Not so good news....
 

Well, I've been having "neck" issues (pain and lumpy feeling swallowing), and the depression last winter, so I
gathered myself up to go to the doctor, and the upshot of it all was:

I have a hard lump on the right side of my thyroid, and will be having various
diagnostic things coming up about it. She could not tell if it were on the thyroid or behind it. And since my collarbone is high up, could not tell if swelling was below, and going inside the chest ( I have a short neck). So I am having blood work done at the hospital on Monday, and an ultrasound as soon as it can be arranged.

I will still be going on my summer hiatus however.

My blood pressure was pretty good, but we are tweeking those meds.
And I am being evaluated for aldosterone elevation. I may be switched to the new drug Inspra, depending on that blood test. There was a new heart murmur and a slight tachycardia...which she said might be due the the thyroid. That will be evaluated later. So I am not a happy camper at all today! :(

So sorry to read this Mrs D!!:(
I hope it is nothing serious at all - or at the very least an easy fix with a speedy recovery.:grouphug:

:(

i'm sorry to hear this mrsd.:hug: :hug: :hug:

sending you my prayers.

So sorry Mrs D ... hope you can take care of it
 

Well, if you can take care of it over the summer hiatus, you will have time to rest and recover. Hopefully it will be a good time to deal with issues...
We will all be thinking good thoughts for you and waiting to hear how it goes.

Terri

Mrs D I am sorry to hear this news. I am praying for it to be nothing serious. I hope you can enjoy your summer hiatus. :hug: :hug:

So Sorry
 

Mrs D--It's funny, but I'd come to think of you as someone who was a "health-care worker" for us on the forum, and not as a fellow-patient. You are always so full of help and advice for us, and so rarely with complaints, although I do know you've had a hard course.

So it's saddening to hear you have another challenge ahead, and surprisingly shocking, as if somehow you were immune.

Take care, and please get it taken care of before you go away, okay?

Oh no..
 

Oh I am just so sorry. :( You can't have anything like this. I just won't let you. You are so loved and so needed by so many. You have no idea how many people you help.

We'll be waiting anxiously to hear from you on Monday. You will have the results on Monday, ..won't you? Please take care of this before you leave for the summer. I will worry myself to death if you don't.

Billye:hug:

I'm so sorry to hear this as well. Just 1 question have you had any
change when speaking? Just curious dosen't mean anything,your Dr.
is doing all the right tests. Know what you mean about short neck,yes
i got 1 toooo. WE all do count on you so much :hug: for you. Sue

:hug: mrsD

I too hope and pray it is nothing serious and can be easily treated.

Good that you are still going to have your wonderful summer retreat.

you will be in my prayers for a quick and positive outcome on the tests etc

more :grouphug: from all of us to you.

Cheri

MrsD,
I'm really sorry to hear about your possible thyroid and swallowing problems. I hope they will not be serious and can be remedied quickly and completely.
I'll be thinking about you and send you all the best!
Alkymst

I hope it's the thyroid and nothing
 

worse....

Here's a good site as introduction to Thyroid..and other stuff.
http://www.tsh.org/index.html


I could refer you to a couple of good and active thyroid boards,, they are soo busy they leave us in the dark ages, still inventing the wheel at times!
There is soo much crossover, as in vitamin B-12 deficiency, in thyroid hyper and hypo issues... Ironically it seems that all is what makes neuropathies harder to diagnose and treat!

Sonograms of the thyroid and parathyroid are non-events, quick easy and painless. A biopsy [I was 'told' mine was an 'aspiration' NOT a biopsy] was local and outpatient...and I was just sore [like I'd been punched there..tho not too hard] for a couple of days. Surgery? Wait till all the other tests are in, it's the waiting that is always the worst tho, isn't it? It IS probably something simple..Think positively. Don't stress things out more than necessary until necessary....:hug: 's - j

I am to sorry to read of this, but there's every chance it may not be a real nasty one, as you would know there is lots of other lumps and bumps we can get that are just nothing to worry about to much, i am glad to see your getting
it looked at, i will be keeping everything crossed for luck for you.
take care
Brian :)

My thoughts and prayers are with you Mrs D. I know that with the way you care for so many people it is bound to be nothing serious.
Take care and do enjoy your holiday

Tony

If being loved by lots of people could do it, you'd be home free. :grouphug:

Best wishes always!

rose

Prayers for You
 

MrsD:hug: You have helped me so much that I wish there was something I could do for you. You will be in my thoughts and prayers and look forward to hearing the results of your tests. Take care.:circlelove:

I'm just sending you cyber hugs!!
 

