Guest guest Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 Sorry I have been away for so long - things have been a bit hectic lately. I had my second surgery last week. They ended up taking all of my thyroid, but were able to leave all the lymph nodes and the parathyroid intact. The biopsy from the second half came back yesterday, and it was cancer free. Yay! Anyway, the dr. told me as far as he is concerned, I am cured, but I have to do the RAI as an " insurance policy " in case they missed any cells. He told me my prognosis is very, very good. Right now, I am on cytomel, 25 mcg twice a day. This seems to have done strange things to my appetite. I am making myself eat, but most of the time, I don't really want to. It seems like the food doesn't matter as much as it did at one time. I have dropped 10 lbs in the week since the surgery. I was expecting things to go the other way! (Of course, they still may.) The cytomel is to stop in about a month, then two weeks later I will start the RAI. After that, he said we will go to Synthroid and then monitor things. Also, my calcium levels are a little low now, so he said we are going to have to keep watch on that. A little side story - you might find this interesting. I think I shared the fact that I pointed the nodule out to my family doc back in Oct, only to have her tell me it was a swollen gland. I developed an ear infection and a sinus infection earlier this week, so I had to make an appointment to see her. I was still wiped out from the surgery, and then this had me feeling lousy besides.....then I get to her office for my 1 pm appointment, only to be left waiting until 3:30. By this time I was absolutely livid, so I decided I was going to ask her why the nodule got no attention. First of all, she threw my chart at me and told me it was all there in black and white - that I could see that I had received every test that I should have had and then she stormed out of the room. 15 minutes later she finally comes back, and when she did, I pointed out to her the exact day on my chart where I came in for the nodule. It is noted on there, plain as day.....swelling in the neck area. This really ticked her off, she told me that I had received the best medical care that anyone could ask for and that I should consider myself fortunate that this was even found, most people don't know they have it until this was too late. I told her that any quality medical care had certainly come from someone other than her, and asked her again, why didn't she pay attention to the nodule when I showed it to her. She told me that the swelling in my neck was due to a sinus infection so there was no way for her to tell that there was a nodule in there besides. And then she told me I was " too young " for a malignancy, so there was no reason for her to suspect otherwise. The icing on the cake was when she refused to treat my infection then, told me there was nothing she could do for me. Then on my diagnosis she put down that I had the infection and thyroid nodules. I pointed out to her that I had just had surgery for the thyroid nodules. She said something to the effect of well yeah, we hope they are gone. I told her they took the whole thyroid, so how could there be any nodules? She stormed out of the room and that was the last I saw her. Maybe I shouldn't have done it, but I spent six months feeling miserable because of this stuff...only to find out that it was related to this thing that I pointed out so long ago. Not to mention the emotional strain of dealing with cancer. I know that yes, it would have been cancer if she had treated it then.......but I wouldn't have had six months of hell to endure if I had received prompt treatment. (Obviously, I am getting a new doctor). I have a past history of obesity, and she attributed all my problems to that. She didn't listen, didn't pay attention, and I paid the price. I spoke with some other patients during my extended stay in the waiting room, and heard many stories of a similiar nature. I guess I should count my blessings that my ENT was on the ball the day I went for my tonsils, otherwise it's hard to tell how long it would have been until this was found. Sorry - I had to vent. Anyway, it sounds like the worst is over now, the storm has passed......time to move forward. Heidi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 Dear Heidi, I am fairly new to this board so I don't know your health history but I am so happy that you got everything taken care of. Many of times I walked out of a dr's office without saying a word only to regret it later, so on behalf of everyone too chicken/tired/ignorant to say anything...THANK YOU! She sounded like a very incompetent (spelling?) dr, hopefully this will open her eyes. We are changing endo. drs and now have to wait 2 more months, pure hell, but will definitely be worth the wait in the end! Good luck on the rest of your healing process! Angie > Sorry I have been away for so long - things have been a bit hectic > lately. > > I had my second surgery last week. They ended up taking all of my > thyroid, but were able to leave all the lymph nodes and the > parathyroid intact.... > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 