Biopsy Should Be a Four Letter Word!

It's been a while since I've posted anything and thought I should explain why. My life has always been a roller coaster but lately the ride has gotten a little wild!

Last month when I was at church I noticed my neck was hurting and thought a headache was coming on so I took some Excedrin and went back to class. The pain didn't improve and by the time church was over I was miserable (I'm really glad I stayed at church though because the Relief Society lesson was awesome and I got to sit with my best friend Megan who was visiting from Virginia). I had a huge knot in my shoulder and my neck was pulsing with pain. I took Aleve, Tylenol & Advil (rotating each every few hours) but it still hurt so bad I was in tears.

The next day I went to the Dr. and the diagnosis was that I had wrenched my shoulder and I was given a muscle relaxer- even though I told the Dr. that my neck hurt when I swallowed. Three days later my shoulder was great but my neck was worse. After I was brushed my teeth on Wednesday night I swallowed in front of the mirror and gasped at the lump I saw on my neck. The next day I saw the Dr. again and was sent for an ultrasound. It was a cyst of some kind on my thyroid and I had to have a biopsy the next day.

The Ear, Nose & Throat surgeon did the biopsy and said for me to call with the results on Tuesday evening. Those days waiting to find out if I had cancer were pretty stressful. I let my family know and asked for prayers. By this time the Dr. had prescribed some antibiotics because I had a fever too. The antibiotics worked and by Monday I was no longer on 800 mg. of ibuprofen. It snowed Tuesday and Wednesday and I didn't find out the results of my biopsy until a week after I had it done. It was benign! I was so grateful and know that prayers were heard. At my two week follow-up the Dr. was amazed at how small the biopsy had shrunk compared to how large it was previously.

I was relieved and told I have to keep an eye on it and have biannual ultrasounds. I thanked the Lord and was ready to move on. Then this Friday I got ANOTHER LUMP on my thyroid! I was having the same symptoms but the lump was on the other side of my thyroid. I called the ENT dr. and got antibiotics again. Sure enough, I felt better a day later this time because it didn't have as much time for the infection to spread. I don't know what is going on with my thyroid and am going to keep a close eye on it but am grateful for now that I don't have cancer and I don't have to have surgery!