Busy, busy, busy... oi

A lot has been going on and I'm almost at the point of going insane... I'm trying hard to keep myself together.  On the 14th of May I went to my second endocrinologist, who didn't seem to be able to read my pathology report or knows anything about variants.  I had to tell her that they narrow my cancer down to four aggressive types, which she was like "well it says you have papillary cancer"... to which I said "Yes, the main is papillary cancer, but there are variants," which that was pretty much ignored.  She also didn't understand the blood work orders and my medication adjustments.  We had to explain the labs were done first and then the medication was adjusted based on those orders.  She claimed based on my lab reports that it seems like the 125 mcg of Levothyroxine was close to the dosage I needed.  I told her I didn't understand was my labs showed my TSH was high and I felt like crap just like I did on 175 mcg and 150 mcg.

I tried to get her to order adrenal saliva test and my full iron panel, but she refused just like the other one.  She claimed that my issues might not be thyroid related, but still refuses to see if I have an adrenal problem (also in the endocrine system).  These results could explain why my medication isn't working along with other symptoms I have been experiencing.  I also explain to her that my family seems to have a lot of endocrine problems: kidneys, stomach, and thyroid, so it's reasonable to think I am having another endocrine problem that could be messing things up.  Still got no for the tests.  The thing with ordering tests is... I can order them online (really expensive though), but I have insurance and doctors that can order them for me and I am still paying for them... so what's the big deal?

She then tried to get me back on synthetic medication, which I got angry as she wouldn't do anything I wanted and she expects me to throw my body back into that crap?!  She claims that the natural thyroid medication is bad for the heart and bones (actually natural thyroid medication is good for the bones, it has improved people's bone density).  I felt like saying to her that sometimes heart medication can be bad for the heart as well, but are people going to stop taking needed heart medication because others had issues?  No, they aren't since what works for others, doesn't always work for other people.  This is why they are a lot of companies making their own version of the medications as there are many ways to make them with different fillers and such as not everyone can absorb the same medication the same way.

She also claimed that my natural thyroid medication is too high (basing this on the results from my last Levothyroxine test that was done in MARCH), but I agree, thinking it was too big of a jump as I was basing it on the UPS numbers.  I was willing to lower my dosage, but not willing to change my medication.  She was not happy with this and ordered the normal tests.  Well I got some of my lab results today (TSH, Free T4, and Free T3)... My TSH increased (which is good since it was .020 before), but my FT4 and FT3 decreased, so I might need to increase my medication and not decrease it.  Now I am wondering if it will be easy now to order my Reverse T3, adrenal saliva test, and full iron panel... probably not.

Then on Tuesday I have to go to Ohio's Department of Human Services for a two hour interview thing about work stuff.  I'm just hoping my last work place sent them the paper that said I quit due to medical issues... I hope so, if not I might be screwed big time.  Tuesday is also the funeral of my fiance's grandmother and I couldn't reschedule the interview since there was no information on the paper about it.  On top of that, we are leaving this Friday for 2.5 weeks, so yeah... had to reschedule it.

Then starting today I am in Summer classes... yay, lol.  Luckily the full semester I only have two classes, but the second half there is a third added to it.  I should do fine this semester as it doesn't seem hard, just a lot of work in the one class.  Oh!  Spring semester I got a 4.0, which makes me be on the Dean's List a second time and making my overall GPA to be a 3.7, yay!

When I come back from my trip, I'm going to talk to one of the advisers from the school I went to transfer to talk about my Bachelor degree stuff.  I am thinking of skipping my Associates and go straight into my Bachelor's to save some time and some money.  Just have to see what I find out from the school before I make that decision.

Continuing with Life

So I just finished my semester of college and quite proud of myself since I didn't allow my cancer to take my schooling away from me.  It may have delayed me in turning in my school work on time, but my teachers were understanding thankfully.  I got an A in English (a miracle for me), an A in Environmental Ethics, and a C in College Algebra (which I plan to retake in the future to get my GPA up).  I already signed up for Spring semester classes even though I don't know if I still have cancer and need radioactive iodine treatment... I'm not going to allow this cancer to prevent me from doing everything that I want and need to do.  Though right now it's preventing me to work more hours to due the current issues I'm still having.

I did get my blood work results in the mail, but it seems my iron and B12 are fine though my B12 is a little low in the normal range, so my doctor said it wouldn't hurt to take some B12 vitamins.  Though my MCH, and Carbon Dioxide (total) are both low and I'm not sure what this means, but I'm going to show the results to my ENT and Endocrinologist and see what they say.  I know the carbon dioxide might explain the joint pains and the weakness I have been having though it might be a sign of liver or kidney issues.  I hope not, but it's a possibility.

I had to call off of work three times already this month and hope to not have to again anytime soon, but it's hard to go to work when you're unable to put weight on your legs without falling down.  I have to talk to my doctors about this when I see them next month as that's the soonest I can see them.  I'm hoping to ask my Endocrinologist to put me on Armour as I don't like how Synthroid makes me feel and its side effects.

