An Almost Surgery

A couple of months ago, one of the doctors I work with was talking to me and noticed a large lump on my throat that I had not noticed before. It had popped up quickly, and I could tell it was growing larger every week. It started causing pain and difficulty swallowing so I talked to another one of the surgeons I work with (Dr. Jolliff) and he was kind enough to order some tests for me (I did not have a primary doctor at the time).

First I had an ultrasound done. It showed that the large lump I could see and feel was a 4cm complex cyst, and there was another nodule that was about 1cm. The ultrasound tech called Dr. Jolliff right then to tell him the results and he said he was going to order a biopsy.

Of course this got me worried! I Googled everything I could about it and all I really learned was that it could be something, or it could be nothing. I called to schedule the biopsy and they said they couldn't get me in for over a week. I told Dr. Jolliff this the next day I worked with him and he called that department himself to get me an appt. sooner! They called me back that evening and told me to be there at 8am the following morning.

They numbed up my neck and went for the larger nodule first... Unfortunately it had thick fluid in it and they couldn't get a good sample even using an 18g (!!!) needle. The smaller nodule gave a good sample so they bandaged me up and I went up a couple floors and worked the rest of the day.

 

In my heart I knew that regardless of the results I would be okay. There were a lot of people praying for me and I was tougher than whatever was growing on my neck. But my brain was kinda freaking out waiting for those results!

Dr. Jolliff called me at home Saturday morning to tell me himself that the results came back as benign and it was basically a goiter. Praise the Lord! He said my recent pregnancy may have caused my thyroid to go a little crazy.

I made an appt. with an excellent ENT surgeon that I work with and we went over my options. My thyroid levels were all normal, however it was large enough to cause discomfort so he scheduled me to have a total thyroidectomy on Nov. 11. I would have to take 2wks off of work with no driving or lifting over 10lbs.

I went home with my surgery packet and signed consent forms, and told my boss the updates. But then a funny thing happened... I started noticing the bump getting smaller and smaller! After a couple of weeks, it was less than half of it's previous size and was no longer causing trouble swallowing or discomfort.

I thought about it for awhile, and decided to cancel the surgery. I had many reasons and if it goes crazy again in the future i can always reschedule it. It is still there, but do much smaller and you really can't see it any more.

Everything worked out for the best, because the week after I canceled the surgery Nick was laid off of his job. It would have left us in a huge bind with me not working for 2wks right before the holidays, and having to pay more medical bills.

I am so thankful for the wonderful doctors that I work with and how Dr. Jolliff made it a priority to see that i was taken care of. I know I had many people praying for me, and I know those prayers worked!