My friend, Emily, and I went to my first appointment today with Dr. D, the Endo recommended by my PCP.
BUT, just before leaving my house, I got a call from Chad at Dr. V's office. They can see me tomorrow!! I'm super excited!! I'm counting this as one more miracle to add to the list!
Her staff was nice and friendly. Everyone greeted me like I was someone they had to be careful with. Speaking gently, quietly, calm tones. Nodding "knowingly" when I spoke. It was like no one wanted upset me. I think they expected me to get upset at some point. I have to admit, it It was a little strange filling out the paperwork.
"What brings you into our office today?" _____Thyroid Cancer____
and
Personal Medical History: (check all that apply)
_ ✔_ Cancer
After filling everything out, they took me back to the exam room. I took Emily with me to be a 2nd set of ears because my husband was out of town. Then, the doctor asked her to wait in the waiting room and that we were going to talk first and said she would come get her in a minute. I was disappointed.
The doctor then asked me when my last physical was. Wanted to know how often I see the doctor. When I told her that I see him monthly for my weight-loss and that I had lost 80 lbs, she thought I said 30 lbs. I happily corrected her, but then told her that I have about 40 more to go. She asked me about medications (I just filled all that out in the chart, do we have to go over it again, there are so many!) She asked if I had a lot of dental work as a child or any other exposure to radiation when I was young. She wanted to know about my c-sections, etc. Then, she asked how it was we came to do an ultrasound of my thyroid. So, far, all of this was stuff Emily knew, more or less. Then, she began to explain how I got cancer... not why... no one knows why... she even said that, she said, "you had no risk factors for it." She said that some people just get nodules on their thyroid and sometimes, those nodules just turn out to be cancerous. She explained that this cancer is extremely treatable. She spoke calmly and quietly, she didn't want me to get upset. I'm sure she kept expecting me to fall apart any second, I know she was trying to reassure me... "If I were to put you in a room, with a list of all the cancers in the world and tell you that you HAD to have one, THIS is the one you'd pick." I tried not to cringe out loud... "BUT, you didn't choose this, it was thrown on you. Now, we're going to take care of it." Okay, that was better, I guess...
I wondered if this is when we were going to call Emily in... nope! She then began going over HOW we treat it. Surgery. She then continued, in her most reassuring voice, "I want you to know that you are going to be okay and this is not an emergency." She would give some names, if I needed them, I would see a surgeon, he'd go over risks with me, set up the surgery date. Once I had a date, I'd call her office, make an appointment for 1 week afterwards. At that point, the surgeon would send her a report letting her know what he found when he removed they thyroid so we'd have to know if I'd need to do radioactive iodine treatments or not. If I do, I will be radioactive for awhile and not be allowed to be around people. We would, at this time begin figuring out the dosage for my hormone replacement medication... it will take me some time to get this right. Once I get it right, I will come back in 6 months to be rechecked for cancer markers. Then, after that only return once a year.
I asked her about the lump on my back. I said it wasn't a concern before but it had never been checked out and now that I had a form of cancer, wondered if it should be a concern. She immediately wanted to feel it. Felt it and said, "I am 99% sure that is just fatty tissue(lipoma, already diagnosed), but it's big enough that you should definitely get that removed. Especially when you loose more weight, it will be more noticeable." At this point, I had my shirt pulled up and she was looking at my skin... "Oh..." There was a tiny hint of disgust in her voice, the first time she stopped talking to me in the, I-don't-want-you-to-burst-into-tears tone that she had been using... "and look at all those stretch marks from your weight-loss! When you get that tumor out, you should take care of those and all of that extra skin... but after you lose the 40 more lbs." I felt like this was good place to ask her about losing weight or gaining weight in this process, as that was one of my questions. What should I expect? "To gain some weight. But with the anxiety, you might not be hungry, and with the surgery, you might only want to drink right afterwards, so you might lose some weight, then, so it might even out until your pills get to the right dosage. Then your metabolism will kick in and you will be the right weight." BUT I've never been the right weight with just counting on metabolism... never! Ugh.
Now, she offered to bring Emily in, but at that point, we were done. She said she could go over it all again, but I felt like that would be a waste of mine and Emily's time. She then weighed me and got my height... wait... those are things we do in private, right?
I thanked her and exited the room. Asked the receptionist if I needed to check out... he gave me the "knowing" (almost saying, "you poor thing") shake of the head and said, "No, you are set. Do you know when to come back? 1 week after your surgery right? And you have the name of the surgeon?" I smiled and nodded and thanked him. He was very nice... they are all very nice. But I'm not fragile and not going to break, clearly you felt comfortable enough to recommend plastic surgery!
The experience was... fine. Nothing to blog about for hours and hours... oh, wait... But, I could see myself using the office, if I needed to, on a full time basis... just because the people were so nice and the doctor really was very caring. I am interested to see what tomorrow brings with Dr. V.
Oh, and I called this afternoon and made an appointment with the surgeon I want to use, Dr. P. He can see me on August 29. That's the consultation, not the surgery. My husband wanted to know if I would be okay having this hang over my head for that long. I told him I was fine using it as an excuse for the next 3+ months... "I didn't do the laundry today... because I have cancer." "I couldn't make dinner tonight... because I have cancer." He told me I have never needed an excuse before... we're both SOOO hilarious.
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