My Health

Tonight's post is a post about me. It's an outlet of some new, overwhelming feelings that I've been faced with today. For 15 years, I've been living with what I thought was just hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid. If you've been reading for awhile, you know that Reece's pediatrician was also my pediatrician. Several months ago, he made the remark that he remembered me having Hashimoto's Disease and how severe it was. That was the first I had heard of it until today. This afternoon, I had a check-up with Dr. Evans, the endocrinologist who diagnosed me when I was 12 years old. For the past couple of annual visits, he has been watching my thyroid gland as it seemed to be getting larger. Well, today, he really felt my neck for a long time and told me that the left side of my thyroid was a good bit larger than the right. OK. Well, what he told me next was not expected. He said that he would like for me to come back on October 1 for an ultrasound. He believes that I have a nodule on my thyroid and with Hashimoto's (only the 2nd time I had heard this in reference to my problems) you are at a higher risk for the nodule to be malignant. If the u/s does show a nodule, he will do a biopsy with a fine needle to determine if it is or is not malignant. We are claiming that it is a benign nodule that will only need to be watched. I am scared to death, though, and a little disheartened. After doing research on the internet, I found that Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease in which my immune system is attacking my thyroid gland. I have always taken my medicine religiously since the day I found out I had an underactive thyroid, but after reading some things online, not all of the symptoms go away with medicine. For a few years now, I find myself very fatigued and forgetful. I've been so frustrated because I am only 27 years old, and I sometimes can't function during the day. I strive to be hard-working and can't stand the thought of someone viewing me as "lazy." Some days, though, I just don't feel like my body can do anything. The two other doctors I see have just brushed it off as not only being a mom of a toddler but of a toddler with special needs. I believed them, but deep down I knew something was just not right. I would get these deep aches in my muscles where I could barely move. I was put on Lexapro, and that did help the aches but not the fatigue. Now, I am somewhat discouraged as there does not seem to be a "fix" to feeling better with this disease. I am a little relieved now that I know I'm not crazy and not imagining the way I feel. I don't like to talk about myself, but I do believe in the power of prayer. So, I'm asking all of you to pray for me as I undergo this testing. Pray for a benign nodule. I just can't think the worst. I have to stay healthy for my little boy. He needs me.

With love,

Beth

To read more about Hashimoto's disease, you can click here.

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis