Cancer

About fifteen years ago, I learned that I have hypothyroidism and have been on medication for it since then.  The medication reduced the size of the nodule that had grown on my thyroid.  This fall at my annual check-up, my doctor (I love my doctor) noticed that the nodule had grown larger again.  Could mean thyroid cancer.  Hmm.  The specialist I was referred to told me that if one could choose the cancer they got, thyroid cancer would be the one to choose because it is so slow growing.  Uh, okay. 

So, the first step for determining what was what was to have a needle aspiration biospsy.  This wasn't a horrible experience, but it was a bit uncomfortable.  The results came back inconclusive.  Sigh.  So my next choice was another needle aspiration in conjunction with an ultrasound or surgery to remove half of the thyroid.  I chose the surgery.  It seemed to me that another needle aspiration would just produce the same results and I'd still need a more conclusive measure.  I chose to bypass the needle aspiration and just have the surgery.  I wasn't really gung-ho about surgery, but I thought it would be better to just bite the bullet and find out.  I will tell you, though, that I chose not to have it until I got back from our Christmas trip to Ireland (more on the trip later.  It was a blast.)

Soooo, I had surgery yesterday morning to remove half my thyroid. It was scheduled as day surgery with the possibility of having to stay overnight.  An overnight stay would mean they had to take out the whole thyroid because they found it to be cancerous.  I wouldn't know until I woke up.

No cancer.  No cancer.  I was trying to be all cool as a cucumber prior to the surgery, but I will tell you that I felt a tremendous release of tension when I learned no cancer was found.  Praise God.

I got to go home.  Jim was my little haus frau and waited on me very lovingly.  Today, I'm home trying to recuperate.  Watching movies set in Ireland.  Swayze the Dog has barely left my side.  Vicodin makes me woozy.  It also makes me sleepy and I've found myself dozing in the middle of emails and blogposts..............

Gratitude and relief.