My Experience with Thyroid Cancer
I just want to share my personal experience I had with thyroid cancer. It all started when I woke one tired morning with a muffled voice. It felt like I was losing my voice, and there was something pressing on my throat. I just figured I was working too hard and, not resting enough, so my lymph nodes were swollen. Then one day, I started choking on a sip of a cola drink. I kept gasping for air which sounded like severe asthma. No matter how I tried, I just could not get enough air into my lungs. Then, I was about to black-out and, this was the last day of my life. I thought, what would they say about me? I didn't see anyone home in the neighborhood. My boyfriend, Lonnie, didn't know what to do. He just kept calling my name as his voice shook. He came charging towards me, grabbed my shoulders. He pushed his mouth on mine and pushed forceful air into my mouth. I could feel the air go into my lungs and expand them fully. However that did not help! I wanted him to call 911, but in my head I knew it would be too late by the time they would reach me. It felt like no one could help me. Then Lonnie, started hitting me in the back. Finally, I started to get air to my lungs. We just went and sit for a while. I had to do something. I did not want this to happen again. I noticed my voice was still hoarse. That's when I decided to go to the Dr.
The Process of Finding the Cancer
I told my Dr. about it, and she gave me an ultrasound and found lumps. From there, she sent me to a throat specialist. He gave me nuclear scans to verify the lumps, and to see whether my thyroids were functioning or not. If they were not, that meant it could be cancer. The results showed the left thyroid was not functioning. He wanted to take a biopsy, but I decided to take the thyroid out right away. The reason I decided this was my fear of choking again, and the biopsy is not always accurate when it comes to diagnosing thyroid cancer. It is accurate once they do the surgery and, cut out a piece of the thyroid for the lab however. Well, after he removed the left side of my thyroid, he sent it to the lab for testing. It came back cancer. That meant he had to go back and check the right thyroid and remove it. On this second thyroid, he found one cancer of one centimeter. Afterwords, I took a low dose radiation pill of 29 units.
The surgeries were bearable. However, the second one was a little difficult for me, because I did not have any hormones left. I went through temporary depression with horrible mood swings. I was yelling at everyone, then crying the next minute. I suffered emotional lability. After the surgery, a person has to take it easy for 2-6 weeks. A couple of days after surgery I felt fine physically. The mood changes only happened after the second surgery which lasted maybe a week and a half. As for as the radiation side effects, I had one severe migraine which sent me to the emergency room with severe nausea. They gave me a shot for the pain and nausea, and sent me home with medication. They gave me another CT scan to check if there were any more cancer cells. The CT scan out fine. I slept that day and, never had another problem like that since. All of these problems were only temporary thankfully.
What Saved Me
I'm just lucky I only had stage one. I believe I caught the cancer early, since I noticed changes in my body, and researched the symptoms. Then I took charge of my care, and was able to help the Dr.s help me as a team. It is very important to find cancer as early as possible. That can save your life. Although, I did not think I could, I quit smoking. I hope you find this information helpful, and wish you all the best in your journey. Remember to stay positive.
