But then I remembered that I'm still a nobody in this space, which helped take off some of the pressure. And so HERE I AM!!!! 😂😂😂


2020 turned out to be a shitty year. Let's not even pretend it wasn't because it just didn't turn out to be the. best. year. EVER. Like we all hoped. I did my best to remain as positive as one could be during a worldwide pandemic, but who are we kidding. It just freakin' SUCKED. Especially on the internet. With the Black Lives Matter movement happening in the middle of the year, and the anti-maskers running amok, and then having to deal with everyone turning EVERYTHING into something political... it just got way too toxic for me and I just had to unplug from it all and focus on what was most important to me - my sanity and being present with my family.


So... let's rewind a bit with a recap of how our 2020 went. We started off the year STRONG. Made some goals, went to Hawaii in March, came back just in time for a nationwide lockdown and we quarantined/stayed home pretty much forever. Oh and I became a teacher! Ok, ok... that's a bit of an exaggeration. I didn't become a REAL teacher - and by REAL teacher, I mean one with credentials. I just became Ella's REAL teacher's assistant. Virtually. Because Virtual Learning is now a thing - circa 2020. In August, we had a flood in our house (and if you didn't know, we were living in a rental with my FIL and his 2 teenage daughters) which kinda forced us out of the house while it was turned into a construction zone. We didn't have anywhere to go, so we escaped Southern California and went up to Gardnerville, NV to stay with my MIL for a bit. We had planned to only be there maybe a month at first, but we ended up staying for a little over 5 months. Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. My girls only saw their grandma and other grandpa maybe 2x a year pre-covid. So this gave them (and us) the time to make memories and to just enjoy living that country life.



We got to experience a true Fall and Winter season complete with all the holiday things and were able to save up enough money to FINALLY buy a house.


Yup, you read that right.



We. Freakin'. Bought. A. HOUSE.


The current state of our housing market in the U.S. is INSANE right now and we didn't think we would be able to snag one since it's SO competitive out there (we bid on a total of 7 houses 😳). But we did! And I will have to write a whole separate post to talk about the entire experience later - because THAT was just a rollercoaster of crazy that deserves a blog entry all its own. The main thing is - we found one and we're extremely grateful our offer was chosen. And so our 5-month stay in Gardnerville, NV came to a bittersweet end in February and we returned back to SoCal to begin the next exciting chapter of our lives.


Life happened. Even during a pandemic. And I am SO glad I took a break from all things social media and the internet to enjoy the simple joys in life. And as crappy as 2020 was, I have so much to be grateful for.


So, as you may have already guessed... we have been super busy with making our new "old" house a home and now that things have slowed down a bit, I thought I'd give my blog some love. Because... I got LOTS to share - more of ALL the mom life things PLUS all the home reno/decor life things. This is going to be FUN!


I hope you'll stick around for all of that!

Until the next one...


xoxo,

Jane

Nothin' like waking up Sunday morning to some SNOW! It's obviously not something that we are used to - we usually have to drive up to the mountains in SoCal to enjoy the snow during the Winter, so this was a treat for us.



I don't get to experience it actually snowing and I totally geeked out over it and just had to snap some photos. While still in my pjs. 😝 Who DOES that? 🙋🏽‍♀️😂



Anyway, we waited for it to stop snowing before we bundled up in snow gear to get our play on. Last year we were here, Everly didn't care for the snow. And it turns out, not much has changed. Daniel tried to pull her around the backyard on a sled and she freaked out and wanted no part in it. She was a total grump.



Ella, on the other hand, LOVED it.



We ran around, threw snowballs at each other, built a snowman, and Daniel tried to build his own little snow hill to do some major sledding... which didn't turn out the way he had hoped but it was definitely fun to watch 😂.




After a long week of Election Day crazy, it was nice to finally have a GOOD day for some family fun.




Hope you all had a great weekend! Cheers 🥂 to a fantastic week ahead!


xoxo,

Jane



 

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