Roid Rage
7 Oct
So, I haven’t been posting so much lately because there’s not much going on. But something happened! Granted, not a good something, but a something nonetheless.
I have had this lump on my throat for a while now. I was sick, so I thought it was a swollen lymph node and I didn’t really worry about it. But it was getting bigger.
This Monday (Oct. 5th) I went to an ear, nose, and throat doctor who immediately recognized it as a mass on my thyroid. He talked briefly about maybe it being a cyst and how great that would be. He then delved into all of the different kinds of cancers I can have on my thyroid. Luckily, I didn’t really qualify for the two cancers that are crazy rare and not treatable. But there were two other Thyroid Cancers in the running but they’re “the ones you want” apparently.
As I left Dr. Hamilton’s office, he said, “So I’m just hoping for Thyroid Cancer.” I told him my vote was also for Thyroid Cancer only because I hoped he was joking.
Needless to say, I was freaking out. I tried to play it cool but totally lost it as I walked to my car.
We still needed some answers so I made an appointment to see the endocrinologist. I had my appointment yesterday. In order to know what was up, I needed to have an ultrasound and a biopsy. The ultrasound would tell us if the mass was full of fluid or if it was solid. If it was full of fluid, we would just suck that business out and be done.
For those of you who are at all familiar with my medical history, you know I always have some crazy cyst taking over my life. So, understandably, I was sure it was a cyst.
But, alas, the time for the ultrasound came. To my dismay and the two endocrinologists in the room, it was a solid nodule. It was larger than a centimeter, which I guess is pretty big; to the point that they were surprised I didn’t have a hard time breathing or swallowing (Which is kind of a lie because I have been having a hard time breathing for a few weeks when I would go to bed. If my pillow would even think about touching my throat, you better believe my windpipe didn’t even try to do its job). Cancer was then an option. That’s when you start crying in the doctor’s office.
At that point, we knew I needed surgery to remove the nodule. My right lobe would also have to be removed with the nodule. However, we didn’t know if the nodule was cancerous or not. I was hoping that they would be able to do a biopsy right then, but the soonest my doctor could do it was next Thursday (Oct 15th). As you can imagine, waiting nine days to find out if you have all kinds of cancer is not acceptable. The only comfort was knowing that it was the Thyroid Cancer you want to have. ☺
If I were to have cancer, they would remove my whole thyroid and I would be on thyroid meds for the rest of my life. The nice thing about this cancer is that it doesn’t require chemo or radiation. They just take everything out and then I drink some iodine drink and it’s done.
So I was waiting all yesterday to hear back from Dr. Maturlo (Endocrinologist) and Dr. Hamilton. Definitely didn’t hear back from them. I called Dr. Hamilton this morning and we decided that we would wait for Dr. Maturlo to do the biopsy to determine if one lobe was coming out or both. So we would get the results back on the biopsy next Monday and then we would do surgery October 26th. Call me crazy, but I didn’t want to wait that long. So a new plan was presented.
We would forgo the biopsy. Instead, we would have a pathologist in the operating room. As soon as the right lobe and nodule were removed the pathologist would cut it open and check it out for cancer. If there’s cancer, we’ll take out the rest of my thyroid. If they don’t find cancer, the lobe will be sent to a final pathologist who will cut it all up into tiny pieces and check for cancer again. There is about a 5% chance that the final pathologist will find something the first one didn’t.
When he told me the surgery would then be on the 15th, I said, “Sold!” Of course, I asked Dr. Hamilton if he was comfortable about the new plan. He was. So that’s the plan.
The surgery is very straightforward; Dr. Hamilton wasn’t worried about it at all. The only risk is that there is a nerve that goes down and around your thyroid and connects to the vocal cords. If that nerve is damaged, I will have a scratchy voice. I prefer to say I will have a sultry voice. ☺ Unless I just sound like Marge’s twin sisters on The Simpson’s. Not cool. The chance of that happening is less than 1%, so I think I’m ok with that.
There you have it. I’ll have surgery in about a week at which time I will find out if I have been cancerous. Sorry if this post has seemed casual and almost jokey but it’s really all I can do to stay under control. And I was kind of freaking out before I even knew what was up, so I got a lot of it out of my system. I feel good about what’s planned. I’m scared out of my mind for the surgery (I’ve never had surgery), but it will be ok.
My family has also been helping a ton. Everyone has been super supportive and are willing to cry with me. ☺ Today our family had a fast, everyone has been putting my name in temples, and my brothers are coming over tonight to give me a blessing. There has been so much support; it’s been amazing. Sure they’ve only known for a day, but they’ve been champs, especially since this news came out of nowhere.
Stay tuned for cancer results! Geez louise, that sounds horrible. But what are you gonna do?
Sorry to hear about this! I’ll be praying for you. If it helps to know I had a friend a couple years ago, same thing happened, she beat it and she’s completely fine now.
Cari, you know I love your style of writing.
But this time what you said breaks my heart!
Don’t be scared. You are on the right track.
Your families support is wonderful, but the
love and support reaches much farther!
We are keeping you in our prayers. Your name
is in the Las Vegas temple as well.
Hang in there precious girl!
Love always,
Aunt Julia
Oh Care Bear! How freaking SCARY! Of course I can’t help but think that you’ve heard about my thyroid problems and my hives and so you had to go and one-up me!
I appreciaste your humor about the situation because it’s probably what kept me from bursting into tears as I read this.
Our family will be fasting and praying for you too! We love you SO MUCH and will be hoping for the best! I so wish I was in Utah so I could do something for youN but know that you will be in my thoughts and prayers!
I love you! I hope you have a good week with friends and family and take it easy! I hope the 15th comes REALLY fast!
Dear Cari,
Rest assured that heaven’s switchboard will be bombarded with prayers for you! We all love you and know you will come through this just fine. The trick we have learned about challenges is to take away the emotion- the fear and anxiety. Just focus on the medical facts and the spiritual strength you need. Faith and fear can’t co-exist, so let’s all choose faith. You are beautiful and valiant and all the right things will come to pass. Let’s get you feeling better so we can have a 157th reunion one of these days.
Much love, Bishop and Sister Reeves
I just re-read my comment above – sorry about the errors. That’s what happens when you are typing on your blackberry at 4:30 am!
I just heard the surgery was moved to Tuesday! What a blessing! We are all hoping and praying for the best.
By the way, Melanie Evans had thyroid cancer and is now cancer free. When you’re ready you should talk to her.
I love you!
Cari,
Jeff just sent me to the computer to find out what is going on. We are so sorry that you have to go through this. I have a niece that has had the same thing and I know that it can be very nerve racking. Know that you will be in our thoughts and prayers. Keep us posted and we will try to come and see you.
Love,
Bishop and Sherie
PS My niece is doing great, if you want to talk to her about her situation, let me know and I can get a hold of her.
Cari~
First off, you’re amazing. You are going to be Cari Stewart, Cancer Survivor! Even though this is scary, you are independent and strong, and if anyone can confront cancer, it is YOU. I will be eagerly awaiting updates, so post them as they happen. We will definitely be praying for you. You’ve got this, girl.
I got this blog days ago but have been having computer problems. I am up cuz I couldn’t sleep and something posessed me to check it again. I am so sorry you are going through this. If we can help in any way call please. Hang in there we will be praying that this burden will be soon lifted. Love you!
Maybe swollen lymph node is a symptom of something much worse. Read about hypothyroidism diet, assessed to be an effective way of relieving and avoiding similar problems. You might want to examine hypothyroidism diet for more information.