Haven't been on the boards in ages, but last time I was, you were having some health issues. Is all ok now? Apologies if this is a double posting.
I have been dealing with several health issues this year. First we thought I had a heart problem (was in hospital with heart rate of 185 bpm). Then pneumonia and while they treated me for that they discovered I had sarcoidosis, an auto immune disease. While being treated for that in my lungs they worked on getting my heart back to a normal rhythem (had an ablation on my heart 2 months ago) and they treated the sarcoidosis in my lungs with high dosages of prednisone. My primary doctor wanted my thyroid checked because I've had nodules on them for about 4 years. Back in Massachusetts when first diagnosed with the nodules they had me on thyroid medication for hypothyroidism. I was on that for about 6 months but my tsh and t3 and t4 levels were normal so they took me off and watched the nodules for a while, they didn't change. So anyway, couple years later...now in Florida, my new doctor sent me to have an ultrasound done on them. They showed the nodules that I had told him I had. He sent me to an endocrinologist who ordered a thyroid uptake scan. After the scan the doctor said he wanted the nodules biopsied. I had them biopsied last Monday. Wednesday he called me and told me that 2 came back negative, 1 positive. That I have cancer of the thyroid and it would have to come out. I spoke to my primary who immediately called the endocrinologist so that all the doctors (heart, lung, thyroid, primary) involved could speak about everything in a whole. After the heart and lung doctors had heard they decided they better bring in a thoracic surgeon into the picture because the lymph nodes in my chest have been enlarged through out my diagnosis with sarcoidosis and never went back down to normal. Thyroid cancer uses the lymph nodes to travel and spread to the rest of the body. They (lung, heart, and primary doctors) had thought they were enlarged due to the sarcoidosis and would eventually come down (like my heart did as it was enlarged in the beginning too) through the treatment with the prednisone. The thoracic surgeon is going to biopsy the lymph nodes in my chest while I'm under having my thryroid removed.
So, that's the story...I see the surgeons on Tuesday. I'll get my surgery date then. I'm very scared. Thiis has been one hell of a year.
