The Goiter: The Desolation of Thyroid

[llcoolvad]

Goiter 2: The Thyroid Strikes Back?
Goiter 2: Electric Boogaloo?

Short story version: went to Urgent Care to make sure that my six-week-long cough wasn't pneumonia. It wasn't! Instead, there was a mass.



Probably another goiter (of course they won't know for absolute sure until they yank it out and test it for cancer). It's in sorta the same place as my goiter the first. It's smaller than that one was (5.5cm x 5cm vs. 12cm x 6.5cm), so it's not actually displacing my esophagus this time (yet). It's weird that it's in the same place as the first one since they took that side of my thyroid out and flushed it. Apparently I had a void that needed filling!

I won't know much more until I meet with my fab surgeon again. Saw my doc today and he basically confirmed everything that the hospital said, and called my surgeon to discuss. Apparently he just sits around taking calls, because my doc talked to him while I waited for a couple minutes. When half the thyroid is left, goiters can recur in about 20% of patients. I always was an overachiever when it comes to really dumb things.

Previous entries about the first goiter.

Comments

[sarcasticah.livejournal.com]

Booooo, goiter. Hopefully all goes well!

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

We shall see! It should be better this time because I know what to expect.

[elevengirl.livejournal.com]

I hope everything goes well for you!

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It shouldn't be too bad. I hope!

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Wow I don't remember any of those old entries at all. Weird. (And now I'm wondering whether my "cyst" was really a goiter.)

The first big hospital day was all like, "Oh you think you're having trouble sleeping NOW with mere incessant coughing? How about if we add...
* worrying about an unidentified chest object?
* a painful bump on your head?
* having nothing to do?
* looming MRI hell?
* infernal hourly beeping of a sickle-cell-anemia patient obnoxifier?

It reminds me of a short story I read in the fourth grade where a guy went to a wise man at the top of a mountain to see if he had the answer to house house being too small. He said yes, bring your chickens inside. After a while, the guy made another trip to say it wasn't working, and the wise man said to bring his goats inside. Etc. Finally at the end when he removed all the animals from the house, it certainly seemed more spacious.

It's hilarious that your mass has two dimensions. I guess they're looking at the 2D X-ray.

Good luck with your Return of the Goiter adventure!

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

Thanks! With the obvious exceptions of deaths in my family, that was certainly the worst 24 hours I've ever spent. I was just SO MISERABLE. It really was the lack of sleep from the entire month leading up to it. But yeah, the stress of not knowing what the giant "mass" they kept referring to was in my chest really added. Man. And honestly, if that's the worst I ever face I am grateful. This time is going to seem like a walk in the park on a lovely afternoon in comparison.

Ah yes, I left out details didn't I? After urgent care last week they told me to go right away to the ER (deja vu) so I could get a CAT scan. I waited about four hours for the scan and then another hour and a half to get the results and get discharged. Annoying, but a mild tiny annoyance compared to the other time. It did end with me standing at the nurses' station in the ER, tapping my foot, saying "I am leaving NOW." It was satisfying seeing them scurry around to let me out. I really get impatient in hospitals. I feel bad for the hospital/nursing home staff in my future when I get Alzheimer's and REALLY get impatient.

So that was a long way of saying they know the second dimension. I didn't post the picture of me cross-sectioned. Felt a little too invasive!

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

No need for invasive pictures!! Or invasive details!

Good luck, and bring your own fun this time (and associated chargers)!