Though other than dealing with the cancer and its affects on my life, I'm looking forward of the two weeks I have off from work to go see my family and friends in Texas.  I will be able to celebrate a late Christmas with them and my fiance, so I'm really happy about that.  My manager was nice enough to approve it for me and Justin brought our plane tickets to see my family.  I'm also excited about winter break as Justin and I will be working on our comic stuff again once he's done with school this Thursday.

There isn't much else to say that's new in my life other than this though I would like to add that I hope this blog is helping someone else out there.  The main reason for this blog is for me to vent and write out my experiences, but I still hope this is helping or at least spreading the word of thyroid illnesses and diseases... and the need to take care of this gland.

The First Appointment

After getting my results from the ultrasound, my doctor told me to find myself an ENT (Ears, Nose, and Throat) doctor also known as Otolaryngology to find out what the next stop was, though I would soon find out that would take awhile.  Originally my family doctor told me to go to one ENT group from the area, but I had gone to them a year prior, but was not impressed by them.  So I went to search for a new one and I never knew how hard it would be to find a decent specialist in my area.  I also learned it would be hard to get in fast until now.

I spent at least two full days searching online for an ENT nearby that had good reviews.  I didn't want to find another doctor that didn't listen to me and told me nothing was wrong (I had this happen to me many times including a time when I had a cyst the size of a softball in my back).  I called UC Hospital for an appointment with one of their ENTs, but sadly my first choice would have been a two month wait.  I told the one over the phone I couldn't wait since I was having issues breathing, swallowing, four nodules, and a slightly enlarged thyroid.  Luckily I was able to get an appointment with my second choice three weeks later on August 27th.

For three weeks I kept researching online what could be wrong with me...  I have an aunt with Hashimoto's and we thought maybe I had that, so I kept cross referencing with her symptoms and mine as well as what I found on the internet.  I don't know why, but I had a feeling to look into Thyroid Cancer and their symptoms, it just kept drawing me in.  My family and my boyfriend all told me that it's probably not that and not to worry about it too much.  Though eventually my mom and I agreed it wouldn't hurt to know to just prepare myself.  I didn't wanna go dramatic if my doctor told me the news and I could think straight to ask him any questions I had.

The first day I went to see my doctor I was surprised  how young he was, probably a few years older than me.  He asked what was going on and I told him, I also had the ultrasound report with me.  Of course, he asked if there were any thyroid issues in the family and I told him about my aunt.  Then he asked about cancer of the gland and the answer was no, but I did warn him that anyone that cancer in my family are the first ones of that type.  He did a fine-needle biopsy on the largest nodule stabbing my neck four times, the last two being the worse.  He also wanted to run blood tests on me to see what my levels were like and then do a barium swallow test and an endoscopy because of my swallowing issue. I've been having the issue with the swallowing most of my life, so he thought this could be something different from the nodules and the breathing issue.

Now began the waiting game and the testing phase of this whole thing...

Something's Wrong

My journey all started when the last weekend of July 2012 when I was having difficulty breathing for the first time in my life.  It was hard to describe as I knew it wasn't a chest/lung issue, but something blocking in my neck.  Also I was having more difficulties with swallowing food and liquids, but I've had that issue more of my life.  Well actually the difficulty with liquids, even water, started about five years ago and anytime I experience it, it felt like the liquid in question formed into a marble, which made me refer to it now as the "marble effect".

Anyways, the breathing issue was driving me insane... like drowning and trying to swim to the surface, but unable to since *thinks* a log  has trapped your leg.  You are fighting to breathe, but unable to push the log off, so you can get free.  I finally decided to call my doctor, but wasn't able to get in until later in the week and the breathing got worse as time went on that day, so my boyfriend took me to the hospital.  They checked my chest by listening to it, ran blood test claiming they were checking my thyroid with the testing as well, and then x-ray my neck since I found a large lump on my neck (I noticed this while we were driving to the hospital).  At first the one doctor said that might be normal for me, but I told him it wasn't and that it was new.  They gave me a breathe therapy treatment where you breathe in this vapors from a hose connected to a machine... yeah, it didn't help at all.  They said everything came back fine, but I should ask my family doctor to order an ultrasound on my neck.

I ended up getting an appointment with my family doctor on August 3rd, 2012 in the morning and told her what happened at the hospital and what I was dealing with.  She gave me two options: one, to do the ultrasound or two, to see if my esophagus needed to be widen.  I, of course, voted for the ultrasound and was able to go to the town over to get it done the same day.  A week later I got the email from my doctor that the left side of my thyroid was enlarged with a nodule that was an inch in size and three smaller (5mm, 7mm, and 9mm) nodules on the right with all different makes.

Now let me tell you, 90% of people have nodules and most are not noticeable and aren't cancerous (and not all will become cancerous).  But if you have one that's 1 cm in size, you need to get an ENT to do a fine-needle biopsy.  Also if you have a nodule, even if it's small, get it checked every once in a while... like every six months (you can get your family doctor to order the ultrasound for you... it's cheaper that way).  If it gets bigger in size get an ENT to look at it.  To note, my largest nodule was 2.5 cm when I found it.

This was just the beginning of a major change in my life.