TravelChick

A Strange Turn of Events

A while ago I wrote about coming down with an odd rash while I was on vacation. One visit to the doctor and not only was I diagnosed with a bacteria-caused rash, but it also seemed likely I had a growth, a goiter. Another trip, another doctor, and the doctor confirmed I had a goiter and recommended I have an ultrasound on my throat.

One ultrasound later and it turned out my goiter was not just any old goiter: it's a multi-nodular goiter, and a huge one at that. My neck is significantly thicker than it used to be. My doctor recommended I have it biopsied and, rather curiously I thought at the time, asked if I had undergone radiation treatment as a child. I hadn't.

I had my biopsy and the results came back negative, which is the good news. The bad news is that I have to have a total thryoidectomy, which is exactly what it sounds like: a surgeon will remove my thyroid. Since the growths are large and on both sides of my thryoid, it's what's recommended. Once the growths are removed, they'll be tested and, hopefully, they'll be benign. The question about whether or not I had radiation treatment now made sense.

One of the odd risks associated with this surgery is that I could lose my ability to sing. I'm no opera singer, I'm not even a good kareoke-er, but I do like to sing. I like kareoke so much I dragged most of my classmates in my Masters course to a kareoke bar for my birthday. And one of my not-so-secret goals in life is to finally take singing lessons. So while I realize that losing ones ability to sing isn't the end of the world, it's a little bit of the end of my musical world. I hope it doesn't happen.

After my diagnosis and my consultation with the surgeon and learning all the risks associated with a total thyroidectomy, I had lunch with my parents and then went home, where I took off my necklace. All of a sudden I realized that, for a while now, my necklaces haven't been fitting me as well. A lot of them have felt tight around my neck. It was something I noticed but didn't really comprehend until taking off my necklace that day. I don't know if I had thought I was just getting fatter, but for some reason it didn't occur to me that it could mean that something was wrong with my neck. I just brushed it off.

Apparently that's how some people notice they have growths on their neck: stuff doesn't fit like it used to. Men will be buttoning their shirts and notice that their collars are too tight.

I wonder how long it would have taken me to notice the growths on my neck if I hadn't gotten a strange rash. As odd as the rash was, I'm so grateful I got it. Without it, I think it might have been a few more months before I noticed something abonormal about my neck.

posted by Travel Chick @ 5:41 AM