Posted 9/1/2013 8:36 AM (GMT -8)
New Post here with lots of concerns and questions!
Medical History:
I’ll be 52 in a couple months. Long time smoker, bad disc in my back, gall bladder removed about 7 year’s ago, partial hysterectomy due to prolapsed uterus and Very heavy, painful, irregular periods about 5-6 years ago. I’ve had “cold sores” (herpes simplex 1 I think it’s called) my whole life but none for Year’s until two weeks ago, had years of infertility after premature (abruptio placenta) birth of first/only child, have been diagnosed with depression, anxiety attacks, fibromyalgia , about 5 years ago I lost somewhere between 25-30 pounds relatively easy- wasn’t really trying, and over the last year have gained most of that back without any significant changes in appetite or activity levels except that I have had a little less energy, I’m tired All the time, at least 3 nights a week I cannot go to sleep, or if I do- I wake up sometimes from very odd dreams off and on All night long, my S.O. tells me that I’m snoring a lot more and a lot louder than before, I’m thirsty All the time (sugar has been tested and is fine), my temperature “comfort zone” has changed- I just can’t stand to be hot anymore… I sweat profusely now and am just miserable once I “get hot” but at the same time, if it cools down “to far” (temp of house goes from say 74 down to 70) I shiver and shake like I’m in the middle of a snow storm naked, in the time it’s taken to type Just This much my left little finger is just about “dead” numb, and my whole hand will be soon if I don’t “shake it awake”, my neck and shoulders hurt so much lately that I’ve had all my hair cut off because it just hurt too much to wash it and keep it brushed- while it hasn’t thinned much, I seem to be losing a Lot more hair than normal, the top half of my eyelids have drooped, dropped, whatever you call it to the point that I look sleepy All the time- I quit wearing makeup because of it, my eyes itch a lot and I’ve noticed myself rubbing them a lot more lately, my throat consistently feels like I’ve got some heavy sinus drainage, at my last physical my cholesterol had jumped up enough that the doc told me to retest in 3 months- if it had climbed any he wanted to, and did when I retested prescribe Lipitor (low dose) that I just could not bring myself to take- the pain med’s for my back already work my liver over and with the horror stories on TV about it, I just didn’t want to take it, also in the blood work my vit D was low enough the Dr prescribed some (1 a week for I think 8 weeks) and he noted that my red corpuscles were larger than normal, skin tone looks kind of odd on my neck- the part where the esophagus is has no red patch, but both sides almost all the way around to where my ears are has what looks like almost big freckle patches- I’m not real sure how long it’s been this way since I’ve quit wearing makeup I don’t really pay that much attention, but I’d definitely have noticed it when applying foundation- it’s nowhere near the same “shade” as the rest of my face, I catch myself “staring off into the distance quite a lot lately, and when I go to blink, sometimes one eye doesn’t seem to blink as quick as it should- like it needs WD40 or something and for about the last week or so NOTHING tastes right- my morning coffee tastes burnt, eggs are absolutely hideous, everything tastes…. Like I think burnt plastic would taste. I’m STARVING, but nothing tastes good. My ears ring So Much ALL THE TIME now that I asked my pc if there was something he could give me for it- he said no. This ringing is so loud that I have to have the television up rather loud to hear it, I have trouble hearing phone conversations, and I ask people to repeat themselves quite often.
My Grandmother had a Goiter- I have no idea of what kind, I was very young, but I do remember that she had to have it removed, there was a thin long scar just above her collar bone at the base of her neck.
I think I remember my mother (deceased COPD, emphysema, steroid induced diabetes, had to wear a medical alert bracelet due to Low temp- hers was like 2 degrees below “normal” for her normal, she took prescription Vitamins (think it was Max-L or something like that) to try and gain weight to no avail)
My youngest brother was diagnosed with some form of MS about a year ago, he’s had terrible eyesight his whole life and his eyes bulge a little.
My sister, also younger than me, has Very Thin hair now- was thick as thieves when she was young, almost bald on top now, stays tired all the time, hysterectomy due to Endometriosis at 35, diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel.
I know nothing about my father’s side of the family- divorced and out of the picture since I was 2 years old. My siblings have a different father.
I’ve said all the above to get to this:
My “back doctor” ordered MRI on the disc in my lower back and a cervical one to see if something else was going on there- I’d been having significant problems with shoulder pain and neck pain, and rather than just the “bad spot” in my back, both hips had been hurting a Lot and I was getting leg & feet cramps so often that he’s now prescribed a muscle relaxer twice a day.
The MRI showed “nodules” on my thyroid and he is sending me for FNA which I’m lucky enough that I only had to wait about a week- it’s this coming Thursday at 10am.
Questions:
1. What should I expect?
2. What can the Doctor/surgeon whatever tell me At Time of Procedure?
3. What of the above is relevant to tell them?
4. Any warning signs/terminology to listen for, ask about?
I apologize for such a lengthy post, but I’m scared to death, and don’t know what’s important and what’s not. The first thing that I did was research the internet for “Thyroid Nodules” and was at once relieved and scared at the same time! I suppose that sometimes too much info is as bad as not enough!
I might also add that in way of symptoms- as a student I had almost a “photographic” memory…. Now- I can’t remember Anything- the year my mother died, how old my daughter is without thinking about it, how old my dog is- that I had to help deliver! My spelling is atrocious anymore, I forget appointments all the time, forget Words a lot…. It’s pitiful! Most of all of this I’ve put down to getting older, not “using it so I’m losing it” handwriting sucks- ‘cause I’m getting older, not writing as much, etc etc etc. To me in retrospect however- most of the above points to a thyroid with problems….. or am I just “going over board” or “blowing it out of proportion” *sigh* what to do, what to do….