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wow, what a story! i can't believe your doctor missed that! did you tell him?? he owes you like 5 lollipops, at least! glad you're okay and upbeat about the whole thing, it's a great lesson to pass on. :]
Thanks for the heads up! Your wedding was stunning :)
So glad that all is well , you really had a good test as newlyweds!!:
He's no longer my GP : ) The ENT called the GP to share the bad news, and the GP called me and offered condolences on my diagnosis while carefully addressing the fact that he blew it -- I think he was worried I was going to sue!
My former GP clearly had no ill intentions, he just wasn't specialized enough with thyroids. Thyroid cancer is very slow-growing, and it's treatable, so at the end of the day, the situation wasn't so dire. Now, if the GP had missed detection on a more aggressive or serious cancer, I would have reported him to the medical accreditation board -- because I wouldn't want someone else to be walking around thinking they are OK when they actually need medical attention.
Us gals have to look out for each other : )
It's really important to watch for this stuff! I was an otherwise perfectly healthy 18-year-old when I found a lump on my neck. My allergist (who I mentioned it to, since I was in his office when I decided to speak up about it) was concerned and referred me to an endocrinologist, who biopsied the lump. It turned out to be a benign cyst, but it kept coming back. A year later, I was in the OR having half of my thyroid removed. The two biopsies I had done both came back benign, but I was given the choice of having fine needle biopsies every six months for the rest of my life or having the half of my thyroid that had the recurring nodule removed. I chose the surgery.
Life hasn't exactly been easy since then--they expected the remaining half to pick up the slack, but it never caught up and I went hypo about three months after the surgery. But I'll gladly take the symptoms I have over the other choice of living in fear after every (painful and expensive) biopsy. Every doctor I go to always checks my throat to make sure the remaining half is still healthy. I'm on medication and will be for the rest of my life, and the scar from my surgery healed very poorly (it's barely noticeable now, but I ended up with some nasty hypertrophic scarring that took a LONG time to flatten out). Still, it's a fair trade for not having to worry about a nodule coming back and causing problems in the future.
So, moral of the story: Be on the lookout for things like this, because it really can come out of nowhere. I don't have any family history of thyroid disease, save for a very distant uncle who had thyroid cancer later in life, but I still ended up having problems. You just never know, man.
@LadyLeo: Thanks! I'm glad your story had a happy ending, too. I still remember how scared I was after the doctor found it, but I'm glad I did what I could to avoid future problems.
My Gyno found my lump a few years back as well. It actually was the first time one had checked my neck like that. After lots of specialists and scans, I had surgery to remove only half of my thyroid. It was non cancerous and I was diagnosed with hyper thyroid. Fortunately, since I kept half I don't have to take any replacement pills but I do have to get it checked every now and then. I have my two inch scar as well and it's faded over the last 7 years, but you can still see it. Good luck and thanks for posting :)
@LadyLeo: Thanks for sharing your story. I'm SO happy you're okay! I'll definitely have my neck checked at my upcoming OB appt. BTW, LOVE the video...love the huppa, your beautiful gown and flowers, and your hubby's awesome accent! Congrats!
@TheFutureMrsLamkin: So glad it wasn't cancer! And very glad that the other half of your thyroid kicked in to take over.
@melisslp: Thank you. As for the accent, my hubby is English...that's why I had all my girlfriends wear the British-style fascinators in their hair -- to make him feel at home : ) We dressed up as Prince William + Princess Kate for Halloween -- figured we should milk his accent for the costume!
Wow! That's so great it was caught in time and treatable. I'll for sure make sure to check this out at my next appointment.
My moms dentist found her thyroid cancer. I'm glad you're okay :)
Happy to hear you're ok! Thank you for sharing.
A very close friend of mine had her thyroid removed this year and unfortunately for her it was cancerous. She has undergone treatment but is not fully clear of the cancer. It is a highly treatable cancer but still.
Thanks, girls. Gogogiraffes, I hope your mom is doing well. I'm glad you mentioned the dentist -- I wanted to remind you all to have them cover your neck when you are getting a dental xray -- they always put that apron over our chest and never seem as careful about protecting the neck -- and they should be!
And Ms. Martian, you are right -- it can be a longer road back to health for some -- sending your friend best wishes for a speedy recovery!
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Hi ladies!
The last time I posted was about 6 months ago, when I shared a few photos and a recap of my lovely May wedding: http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/wedding-recap-with-photos
Now I'm back with a public service health announcement: make sure your GP or OB/GYN "checks your neck" at your annual exams.
A month after my wedding, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. It was a complete shock since I had no symptoms and felt perfectly healthy. <insert sound of record screeching to a halt as our newlywed bliss is interrupted with a harsh dose of reality!> : )
I won't bore you with all the details, but in a nutshell, it was a fluke that an ENT felt the tiny lump in my thyroid, because for several years my regular doctor had checked my thyroid at my annual exam and hadn't noticed it -- literally 5 days before I saw the ENT he didn't notice it! -- perhaps because he wasn't trained as well to find them, or maybe because he naively didn't feel the need to be thorough since I was a healthy patient with normal thyroid lab tests.
At any rate, I was fortunate to have a treatable cancer, an excellent surgeon and an amazing support network (including my hubby!). Married in May, diagnosed in June, under the knife in July -- a hectic summer indeed! I recovered quickly from the thyroidectomy operation (back at work after 2 weeks, back to the gym after a month) and haven't had any problems since. I have to take a tiny pill every day for the rest of my life (thyroid replacement med), and I have a little scar on my neck that will hopefully fade in time -- but hey, I already posed for the wedding pics so who cares, right? : ) Fertility is not impacted, so if we want to have kids, we can go ahead...but I can't deal with any more drama this year so no rush on that...
I don't want to scare you -- it's normal to have nodules on your thyroid, and they are most likely benign. For the minor chance that a nodule is cancerous, it's best to detect it early -- it makes treatment much easier. Now ladies, promise me you'll have your doctor "check your neck!"
Enough of the bad news bears. Here's my wedding highlights video, which reminds me how lucky I am to have so much love in my life, and that my health scare was just a bump in the road! Enjoy, and wishing you all health and happiness.
"Click here" in upper right:
http://blueskyfilms.com/films/yaelandpete