Just Another Day

The day before Christmas Eve, I found out that I will most likely be having surgery on my thyroid. The results of the FNA biopsy found "rare follicular cells with a crushed artifact." The crushed artifact is no big deal, but the follicular cells might be. Unfortunately, the only way to find out for sure if the nodule is cancerous is to take it out. I don't have my surgical consultation with Head and Neck until next week, so I am not sure if they are just going to sort of slice out the nodule, or if it is necessary to cut out the entire half of the thyroid where the nodule is. I'm just a bit bummed. Thyroid cancer is one of the "best" cancers to have, if you can stomach the term. The sucess rate is very high, and thyroid cancer tends to not metastasize.  So I've got that going for me. But I'm not really looking forward to a major surgery, not with all I've got going on right now, which includes a two year old daughter who doesn&#

The doctor's office called and the results of my biopsy were "non-diagnostic." Which is a nice way of saying I had to come in and repeat the process all over again. So think of me tomorrow, getting needles stuck in my neck and the doctor really having to root around in there for a good amount of tissue. Is it cheating if I take a couple of Vicodin beforehand? Also, my mom is coming over to watch the kiddos while my husband takes me to the appointment, and I am SO going to try to get a lunch date with Hubba-hubba out of this. I mean, my mom HAS to be nice to me, right?  I might have cancer, after all.  How can you turn down someone who might have cancer, I ask?

I'm writing this mostly as a service-y type of thing, because there wasn't a whole lot of information about it anywhere else. So, if you are scheduled to undergo a Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) for a thyroid nodule, this is probably what is going to happen. Try to wear a low-ish cut V-neck or scoop neck or some type of shirt that will allow your doctor to access your thyroid area without you having to change into one of those horrific hospital gowns.  Turtlenecks need not apply. You will nervously check in to your appointment.  The anticipation of what might happen is not fun, and I feel for you as the nurse assistant chirpily says to you, "So, we're going to check for cancer today!"  You are totally excused from joining in her enthusiasm. You will wait in the office, staring at the tray containing the needles, the specimen slides, and the topical anesthetic.  Yup, a topical is all you are going to get.  Maybe if you beg for a local you might get one.  I

Why hello there. Wow, two posts in less than two weeks.  I'm on a roll. I'm writing because I got a call from the doctor today. Now anybody with an HMO knows that when the doctor calls YOU it is usually not great. This was no exception. I recently had an ultrasound done to my bum thyroid glands, and they called to tell me that there was a nodule on my right gland. Time for a Fine Needle Biopsy. Now, this is one of those situations where you are either a) perfectly fine or b) you have CANCER So, wonderful. Odds say that I will be fine. But excuse me if I am a bit bummed if I need to go through Christmas wondering if I have cancer. Shit. Excuse my French. The only upside to this is that if I have cancer, I think I can totally parlay that into never having to to any housework. Yay.