When I was about 7, I began writing the Great American Novel. Sitting on my pink bedspread, I just knew I was creating a masterpiece. It was complete 7 year old babble about a girl taking a train and watching the telephone poles whiz by as she traveled from one place to another. I think it was a mystery, but I can't remember, and I am quite certain my ticket to superstar writerdom (that's not a word, and probably will disqualify me from ever becoming a writer with any merit!) was thrown away at some point by myself or my well meaning mother.
I haven't even thought about that story in oh, 25 years or so, but while taking the train back to Chicago, I've been looking out at the stale snowy roadsides and yards, and yes, watching the telephone poles swoosh by out my window. I don't think there's a mystery occurring on this train at this moment, but I guess one never really knows. I suppose any one of us on here could be experiencing mysteries on many different levels.
The past few weeks have been a little all over the place, and I guess I was sort of experiencing a mystery after visiting the lady doctor at the end of January. During my examination, my dr. touched me neck, apparently to feel my glands, but then she asked me if I'd ever gotten my thyroid checked. She recommended I see an internist to follow up because it didn't feel quite right. Over the course of the following weeks, I had several doctors feel up my neck, and proclaim in varying degrees of concern that there was indeed a very large nodule growing on the left side of my thyroid. Interesting, I never noticed that lump before. Since then, I have learned that it is quite common for people, mostly women, to experience benign growths in their Thyroids. Sometimes it results in hypo or hyperthyroidism, and sometimes the doctor will just monitor the growth. Well, as it turned out, my internist and my new otolaryngologist (say that three times fast!) have since found not only a golf ball sized nodule in my left thyroid, but several smaller nodules in the left side. Maybe a little more than something 'to watch'.
If you were to imagine a butterfly spread out over your Adam's apple, you've got the right idea about your thyroid. For a gland that people rarely talk about, it does a lot of things in your body. It's in charge of communicating with the pituitary gland in your brain and is largely responsible for regulating your metabolism, as well as overseeing many of the other functions and organs in your body. Some of my research might help explain it a little better:
Your thyroid gland produces two main hormones, thyroxine and triiodothyronine, that influence every cell in your body. They maintain the rate at which your body uses fats and carbohydrates, help control your body temperature, influence your heart rate and help regulate the production of protein. Your thyroid gland also produces calcitonin, a hormone that helps regulate the amount of calcium in your blood.
It's a little thing that does a lot, and mine, as it turns out is growing nodules. It's been a long few weeks of doctors visits, and trying to solve the mystery of my thyroid. I've had many ultrasounds, and had to take several blood tests. I didn't know I'd be giving blood up for lent, but it has seemed like once a week lately! Most of the blood tests came back somewhere within the normal range, however, once I started seeing Dr. D, my otolaryngologist, he found that some levels were slightly elevated for someone my age. In fact, none of this is really normal for someone my age. Last week I had what is called a Fine Needle Biopsy (FNA), which is used to biopsy the nodules and determine whether any of them contain Big C cells. Thank God, mine did not show any signs of cancer. It's been sort of nerve wracking to go around with daily life, feeling perfectly fine, except for an enlarged side of my neck, after hearing "it's probably not cancer, but...". True story. So hearing that there were no cancer cells detected made me feel a lot better. The procedure, was not what I would consider "painless", as they tried to make me believe, so I let them poke around my neck with large needles after a little lidocaine numbed me up. Sometimes that stuff doesn't always work the best in me, so after the 5th rather painful jostle around my thyroid, they numbed me again. Made talking a chore, and turning my head for the past week was rather uncomfortable. Oh, and I looked like I'd been attacked by a vampire. Maybe that'd be cool if I were more into Twilight or True Blood. I'm glad my mommy was there to baby me a bit while Ryan was taking a deposition in Connecticut that week.
So, now I know what they AREN'T made of, but what to do with these pesky nodules that keep growing?It seems that the left side of my thyroid is showing signs of Hoshimoto's disease, which attributes to hypothyroidism. Might explain why, even though I've been working out like a fiend at least 5 days a week, I am not seeing the results that the totally fit girl inside wants to see! Might also explain my achy knees and why I sometimes have extremely cold hands and feet. Maybe not, but could be.
Getting back to the next steps: bottom line, the thyroid should come out. I'm a young woman, these puppies aren't gonna get any smaller, it could cause fertility issues, and my mom can't wait for more grand babies forever. :)
Not exactly the outcome I had dreamed about, but I trust my doctor and I'm already noticing the big nodule when I swallow and when I work out. When we get preggers someday, having a functioning thyroid is really important, and it would cause them to grow even larger. No bueno. So, this means that I'm now scheduled to have the little bugger out on April 22nd. Will I be on thyroid hormone replacement for the rest if my life? Yup. Am I a little bit scared? Yessiree! Will it take awhile to find the right dosage for my medication after the surgery?You betcha. Would I rather be dealing with this than finding a new job? Not really. But, after all of that, it comes down to the fact that I can't live with em (the nodules)and I can live without it (the thyroid),so I'm gonna have to put on my big girl neckerchief and go ahead with it.
The mothers are already planning their descent upon Chicago to help me out the week after the surgery. Ryan will be able to work from home (hopefully) that week, so I'll be healing in good hands. I'm thankful for that.
In the meantime, I'll write thank you notes to my thyroid for giving me a a good 30ish years (not sure when these bad boys stated growing) of service. Ryan has many depositions going on the next few weeks, and while no job is currently being dropped in my lap, I might as well keep the adventure streak alive and travel with my favorite man in a suit. New York and perhaps Belgium are on the docket, so we might try to see if I can't catch a ride on the undercarriage. :)
I doubt the 7 year old me really knew much about train travel or real mysteries, but she had the right idea about the telephone poles. They are still fun to watch. They mean movement, they mean communication, they mean life, and carrying on. I have no idea what other mysteries are going on around me in this train traveling along the bend of Lake Michigan, but for now, I've figured out one of mine, and I know what I gotta do. I imagine this story isn't my Great American Novel, but it's a start. Onward!
No comments:
Post a Comment