It was a Tuesday. I was at the end of a long week of bed rest. I went in for my regular pregnancy exam. The small tear in my uterus had healed and I was told that I was free to go about life like normal.
My doctor continued the exam, doing the regular overall checkup that I'm sure she has done many times before. She asked to feel my neck, I absentmindedly agreed. She felt down along my neck and then stopped. “Feel this nodule,” she said to me. I felt my neck and pretended to feel the odd lump, but really it just felt like my normal neck. “You need to go have an ultrasound taken of the lump,” she informed me.
I obeyed. I had the ultrasound done, was told that the doctor would have the results in a day or two, and I went home. I didn't think too much more about it.
Early the next morning, the phone rang. It was the doctor's nurse. “We have the results of the ultrasound in, and it is suspicious of ….,” the nurse rattled off some long strand of medical terms. “What does that mean?” I asked. “It means that we are suspicious of thyroid cancer,” she said quietly. I immediately had so many questions. “What did I need to do? What would happen?” My mind was swirling. She reassured me that it may not be cancer and that if it was - that thyroid cancer is highly treatable. She set up an appointment for me to have a biopsy, and I hung up the phone.
Several days later, I had the biopsy done and I would have to wait to find out the results at an appointment with a surgeon.
Soon it was time to meet with the surgeon. I must admit that I had butterflies in my stomach.
He settled into his chair in the exam room. Again, it was a strand of medical terms and information way beyond my understanding.
But after a long discussion, it basically boiled down to this:
He settled into his chair in the exam room. Again, it was a strand of medical terms and information way beyond my understanding.
But after a long discussion, it basically boiled down to this:
From the biopsy, he was still not 100% sure if it was cancer or not, but it was highly likely that it was. And, whether it was cancer or not, I would need to have the nodule removed and possibly my whole thyroid. He informed me that a pathologist would be present during the surgery and that he will possibly be able to tell during the surgery, whether it was cancer or not, and if it was, he would then remove my whole thyroid.
If it is cancer, then I will need to have radiation after the baby is born.
If it is cancer, then I will need to have radiation after the baby is born.
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