Honestly, there's not much to it.
When I was pregnant with my first in 2005, the NP commented on how large my thyroid was. They did some tests but it all came back normal. I was advised to watch it. 20% of enlarged thyroids have no known cause. We all figured that was the case with me especially since there's NO history of thyroid cancer in my family; and the only cancers can be directly attributed to smoking.
Fast forward to 2008. I was admiring my humongous lymph nodes during a really nasty bout of strep throat and realized that the thyroid had grown. I went to my doc, we did the blood tests. We did the biopsy. I got the call....while I was driving. That was a little freaky.
Less than 2 months after the diagnosis I had my surgery. About 5 weeks after that, I became Nuclear Girl for a few days (radioiodine treatment to zap any remaining thyroid tissue). And that's all she wrote.
My particular flavor of thyroid cancer is relatively easy to treat. More like an acute infection than cancer. I am extremely thankful for that.
The real excitement was about 6 weeks after my radioiodine treatment. The RI is offered in a nasty drink, so it travels through the digestive system and most is excreted via the bladder. The bladder sits directly next to the reproductive organs, so they have to make sure the patient isn't pregnant; don't want the developing kiddo getting zapped with all sorts of weird stuff. And they advise avoiding pregnancy for 6 months. (Two would probably be safe for most people, but there are a lot of factors, so they err on the side of caution.) Me? I get pregnant somewhere between a week and 10 days after the treatment. Yee-haw. Saddle up. We're going for a ride.
The first few months were a little crazy. But what could I do? About 4 months into it, I decided to stop worry about it. 9 months after the horrific discovery, I give birth to an offensive lineman weighing in at 9lb10oz and 21 3/4" long. We joke the radioactivity made him freakishly big and strong.
Little bit o' irony. Eli's due date was the 1 year anniversary of the date I got the call. Thankfully he had the good sense to be late.
Now, I am just tethered to synthetic hormone for the rest of my life and yearly or so blood tests to make sure the hormone levels are good. Next year, I'll probably have to do a body scan to check for any cancer cells.
Otherwise, I'm as rotten as I ever was. All the better to haunt INGO, eh?
Always like the "easy" to treat. I know compared to others it might be easier, but I know I have been through a lot as well. And Stupid equipment, I was radiated for a month, and never got any super powers either
