The waiting game

Yesterday I had my thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy completed. The morning was quite confusing to say the least. I saw two different doctors. My oncologist and the endocrinologist (thyroid specialist) met with me and explained my ultrasound results in person and in lamen’s terms. To sum it all up, yes my nodule characteristics are concerning. You can see the characteristics explained in detail in my previous post I’ll be fine once I get it. The other concern is the fact that I have two enlarged lymph nodes on the same side as the abnormal growth on my thyroid gland (the nodule). We discussed various scenarios and that makes me think the doctors are concerned that my cancer has returned. There is such a thing as thyroid lymphoma. What the fuck? Just leave me alone.

The results will not be in until around 5 business days, and could extend beyond that depending on the pathologist (the doctor who performs the cytology examination). I hate the waiting game, I wish I just knew now. I did not ask the doctors their opinion yesterday because I’m honestly not ready for that news. The procedure itself felt very different that my previous one in 2013. I contribute that to the doctor performing more passes yesterday. A pass is when the doctor inserts a new needle and extracts cells from the abnormal growth. Each pass consists of the doctor moving the needle in and around the growth to get a good sample. Yesterdays procedure required 5 passes. My previous one in 2013 only required 2 or maybe 3 at the most. The doctor did me a solid yesterday and injected a numbing medication as well as a numbing spray so I didn’t feel anything more than pressure during the procedure. However, that medication wore off about 10 minutes after and that was not pleasant. How did I cope?

Blue Moon

and this guy

 

Now …I wait for 5 business days that will feel more like 20 days I am sure. If it comes back positive the good news is that thyroid cancer is very treatable and has a pretty nice success rate. The can simply take out the gland and you’re left with taking a hormone replacement for life. However, if it does come back positive the bad news is that my lymph nodes are involved which means it’s not contained to my thyroid and has possible spread to other areas. Your lymph system spreads throughout your entire body which is why when you hear the word spread or metastasize …it means the cancer has traveled via your lymph system to other areas.

Are you thinking the same thing I was? Why didn’t my oncologist just order my annual full body scan? Well, thyroid cancer will not show up on a full body scan.

In other news, lastnight I dreamt that J and I were at a coffee shop here where we live and I was sitting down to tell her about my biopsy results (they were positive in my dream) and suddenly a person runs by her and scoops up her purse. I eventually locate the said individual and recover her purse, but it was difficult. I arrive back at the original location and she was quite upset that I took so long. I noticed that when I sat down and handed her purse back to her that the edge of the purse was quite worn and I offered to buy her a new one and she became upset with me. I ended up not telling her anything regarding my results and I woke up and snuggled my pillow tight and fell back to sleep. Are there any dream decoders out there that can tell me what that dream meant?