Hi Mrs. D:

You have lots of friends here, lots of good people who care.

Just wanted to hug you

:hug:

Mel

Ohhhh nooo!!!
 

Our beloved MrsD, sick? I hope and pray this is something easily taken care of. And I hope you will have a quick answer asto what this is.

Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers and I will be on the edge of my chair until I find out that you are OK...

Much, much love,
Cathie

Thank you so much everyone!
 

I had some larynx issues 6 yrs ago when I was diagnosed and started thyroid meds. At that time I had no nodule, a partially dead left lobe, and a doubly
enlarged right lobe. Synthroid took down the swelling and I was normal for a while and felt good. My feet stopped hurting, and my carpal tunnel went away.

Since winter, when I crashed, I started to have this "can't breathe" thing, and albuterol did not help much. Then I had a sore throat a couple of times, and lost my voice (I thought this was viral). I also had two spasms when talking, and lost my voice suddenly (a dysphonia). I thought it was from the sore throat, but it seems to be worse all of a sudden. My last TSH was 2.

The doctor is concerned about the nodule being so hard. She had me swallow water several times. She said it might be BEHIND the thyroid, but that is a small might. She also thinks some is below the collar bone. I looked some things up yesterday (as I am wont to do LOL) and HARD is bad.

My husband and son are upset, and I am too. But at least now I can focus on something instead of feeling crappy all the time! And I don't like the murmur thing at ALL.

A gal at work my age had her thyroid removed last year--and we have talked about it, and I will ask her more today. She seemed to take it in her stride!

I appreciate all the concern you have shown! It helps alot! :Thanx:

P.S. hope now that it is the thyroid and not a lymph node...lymph node issues may be LYMPHOMA... but then I am getting carried away with myself and my misery...I won't think that yet. :o

I'm sorry you have to go through this. Your in my thoughts. I know easier said then done but try to stay in the present. I'm working with my therapist about focusing on what I have to do today. Its very hard I know for me to not to worry about the what if's as well but working ones self up also does damage to health. Sending hugs and keep reaching out for support.

I, too, was wondering about this being a laryngial issue--
 

--but your second post seems to put the symptom seat lower than that, and in a difficult place to scan . . .

Let me add my hopes/wishes to those of everyone else, that this turns out to be something easily found and easily treated, and that you get to enjoy your summer jaunt fully.

Sending you positive thoughts for a good dx and return to good health.
Also throwing in a hug...:hug:

OK..... what can I say?
Everybody else's pretty much said it.

But, Don't get carried away!!
You know how you are, and how you
are able to research things.
OK, so hard is bad. There can be other reasons
not so bad..... find 'em.

As you said, a friend has had a thyroidectomy and
seems to be living OK with it. See her. Talk to her.

Go in the direction that everything can be OK.
You'll deal with it.(and hope the tests show
that it can be dealt with, easily)

We need you, Mrs D.
We want you to be well.

Go....Go away, and enjoy your vacation.
(I'm just sorry that you'll be out of touch for so long.)

i hope that everything works out for you and it is nothing too serious. i have something going on pulmonary wise that has to be monitored every 6 months with a cat scan and the not knowing is the worst as well as it hanging over your head the whole time. Easier said than done but make this the best summer vacation ever.

Hi Mrs. D
 

Hi Mrs. D,

I know I haven't been on this board for quite sometime but always have you in my thoughts and wish you well and will say a prayer that all works out in a positive manner. I'm doing some better but have had to deal with a few person problems as I'm sure everyone does but haven't been on the computer a lot or on this board at all except reading only mode. I do hope they find your problem and hope it is treatable and something not very serious.

