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Chapter 1 "The Beginnings of a Legend" For me, this experience has been one of learning about odds. The odds of a thyroid nodule being cancerous are about 5-10%. Which in the doctors office sounds great. Of course, some poor schmo has to be in that 5%, and this time that poor schmo--is me. Our story starts in my gynocologist's office. An odd place to find something wrong with my neck, I know. But I have a very thorough gynecologist. She could tell something had happened to me (car accident) by just touching my neck and shoulders. So as she was poking around she found a lump (nodule) on my thyroid and said it's most likely nothing but I should go see the endocrinologist because it was fairly big (an inch in diameter). I had a fleeting wonder if she was making it up completely because the endocrinologist happens to be her husband and I couldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I went on my happy way. When I went to the endocrinologist he said the same thing, it's rare that these nodules turn out to be anytyhing but a sonogram will tell us more. So merrily I go to get a sonogram. Well, says the doctor upon looking at the sonogram, just to be sure we need to do a fine needle biopsy. This is a fun test.  You lay on the table while the doctor comes at you with what seems like a foot long needle and sticks you three times. He told me to call the office in about a week for the results reminding me again that it's most likely nothing and so we'll just watch it every year to see if it grows (apparently it's like a garden). When I called the next week for the results, the nurse told me that they were indeed back and the doctor would be calling me soon. So, okay, pretty much at that point you know something is wrong. Because there are only two times the doctor will call you: 1. when it's by sheer accident ie. they're trying to order pizza and accidentally dial your number 2. when something is wrong. I would also like to take a moment to say that docs should be VERY careful of how they phrase things. I'm pretty sure that, like myself, the general population of patients have selective hearing. To give you an idea, here's a run down of the doctor's call that day. What the doctor said: "the test came back showing atypical cells which is indicative of cancer so surgery is the next step." What I heard: "Blah, blah, CANCER, blah blah SURGERY". At the very least, I need time to let what the doc said sink in. I've found that the side effect of talking to a doctor is that my mental faculties are temporarily paralyzed (partially due to being so excited just to FINALLY be talking to them). I usually find that 15-20 minutes after speaking with any doctor, my brain becomes unfrozen and I have a zillion questions. But by that time it's too late, the doctor has already evaporated into the mist. *** 
The endocrinologist referred me to a surgeon. He first asked me if I had a surgeon I already worked with. Ummm...no. The first time I went to the surgeon, the little office was absolutely packed. I had to wait an hour before I even got in and the only magazines available were "Highlights" and "Field and Stream"--are you TRYING to kill me? After finally getting in, the doctor did another ultrasound, pushed on my neck a lot (which is just as pleasant as it sounds) and then drew me a nice picture of the part of my thyroid he was going to take out. My surgeon is a very nice, soft spoken man who looks exactly like the actor Michael Caine and tries his best to make funny comments to put you at ease. He said he would only take out part of it because apparently when a test comes back "atypical cells" the only way to tell if it's cancer for sure is to take it out. And since it still MIGHT not be cancer, it's not worth risking the whole thyroid. It's called a "Hemi-thyroidectomy". |