It's A GLAND New Day....

(Sorry I am just now posting this - it's a tad stale - from a My Space post on 2/9/08)

I've been sicker than I've ever been the week of 2/4-8/08. I missed 2 days of work and slept the clock around. Ralph was starting to get worried, so I went into Urgent Care yesterday and SPECIFICALLY asked to see Dr H. He's 76 yrs old, former Military Doc, and he's the worker's comp Dr because the state respects him SO MUCH - he knows his doctor business, right?? So I got to spend 30 minutes going over EVERYTHING with him - and I mean EVERYTHING. The fatigue, no energy, the sweating buckets, no appetite, weight gain, sinus infections, being scared that my cancer was relapsing – EVERY. THING.

So he ordered a COMPLETE blood work up. They took FOUR of the huge vac-u-tainer vials at the lab - I thought they'd sucked me dry. And then I came home and went to bed about 1p. About 4p, I get a call back - it's Dr H's nurse.

She proceeds to tell me that my Red Blood Cells and White Blood Cells are GREAT - my glucose is on the money - everything else is wonderful...but apparently my THYROID quit working quite some time ago.

She said Dr H attributes the HYPOTHYROIDISM to the radiation therapy from 2004. And apparently this happened sometime after my last thyroid test in summer of 2005. So I started reading up on it & the symptoms and BINGO...that's been the problem all along.

So he started me on 2 meds yesterday: Synthroid for my thyroid and Sing-u-lair for my allergies. He said that all of the green crap I've been spewing is from allergies and my sinuses won't drain right (we already knew this) and that's where the bacterium builds up & infects; lay down at night and the infected mucus drains to my lungs. Also, he told me about how to "hot pack" my sinuses so they will drain and I am to use my Sinu-Cleanse pot every other day. That should keep me Greenie-Free.

The only drawback is that I will have to be on the Synthroid for the rest of my life. My Dad has hypothyroidism, too - they found his when he was 18 months old in 1950, so I guess I am somewhat predisposition to it - but Dr says that he still believes it's destruction of the gland from Radiation Therapy.

(2/17/08) And here I thought I was dying!!!! After being on the meds now for 10 days, I can tell what a difference they're making. I have energy now where I haven't had any for over a year. My outlook is a bit more optimistic and I have stamina that would rival an American Gladiator.

I'm just really bummed cuz Ralph and I were going to go to Flagstaff AZ that weekend for a pre-Valentine's Day get-a-way at a nice hotel up at the San Francisco Peaks and AZ Snow Bowl, however I was too sick to go. We've pushed the trip back to March, but we may end up moving it back YET AGAIN because a bunch of girls from the front office where I work are going to Vegas that weekend and I might have to work both days. I was also invited to Vegas, bu t we won't get into the hissy-fit my husband threw when I brought it up. Nope - best to let that alone for now.

But it's nice to know that my fears weren't in vain. Problem solved.