Hi,
Unless you're in the medical field, or you or someone you know has had (or currently has) some type of thyroid disease, it's likely you haven't heard about it. Did you even realize that your thyroid is the part of your body that keeps EVERY part of your body in balance? I didn't, until I was diagnosed with multinodular goiters about 6 years ago. The growths were only detected because I had an MRI of my neck because my bulging discs were pressing against my nerves again (I have an ongoing neck issue due to an accident many moons ago). But I digress. I was referred to a specialist, an endocrinologist. My thyroid was tested at that time, and the tested tissue was benign. Then, I had to go back to the endocrinologist once a year to get my thyroid rechecked. Each year, the multinodular goiters stayed the same shape and size, and I didn't seem to have any symptoms. Until this past year. The multinodular goiters doubled in size from the previous year. I also noticed that swallowing my 50+ multivitamin had become more difficult. There were also some other weird things that were happening to me, but I had chalked them up to getting older or stress. My endocrinologist referred me to a surgeon who specialized in endocrine surgeries. The surgeon said I needed to get a total thyroidectomy (removal of the whole organ). So, a surgery was scheduled for me in October. However, I got a new FT job in October, so I postponed to November. Then, I found out that I was going to still be in training for my new job in November, so I postponed my surgery to December. Today actually. However, my surgeon had to cancel my surgery literally right before I was going to be taken to the operating room. Apparently, there was a new rule for a specific kind of medicine that I was taking that pertained to me receiving anesthesia or not. Obviously, the or not occurred. That's my luck. Anyway, my surgery date has now been pushed back a month. Since I really started noticing weird things going on with me, which was around June, what I've since become aware of as symptoms have gotten worse and added on to. It's a long list, but some of the red flag symptoms are continued weight gain even when food is cut back and exercise is increased. Another red flag symptom is substantial hair loss (on head & body). One more red flag symptom is periodic swelling of face (including "puffy eyes"), neck, and hands. Again, my list is quite long now, so I could go on & on, but I won't. I encourage everyone to check out this organization for more information on tips to proactively keep your thyroid healthy, and to learn about other symptoms and signs of thyroid disease. Thyroid diseases and disorders can turn into cancer, so protect yourself and your loved ones by becoming knowledgeable about the thyroid. I wish someone talked to me more about this subject, and that I would have paid attention and listened to the warnings years ago. It's important, not just to me, but to yourself and to your loved ones to educate yourself and spread the information about the thyroid. Also, this nonprofit organization was created to help educate the public and the medical field, as well as raise funds in order to help educate, benefit research, and benefit the field of endocrinology. Please consider donating to my birthday fundraiser. Thank you in advance. Happy New Year!
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