Ok, so lots of people have been really supportive of me lately, and I haven't even been fully honest with everyone about all the medical stuff I've had going on. I wanted to write this note so that people would know as much as I know in hopes that prayers can be directed to the current issue at hand.
In mid-February, I went to the doctor for my regular physical. During the exam, she noticed that my thyroid was enlarged and had a nodule (aka bump) on it. (You can't see it if you just look at my neck, but I can feel its enlarged state as well as the nodule by pressing on my neck.) She ordered some more blood tests, and the results weren't good. My TSH (Thyroid Stimulation Hormone) was really high. The TSH range is something like .40 to 4.0. They ideally like you to be around 2. Mine was almost 8, so over double the high end of the range.
(A little background for those who don't know...: The TSH is produced by the pituitary gland to tell the thyroid how much of each different hormone to produce. So, my thyroid was essentially requiring twice as much as it should in order to produce 'normal' hormone levels.)
They immediately put me on a synthetic hormone pill every day in hopes of lowering my TSH level. They also ordered an ultrasound of my thyroid to get a better picture of its enlargement and the nodule.
The ultrasound didn't reveal much more than they already knew--that it was enlarged and had a nodule. The nodule was measured to be 1.3 cm. They only get 'concerned' about nodules over 1cm, so I was just over the cut-off. They referred me to a specialist--ENT.
I met with the ENT and he, after feeling my neck, recommended a CT Scan of both my head and neck (to also be able to see the pituitary). The CT Scan came back 'normal' according to the ENT, and so he recommended that I see an Endocrinologist (hormone specialist) because it hadn't reduced in size and the TSH only dropped to 5.something after being on the synthetic hormone for over a month. He compared my thyroid to a factory that isn't producing as much product as it needs to--sometimes the factory has to increase in size in order to get the higher level of output.
(It's important to note that up until the 'normal' CT Scan, the word "cancer" had been thrown around, so that's why I didn't really talk to people about it or tell the whole truth when I did talk about it. --I didn't want to put out any information that might end up not being true. I'm sorry if anyone feels like I've 'lied by omission.')
So, last week I met with the Endocrinologist, and after talking with her (she was the first Dr. to fully listen to the laundry list of 'symptoms' (aka weird things that have been going on with me lately)), she did another ultrasound (found several nodules), and ordered more blood work.
I had done some research about thyroid and brought my thoughts to her--b12, soy, iodine, etc. She tells me that she thinks I may have a hereditary thyroid condition. She compared it to Type 1 diabetes. They are predisposed to get it, and then something triggers it at some point, and they get it. Well, given all that I've gone through in the last year, she thinks I may have triggered it, and now it's causing all these problems. It's not like I ate something or didn't eat something or that anyone can point to anything specific as a trigger. She stated that it's likely cleared up by taking a stronger synthetic hormone every day for the rest of my life. I meet with her next week to go over the blood test results, and I really hope that her guess is confirmed. That might sound weird, but I'll taken anything at this point if it'll fix all the weird things that have been happening.
I'll keep you posted! Thanks for past, present, and future prayers!!!
Ps. I also wanted to say that I called my Dr. back in Atlanta (who I'd gone to for like 3 years) to talk over with her all that's going on. I just wanted someone's opinion who knew me for more than 20 seconds before giving their opinion. She knows my history and is wonderful. (Here's a HUGE plug for Dr. Vetter at Crawford/Long in midtown) She talked on the phone with me for a really long time and heard out all the symptoms I've been having and all the tests they've done, and what the latest 'guess' is. She agreed with the Endocrinologist and also told me that several people in her family have it, including her mom who's lived to be 70+, so that made me feel a lot better. Thanks Dr. Vetter!
In mid-February, I went to the doctor for my regular physical. During the exam, she noticed that my thyroid was enlarged and had a nodule (aka bump) on it. (You can't see it if you just look at my neck, but I can feel its enlarged state as well as the nodule by pressing on my neck.) She ordered some more blood tests, and the results weren't good. My TSH (Thyroid Stimulation Hormone) was really high. The TSH range is something like .40 to 4.0. They ideally like you to be around 2. Mine was almost 8, so over double the high end of the range.
(A little background for those who don't know...: The TSH is produced by the pituitary gland to tell the thyroid how much of each different hormone to produce. So, my thyroid was essentially requiring twice as much as it should in order to produce 'normal' hormone levels.)
They immediately put me on a synthetic hormone pill every day in hopes of lowering my TSH level. They also ordered an ultrasound of my thyroid to get a better picture of its enlargement and the nodule.
The ultrasound didn't reveal much more than they already knew--that it was enlarged and had a nodule. The nodule was measured to be 1.3 cm. They only get 'concerned' about nodules over 1cm, so I was just over the cut-off. They referred me to a specialist--ENT.
I met with the ENT and he, after feeling my neck, recommended a CT Scan of both my head and neck (to also be able to see the pituitary). The CT Scan came back 'normal' according to the ENT, and so he recommended that I see an Endocrinologist (hormone specialist) because it hadn't reduced in size and the TSH only dropped to 5.something after being on the synthetic hormone for over a month. He compared my thyroid to a factory that isn't producing as much product as it needs to--sometimes the factory has to increase in size in order to get the higher level of output.
(It's important to note that up until the 'normal' CT Scan, the word "cancer" had been thrown around, so that's why I didn't really talk to people about it or tell the whole truth when I did talk about it. --I didn't want to put out any information that might end up not being true. I'm sorry if anyone feels like I've 'lied by omission.')
So, last week I met with the Endocrinologist, and after talking with her (she was the first Dr. to fully listen to the laundry list of 'symptoms' (aka weird things that have been going on with me lately)), she did another ultrasound (found several nodules), and ordered more blood work.
I had done some research about thyroid and brought my thoughts to her--b12, soy, iodine, etc. She tells me that she thinks I may have a hereditary thyroid condition. She compared it to Type 1 diabetes. They are predisposed to get it, and then something triggers it at some point, and they get it. Well, given all that I've gone through in the last year, she thinks I may have triggered it, and now it's causing all these problems. It's not like I ate something or didn't eat something or that anyone can point to anything specific as a trigger. She stated that it's likely cleared up by taking a stronger synthetic hormone every day for the rest of my life. I meet with her next week to go over the blood test results, and I really hope that her guess is confirmed. That might sound weird, but I'll taken anything at this point if it'll fix all the weird things that have been happening.
I'll keep you posted! Thanks for past, present, and future prayers!!!
Ps. I also wanted to say that I called my Dr. back in Atlanta (who I'd gone to for like 3 years) to talk over with her all that's going on. I just wanted someone's opinion who knew me for more than 20 seconds before giving their opinion. She knows my history and is wonderful. (Here's a HUGE plug for Dr. Vetter at Crawford/Long in midtown) She talked on the phone with me for a really long time and heard out all the symptoms I've been having and all the tests they've done, and what the latest 'guess' is. She agreed with the Endocrinologist and also told me that several people in her family have it, including her mom who's lived to be 70+, so that made me feel a lot better. Thanks Dr. Vetter!
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