Beginning of this journey....

So, this blog is mainly for those struggling with thyroid cancer and ALL that comes with it...symptoms, going to specialist after specialist, finding some answers, surgery, diagnosis, another surgery, RAI-131 treatment, and the worst....LOW IODINE DIET! :)

My journey started the summer of 2010. I was diagnosed with Vertigo. I couldn't lay down, stand up, sit up, walk, run, etc. without feeling a sense of dizziness or being off-balance. It came and went away after about 3 weeks....Then after a week of "relief" it came back worse than before. I couldn't do ANYTHING without feeling like I was going to fall down. I was unsteady on my feet standing for any length of time. I couldn't walk/run without feeling like I was going to pass out. I couldn't sit up without resting my head on something. And to make it worse, the anti-Vert that I took before DIDN'T work!

I started going to my new primary physician (with no insurance... I was in transition from parents' insurance to my own...which started in September 2010) who, right away ordered an EKG and had me going home with a 48 hour heart monitor. Luckily, the EKG and heart monitor came back with no problems.
Next up, neurologist. I meet my neurologist, who I am sure was almost 100 years old. He liked to get up close when talking/listening and liked explaining the history of the brain. Great! Right? no... He does an in-office eval and comes up with... "you have abnormal reflexes." Okay? Next... I go in for a brain MRI the very next day. I hear nothing from the scan, thinking I am fine. There must be a brain up there somewhere. :)
A week or so later, I am referred to my new best friend...my ENT (ear, nose, and throat specialist). I say best friend because we spent a lot of time together! I go in thinking this is the next step in the process, but find out the brain MRI was not 100% ok. Well my brain was ok, but they found a mass attached to the right parotid gland (1 of the main salivary glands). I'm thinking...MASS?...Tumor?...CANCER??

Well...my ENT was VERY knowledgeable and very helpful in understanding what this thing is. It is common place for masses to be found, usually BENIGN, and can be removed or left in. Okay...
Next step? I go in for an ultrasound/guided biopsy of my neck, focusing on this mass thing attached to my right parotid gland. During the ultrasound, the tech found a nodule on my thyroid...hmmmm???

The doctor comes in ready for the guided biopsy and gets permission to biopsy this nodule on my thyroid. Imagine...getting stuck several times in your neck..a very sensitive place! So...results come back and the mass behind my ear is BENIGN...yes! The nodule on my thyroid has atypical cells and will be reviewed again in 6 months. GREAT...another experience with the needle in my neck.

So...my ENT and I decide that I will have surgery and have this mass removed from my parotid gland and be done with each other...until the 6-month biopsy in May 2011. Surgery went great...recovery..so-so. I came home on Christmas Eve 2010 with a drain tube coming out of my neck and a cut that resembled a candy cane. :) A great Christmas present!

Next up...6 months later....