Senior Health: My Second Thyroid Test

For weeks now I have been waiting. I wrote about my thyroid HERE.  I decided to write daily this week on this post while I waited.

Monday morning I swallowed a radioactive pill at Brandon's Total Imaging. Some people have radioactive iodine injected into a vein, but I only took a pill. The technician explained that there are cold and hot nodules. The cold nodules can contain cancer cells. I would have to return the next day for the actual test. For twenty-four hours I had to limit salt, processed foods and even green vegetables before my test. I ate eggs, carrots, strawberries, a banana, a baked potato and beef without any seasoning. That day our long awaited tax refund came and hubby wanted to go out to dinner, but I said I wouldn't be able to because of my 24 hour diet.

The next morning, Tuesday, I went under the gamma camera at Brandon's Total Imaging. This camera measures the function of the thyroid and can for every other organ of the body exceptt the pancreas. The results would be faxed to my doctor later in the day. She would call me and give me the results.

I then went shopping and bought a lovely white linen skirt and lime green jeans--basics for my wardrobe badly needing updating and both on sale. Lime green is a basic for me; why one time my Alabama niece used to call me the lime green aunt. Now she calls me MC AC The Rap Lady.  

Finally hubby and I took Kenny, our volunteer caregiver to dinner. We told him how much we appreciate his friendship and he said that we enrich his life. Then I finished that quilt Tuesday evening and posted a picture of it on the Facebook LIKE page Wednesday.

Wednesday I put a call into my doctor expecting to have the results of the test, to know if I need my TSH tested before I resume taking thyroid pills. I realized that I am fidgety. The Mayo Clinic says HERE:

Thyroid nodules are solid or fluid-filled lumps that form within your thyroid, a small gland located at the base of your neck, just above your breastbone. The great majority of thyroid nodules aren't serious and don't cause symptoms. Thyroid cancer accounts for a small percentage of thyroid nodules.

By Wednesday night no one had called from the doctor's office and I was on pins and needles waiting to hear about cold nodules and whether or not I would have to have a needle biopsy to determine if it was cancer. It has been five weeks that I have been off of thyroid medicine waiting for test results. I feel tired and weigh myself often and watch what I eat because those pounds I lost last year might come back. The highlight of the day was a call from my Alabama brother in the evening. Another highlight was that my husband prayed an eloquent prayer when we went to bed. He will not remember all that I am feeling, but our LORD does. I need to exercise faith.

Thursday I determined to be useful. Well be assertive. We are going to breakfast, I announced to hubby. He wanted to know if he had to shave. It had been two days since he had shaved and I said no because I really had other motives.

Shortly after they opened I was at the doctor's office with hubby waiting in our air conditioned gas guzzler. I was told that Total Imaging had not faxed the test results yet and Yes, Mrs. Johnson, we do have your call about this issue on the computer and we will let you know when the text results come to our office. I called Total Imaging and they said it had been faxed, but they would send my doctor another fax with the results.

We went to Snellgrove Restaurant across the street from the painted brick building at the top of this blog. Men outside were talking about this car.

This restaurant is the local hangout where I interviewed my husband for this blog HERE.  I usually recognized people at Snellgove and even my husband recognized D.J. from Toastmasters. Now D. J. has survived cancer and I wondered if we would get a chance to talk with him there but we never caught his eye in the crowded place. I ordered the special for hubby--a huge waffle with sugar free syrup, scrambled eggs and bacon. I ordered a veggie omelet and hash browns for myself.

Into the breakfast I got a call on my cell phone. Mrs. Johnson, you will need a thyroid biopsy and you may resume taking your thyroid meds. We will schedule your biopsy. . Total Imaging must have sent them the fax. We took our pills and I had my first thyroid pill since May 14th.

Hubby's many pills  in the background and
my calcium, baby aspirin and LEVOTHROXINE

Then I got another call on my cell phone. Mrs. Johnson, your biopsy is scheduled for July 31st at 9 am in Brandon. So I have another five weeks to wait to know if I have cancer in a "cold" thyroid nodule.

You know what! Now I do not have fear of gaining back weight. I can lose the next five pounds more easily. And, good gracious gravy, I am going to get a tattoo! I have such light eyebrows that I always have to add eyebrow pencil to them. If I have to be in the hospital again, God forbid, at least my eyebrows ought to look like I am awake.

Beyond good eyebrows, however, the world needs cures for cancer and Alzheimer's. I consider it a privliege to trust our LORD for the outcome and am grateful I can have those thyroid pills again which a person needs if they need them.

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Added June 27, 2013 when the written report came in my mail.
Technique: the patient received 278 microcuries I-123 by oral capsule.
Findings: There is a relative photopenia in the mid pole of the right thyroid lobe indicating the dominant nodule seen here on ultrasound is cold. Normal uptake seen in the left love. 24 hour uptake is low normal measuring 8%.
IMPRESSION: Dominant mass in the right thyroid lobe is cold on nuclear sutyd. Biopsy of this nodule recommended.