I recently scheduled a visit with my doctor due to feeling especially tired, having muscles aches, and puffy eyelids.  I also noticed my lymph nodes in my neck were swollen.  One of my ears kind of hurt too, so being someone who has bouts of sinusitis, I made an appointment to have myself checked out.

My doctor, who is wonderful, quietly listened then examined me by listening to my heart and lungs.  He looked into my throat and ears, and eyes.  He didn't say much but scheduled a host of lab work for me.  I had surgery 5 months prior and at that time had alittle problem with my blood count being low, so he said we'd just check and make sure it was okay.  He prescribed some medication to help me relax at night, which was when my legs muscles bothered me the most.

The next day I received a call from my doctor's nurse requesting I go to the hospital an have a scan done on my thyroid, due to the fact that the tests for my thyroid hormone, thyroxine, were very low.  The doctor had already called in prescription for me to take to replace the deficiency.

A few days later I went into the xray department at our local St. John's Medical Center and had my scan.  It was painless and took only a few minutes.  To my great surprise, the technician said my thyroid was nice and small and looked good.  You know how they usually don't tell you those things, and you have to wait for the doctor to call you with the results.  Well, I thanked him for telling me so I could stop worrying.

Two days later I received another call from my docs office and his nurse told me that the doc had gone over my thyroid scan.  I commented that I already knew it was okay.....but, she quickly corrected me and said, "oh no", "it's not okay"...."the scan revealed a small nodule". She went on to tell me that this was the kind of thing that a specialists; an endocrinologists, would have to handle and more than likely, they would need to do a needle biopsy of it.  Well, I thanked her of course, but you can imagine my shock.  I really was kind of mad that the xray tech told me I was okay and indeed I wasn't!

I immediately came home and looked up 'thyroid nodules' online and did some research.  Isn't the net just wonderful for answers?!

I found that in reading about the symptoms, I had most of them for hypothyroidism.  I also found out that most nodules are benign, however, if your lymph nodes are swollen, it is somewhat of an indicator that it might be serious, even cancer.

Of course now I am concerned and waiting on pins and needles for my appointment with the specialists.  Thinking back I recalled the symptoms began about a month ago....hoarseness in my voice (not singing as well as I usually do in church), a kind of hacky cough without a cold, swollen lymph nodes, and difficulty swallowing.  My eyes have also been very puffy and that can be a symptom too.

Should I call the hospital and tell them that their technician shouldn't tell people they are okay unless he has absolutey no doubt.  Or, even if he knows, not to tell them anyway?  I have an anxiety problem and it didn't help it to be given a sign of relief by him, to turn around and have my doctor's office call me with the news of 'something' growing on my thyroid gland.

When I see the specialist, and we figure out what this is, I'll write another hub about it.  Be sure and let your doctor know if your neck lymph nodes are swollen and you don't have a sore throat or any upper respiratory problems........it might just be your thyroid.