Love Lynn :hug:

So sad
 

Life can deal some unfortunate hands sometimes....hope the best for you.

You've been a beacon of light for so many for so long. I share all the well wishes others have expressed so eloquently here. Please keep us informed.

mrsd,

I am absolutely certain that you will do whatever you need to do to maintain your health at the highest possible level. Your creative use of all possible resources bodes well for whatever is going on right now. As I follow your situation, please know that I will be holding an inner thought and feeling for your well-being.

rafi

Mrs D...
 

All I can say has been that all my thyroid issues have always, always been underplayed...whether it's simply hyer/hypo...the treatments: meds therapies and surgeries are pretty well established...tho more is starting to be done in more progressive aspects... Most is experimental at best.. The 'traditional' routes are fairly well explored. Key is diagnosis and treatment..should a thyroid or para thyroid go kaflooowy, well treatment is fairly standard.. The symptoms are apparently the same tho. Slow, insidious, sneaky and ultimately debilatating.... Much seems to overlap with vitamin deficiencies and PN. To a degree, a good deal is helped thru diet and exercise, BUT, certified/pedigreed/and proven treatments do exist to ease such issues..Only a modicum of patience is required to allow the effects of the subtle med subsitutes/modifers to kick in. The variations of thyroid replacement/suppression therapies are varied, wide and to some, controversial. My issue is Hypo, now, Hashi's...My endo has seen films from a decade ago [comment: yucky], Films now are: Really Yuckky!!!!. Hey articulate and graphic distinctions between the two? Thyroid and parathyroid issues are usually simple to treat. Chill about it. Just be sure you don't have to be forced to take a generic! That is one area every single doc I've ever had is truly emphatic and adamant about!
Go vacation! Send pics and give me a vacation from the 95 degree heat here..Anything pretty would put my mind there in an instant! :grouphug: just from me! - j

Thanks everyone! This slow,insidious quality really bums me out. It took YEARS to get a diagnosis for my thyroid issues in the first place. My own internist was sure I had "something" wrong...but the endo was even resistant to testing me and when he finally relented after I told him off...was embarrassed that my gland was so abnormal on the Technicium uptake. I left him after this test, because of his attitude. The progression of this... bothers me. I never had a nodule before, just a simple goiter, that responded to levothyroxine treatment. Around here, doctors opt for surgery rather quickly, and I suspect that will be offered to me eventually. The biopsies can be confusing and not 100% predictive, so with improved surgical techniques, they just might remove my right lobe. I couldn't get the appointment for the ultrasound yesterday ...I have to wait til Monday. My doctor returns from her trip on July 2nd. So there is no time for biopsy if required, until after my vacation. I am feeling better now, after the shock of it all. I heard many stories at work...from it is a piece of cake, a horror story about removing a huge goiter, and one story of a prior employee who was known to a colleague of mine who had thyroid cancer in her 30's. All over the place, the stories were! But I was surprised to find so many. I think thyroid disease is on the upswing (even my doctor has a nodule)...makes one wonder? My old kitty, (prior to the 3 we have now) died of thyroid cancer! How's that? :yikes:

My history points to a problem...both my mother and her sister had nodules. (both died before they were explored completely).

So I am slowly getting ready for all the hooha involved. Thanks to all of you for your support! I will keep you posted, of course.

We are going to take our new laptop on vacation. There is a free hot spot near the laundromat, and we can run the computer off the car. So I can log on more easily than before at the busy library. We'll give that a try. The hookup cords for that cost $70. :yikes:

Mrs D
Can't you go WiFi? Too far out for a wireless to connect?
The wireless cards are fairly inexpensive.(...I think ! - My son's
came with his laptop. I think they all are offering them, now.)

Yes, Mrs D the 'stories'
 

at times, make our issues tame by comparison. Usually ignored by docs till patient is near death and FINALLY the standard round of blood work shows the messed up TSH...

Then there's the art of finding a good doc who really knows thyroid and other endo issues...Not all endo's are good-then many GP's or Internal docs are better in some cases than the specialists. Sigh.