Hi Heidi, Ouch! IMHO! FIRE HER as your PCP! Her actions are unprofessional and it sounds like she is crossing the line on a few other fronts as well. Unless you live somewheres where there aren't enough GP's to go around, that is. But even then I would drive a few hundred miles to see a compotent Doctor, especially if she was the only game in town..... Gossimer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 6, 2004 Report Share Posted May 6, 2004 Unconscienable (on her part)! Bless her with assault charges for throwing your chart at you. Right when that particular thing happened, I know that I would have picked up the chart and stuck it in my purse. An update > Sorry I have been away for so long - things have been a bit hectic > lately. > > I had my second surgery last week. They ended up taking all of my > thyroid, but were able to leave all the lymph nodes and the > parathyroid intact. > > The biopsy from the second half came back yesterday, and it was > cancer free. Yay! Anyway, the dr. told me as far as he is > concerned, I am cured, but I have to do the RAI as an " insurance > policy " in case they missed any cells. He told me my prognosis is > very, very good. > > Right now, I am on cytomel, 25 mcg twice a day. This seems to have > done strange things to my appetite. I am making myself eat, but most > of the time, I don't really want to. It seems like the food doesn't > matter as much as it did at one time. I have dropped 10 lbs in the > week since the surgery. I was expecting things to go the other way! > (Of course, they still may.) The cytomel is to stop in about a > month, then two weeks later I will start the RAI. After that, he > said we will go to Synthroid and then monitor things. Also, my > calcium levels are a little low now, so he said we are going to have > to keep watch on that. > > A little side story - you might find this interesting. I think I > shared the fact that I pointed the nodule out to my family doc back > in Oct, only to have her tell me it was a swollen gland. I developed > an ear infection and a sinus infection earlier this week, so I had to > make an appointment to see her. I was still wiped out from the > surgery, and then this had me feeling lousy besides.....then I get to > her office for my 1 pm appointment, only to be left waiting until > 3:30. > > By this time I was absolutely livid, so I decided I was going to ask > her why the nodule got no attention. First of all, she threw my > chart at me and told me it was all there in black and white - that I > could see that I had received every test that I should have had and > then she stormed out of the room. > > 15 minutes later she finally comes back, and when she did, I pointed > out to her the exact day on my chart where I came in for the nodule. > It is noted on there, plain as day.....swelling in the neck area. > This really ticked her off, she told me that I had received the best > medical care that anyone could ask for and that I should consider > myself fortunate that this was even found, most people don't know > they have it until this was too late. > > I told her that any quality medical care had certainly come from > someone other than her, and asked her again, why didn't she pay > attention to the nodule when I showed it to her. She told me that > the swelling in my neck was due to a sinus infection so there was no > way for her to tell that there was a nodule in there besides. And > then she told me I was " too young " for a malignancy, so there was no > reason for her to suspect otherwise. > > The icing on the cake was when she refused to treat my infection > then, told me there was nothing she could do for me. Then on my > diagnosis she put down that I had the infection and thyroid nodules. > I pointed out to her that I had just had surgery for the thyroid > nodules. She said something to the effect of well yeah, we hope they > are gone. I told her they took the whole thyroid, so how could there > be any nodules? She stormed out of the room and that was the last I > saw her. > > Maybe I shouldn't have done it, but I spent six months feeling > miserable because of this stuff...only to find out that it was > related to this thing that I pointed out so long ago. Not to mention > the emotional strain of dealing with cancer. I know that yes, it > would have been cancer if she had treated it then.......but I > wouldn't have had six months of hell to endure if I had received > prompt treatment. (Obviously, I am getting a new doctor). > > I have a past history of obesity, and she attributed all my problems > to that. She didn't listen, didn't pay attention, and I paid the > price. I spoke with some other patients during my extended stay in > the waiting room, and heard many stories of a similiar nature. I > guess I should count my blessings that my ENT was on the ball the day > I went for my tonsils, otherwise it's hard to tell how long it would > have been until this was found. > > Sorry - I had to vent. Anyway, it sounds like the worst is over now, > the storm has passed......time to move forward. > > Heidi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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