Parathyroid Update

Can't believe it was more than three weeks ago when I wrote that last entry! Time flies...

Since I posted that, we had a visitor for a couple of weeks (D's friend), Mal's school finished up, and temperatures are letting us know that summer is on its way.

I also did go see both my endocrinologist as well as the endocrinology surgeon. The endocrinologist was very empathetic about my frustration and said that she has concerns about medical care in Austin. There are just more people than there are doctors to meet the need. She said, "I'm here every day..." and then told me to come back in 4 months, but then the first available appointment was in 6 months. She did add to my notes that I was frustrated with how long this process is taking.

Then a bit later, I went to see the surgeon. She asked to ultrasound my neck, and immediately asked, "Has anyone told you that you have Hashimoto's disease?" I told her that I had not gotten that diagnosis, and she said that just based on what my thyroid looks like, she's pretty sure that I have it. She did an u/s on herself and showed me what a "normal" thyroid gland looks like compared to mine (it all looks like TV static to me, but I trusted her), and then she sent me off with lab orders to check some thyroid antibodies that would support her hypothesis.

I did the bloodwork and have a final different kind of scan scheduled for a week from today. The bloodwork came back... well, I have Hashimoto's.

I feel SO lucky. I know people who have Hashimoto's, and they often suffered for YEARS before getting a diagnosis. As far as I know, I'm asymptomatic, though the surgeon said that it was possible that I'd been having slow-onset symptoms and they're just normalized.

She did mention that I might feel better after surgery when my calcium level is corrected, and I might not feel any different at all. But that you get parathyroid surgery for the long-run, to avoid bigger problems down the road. So even if I don't feel magically more energetic, with no GERD, etc. that it's still the right move to avoid kidney damage and further bone loss.

My surgery is in two weeks, and I'm excited to get it over with!

Meanwhile, life goes on pretty normally...