Ten years ago, I had a lump growing on my neck. This lump started growing to the point where it felt very difficult to breathe. I was debating about drawing a face on this lump and calling it my second brain. :) However, the breathing got harder and harder to do. In the middle of this process, I was talking with a family doctor, who prescribed thyroid medicine in order to suppress the thyroid growth. Since my cysts were not cancerous, I wanted to try every route possible, and surgery was the last option. I tried having it killed by radioactive iodine, but my thyroid didn't absorb it all. Things just kept getting worse and worse with my breathing, so finally, the doctor referred me to an ear nose and throat surgeon. As time went on, surgery became the only option. I had my thyroid drained a couple of times, and both times the fluid refilled and I was back to where I started. As I talked to the surgeon about the surgery, I told him that I was a singer, and I told him that I would prefer him to be careful around the vocal chords. He was a very kind man, and I felt comfortable with the decision to go through this surgery.
The day of the surgery arrived, and before I was put under anesthesia, I asked my sweet husband to fill up the trash bins at home that we were paying for, because they were empty and they were going to be dumped that evening. He recruited some good friends to help him so that he could make it back in time to be there for me when I was done with the surgery.
I went out like a light with the anesthesia, and I recall having a traumatic, yet spiritual experience during a part of the surgery, where I woke up suffocating and in a panic. Fortunately, my mom was able to draw attention to me in distress and a nurse put a mask on me to put me under again. Once again I awoke, and I was being wheeled out to the recovery room. Dr. Davis, my surgeon came in, and told me how my surgery went well. He was fascinated by how my thyroid "ballooned up looking like grapes on a grapevine" and how my parathyroids were "like popped popcorn kernels instead of the nice jelly-bean shape" that they were supposed to be. He also left about 2 cm of thyroid on my right side, because it was ingrained in my vocal chords and he left it out of respect of my wishes. I was in the hospital over-night, and then released the next day to go home and recover for a week or two.
At my six week checkup, my thyroid had grown back! It had grown from a 2cm cyst to about 1 1/2 inches! My surgeon, Dr. Davis, was surprised! He had to check it again and again just to make sure he was correct. He told me that he would remove it a second time, and I told him I'd have to think it over. It took a couple of months before I decided to return to Dr. Davis's office to schedule the surgery again. I was not wanting to go through the same experience I did before when I woke up suffocating. However, my older sister, who had been through a thyroidectomy (thyroid surgery) before due to cancerous cysts, told me that it wasn't worth the risk of it growing back cancerous and having to get it removed anyway. So, there I was, walking into the office, ready to set up another appointment for another surgery. I told the receptionist that I wanted to set an appointment with Dr. Davis to get my thyroid removed and the receptionist's face turned pale. "Didn't you hear Dr. Davis died from a plane accident last week?...." To read his obituary, click here
I had no idea that had happened, but I was sure of one thing: My apprehension about having surgery was correct. I felt prompted to learn how to deal with this goiter instead of removing it. My thyroid continued to stabalize and my goiter shrank down as I tapered completely off of taking the thyroid medicine as instructed by my endocrinologist. Little did I know that I would be granted with The Lord's tender mercies for the next ten years...To read what happens next, click here
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