What a PAIN in the neck

Hello everyone, my names Jess and I’m raising money for the butterfly thyroid cancer trust.

At 29 I had to have a hysterectomy, fast forward a couple of months and I started to feel unwell, lethargic, brain fog, body aches, tiredness and I had no interest in doing anything, all I wanted to do was sleep. I rang the docs and they said it sounds menopausal but I should come in to see a doctor. My appointment was with a lovely student doctor who listened to everything I was saying and he told me it sounded like my thyroid was playing up so I would need two lots of bloods.

The student had to confirm this with a doctor, the doctor said I didn’t need two lots of bloods only the one to check the thyroid. As the doctor left, the student doctor said to me, what’s just happened is bad practice and they aren’t doing it by the book, for your thyroid you need two lots of bloods doing to see the full extent. (Forever thankful to the student!)

fast forward a couple of weeks, I ended up with the two lots of bloods which showed I had antibodies attacking my thyroid. This then led to scans & aspiration tests. The scan showed I had a T3 nodule on my left side & the aspiration test came back with cancerous cells. Due to the results I then had to have surgery to remove the nodule on my left side. I then waited three weeks to see what the result of the nodule would be, turns out I had cancer. Thyroid cancer.

The first question I asked ‘am I going to die, I have three children at home who need me.’ the thoughts race through your mind & your left to deal with the what ifs…

Whilst I had this lot going on my mum was poorly with a condition called Subglottic stenosis, which means without reconstructive throat surgery and monthly steroid injections into her throat she wouldn’t be here now, as her air way would of closed.

Alongside this, my mum then had a lump that continued to grow on her thyroid, this then led to scans which showed mum had a T3 nodule on her right side but they thought it was benign.

However, mum had to have the lump removed as it continued to grow which was causing pain and discomfort. Mums surgery was on the 11th December and we got her results back on the 17th Jan, unfortunately mums came back as cancer to.

Together we would love to raise as much awareness as possible but also to raise money for the butterfly thyroid cancer trust as this sits very close to our hearts.

Everyone has a butterfly in their throat worth fighting for.

let’s start taking care of the necks generation by raising as much awareness as we can as cancer has no age or limits.

Thankyou so much to anyone reading my story.

I wish you all the best

Jessica x