Thursday, December 10, 2015

Argue With Your Doctor

I had surgery yesterday. I've been arguing with doctors for years over my metabolism. They have attributed it to everything from laziness to menopause. I finally found an endocrinologist that actually looked at my thyroid and discovered that basically I don't have one anymore. Instead I had a huge toxic thyroid tumor that was capable of mimicking normal thyroid function while doing nothing.

This was supposed to be a slam dunk in and out. It wasn't. Once the doctor got in, she discovered a connection to a mass next to my aorta(!!!) the size of an apple. She said she didn't understand why it hadn't been detected and that it should have been removed five or more years ago. I have had a variety of doctors-men, women, American trained, foreign trained and the one trait they seem to share is a general disdain for the opinions of the patient. They like to focus on the computer script and do not listen to the concerns offered. In my case I have a very very strong history of thyroid disease with my mother, grandmother, daughter, son and brother all on medication. Heck, even my dog is on it. But in looking at the photos of the tumor (the doctor said the lab would probably faint when they saw it it's that large....) this has been ongoing forever.

So my message is to argue with your doctor even if they don't like it. Right now my throat feels empty. It's possible that a number of issues I've been dealing with from sleep apnea to allergies have been have been the result of this really nasty growth.

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