Should the docs feel it's a critical issue, you will know rite away. If not, just chill. Surgeries aside [I'm sensing that these are done much less often than 'implied'] most of it is thyroid meds and then, which kinds...debates run rabid about that.

Tweaking synthroid doses is an art in my book. I have been up and down the 'scales', and back up again. I always feel like I want MORE! tho. For me rite now it's more about getting the balances of the right calciums, D's and Magnesiums into me-so it's available for uptake..whether it WILL be asorbed will only show up in next year's density scan [or how many more fractures I get]. For that all the supplement issues, the kinds and quantities - I thank you and Rose...my own last blood work says Those #'s are rite on target [in the blood], only time will tell the rest of the tale. :hug: 's - j

yes, the new laptop is
 

WiFi....but picking up a SIGNAL anywhere is the issue! We just got cell coverage there. The only WiFi signal is at the intersection where the store and laundromat are located. That is a 13 mile drive from our island after getting
to shore, that is. We will turn it on to see if the people across the bay have it, but I doubt it. Most have cable up there.
The local tourist association provides the free WiFi for the summer people and tourists to use. I hope it is still there this summer!

Last summer was the first DIGITAL service we could get on Sprint. Prior to that was analog only. Also the tower is near us luckily...many people up there are out of tower range still.

This is the boonies, remember? LOL

update:
 

Here are the results of my tests:

There is no lump...I don't know what she felt, but it did not show on the
ultrasound. But the test did show an enlarged right lobe. Based on my symptoms I will be seeing a specialist in Sept. But at least the cancer scare is over for now.

I had some improvements in cholesterol, but of course, not enough to satisfy the indoctrinated doctors etc...so we settled on Zetia. I have no qualms about that if it shuts my doctor up...it will be worth it. It is interesting that my cholesterol did go down some, by itself. She did want me to increase by 100% my fish oil... to see what happens.

All in all it was a huge relief... but I have more tests scheduled in the fall. But for now I can go on vacation as planned.... YIPPEEEEE.....

That's good news--
 

--and we're all glad to hear it.

Yeah, those doctors have all been told "put 'em all on statins!"; if only the drug reps weren't so generous with the free lunches (and, often, with the flirtatious smiles). Glad you'll be avoiding that for now, and that at least the physician knows about fish oil.

Any speculation on what an enlarged right lobe might mean, if there is no lump? (Inflammation? Cyst?)

no reason...
 

the right side has been swollen before...and the thyroid hormone shrank it before. I had antibodies run (the lab forgot to do the other thyroid tests--:yikes: as usual the crap screw up)--- and my doctor thinks I need a dose increase, but she'd rather a specialist do it.

The antibodies were normal, not elevated. So it is the same goiter with no reason. That is how I got on hormone to begin with. For now it is not cold, and I feel better. When winter comes, that will be another story.

I am really rather bummed about medicine in general. My mail away RX plan, Caremark refused to fill my blood pressure pills, long story :yikes: ...it was their fault.
So I had her rewrite it and I will get them locally....Caremark was ok until CVS bought them! YUK.... So no one I guess is immune to the screw-ups these days!!! (but very ironic for me).

:hug: Oh mrsD this is such good news!!!!:hug:

Have a wonderful vacation and take lots of great photos for our album :p

doing the happy dance for you!
http://bestsmileys.com/dancing/8.gif

Yes, Mrs. D. hugs from me also!!!:hug: :hug:

Enjoy!!!

Melldy

I am so pleased Mrs D to read your good news. This means you can really relax and enjoy your well earned vacation. ;)


May all future tests have as happy an outcome. :)


Tony

Glad to hear
 

this great news. You will have a more enjoyable vacation without this worry in the back of your head. Have a wonderful time and keep in touch if you do take your laptop.
http://bestsmileys.com/undersun/2.gif

Mrs D
 

I know how you feel after that Lymphoma scare i just went through.
I was hoping things would be fine,you have a nice time. I really believe
in the fish oil and so does my Dr. Many Blessings Sue