Answered Prayers! No Lymphoma or Thyroid Cancer!

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I have good news! Our prayers were answered! There is no lymphoma or thyroid cancer in my body!

(That, and I lost 6 pounds from yesterday – or maybe it’s just the difference in doctor’s scales…whatever it is, don’t steal my joy!)

It’s no secret that I was quite downhearted after yesterday. While I completely appreciated my visit with Dr. Forbes, I was upset that I had to undergo another biopsy. He recommended Dr. John Interlandi, who we learned later to be one of the top 50 Endocrinology doctors in the country specializing in thyroid issues.

That helped…a little.

From the minute we stepped in his office, the staff was delightful and warm, which set me at ease. The first thing they did when they took me back (after learning of my encouraging weight loss) was to take more ultrasound pictures. I wasn’t aware that we’d be doing this, but I was up for anything that kept me away from needles that much longer.

By the time the doctor came back to us, more than an hour after getting there, he announced confidently, “You don’t need a biopsy.”

Ricky and I started at each other, absolutely stunned.

He proceeded with the normal intake questions, as well as asking what led me to this point, which led him back to his initial statement, “You don’t have lymphoma. You have an almost textbook case of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. You don’t need a biopsy today.”

Of course we were thrilled!!!! But I was also cautious….

“Why would someone even suggest I had lymphoma, or that I should have surgery to have a mass removed, if it’s this obvious to you???” was all I could muster.

“If he had seen an ultrasound, he would have been able to tell that.”

But the thing was the doctor that did the biopsy did so as a result of an ultrasound, and actually performed the biopsy WHILE using an ultrasound machine!!!

Anger does not begin to describe how I felt.

Not only have I spent a lot of time and money (and energy!) going to the initial ENT, who then referred me to a separate hospital for a blood draw, another imaging center for my ultrasound and then yet another endocrinologist for the biopsy – BUT THEY WERE WRONG!!!
(I could have had all these things done in Dr. Interlandi’s office in one visit!)

Let me stop here to caution you on who you decide to trust your health and your body to. I don’t often (if ever) gripe about companies on here just because I have a negative experience, but I feel strongly against letting this happen to anyone else. This debacle started at Cool Springs ENT (who I learned about from Dave Ramsey’s radio show and was intrigued because they said, “You won’t leave until you have a diagnosis!”). Dr. Kryar, who performed the first biopsy, has an office in Columbia, TN, but works in the Cool Springs ENT office one day a week – though the whole time he seemed dissatisfied that he didn’t have his typical office surroundings (SO DON’T AGREE TO PARTNER WITH THIS OFFICE was all I could think!).
*I won’t go into details, but my disappointment with this collective group of doctors and support staff is immense. You can message me if you want more info….

So before today, I was told I had a large nodule on the left side of my thryoid whose cells resembled lymphoma; I could opt to have the mass removed now or undergo a second biopsy to ascertain whether it was Hashimoto’s or lymphoma.

Today, I learned that there are multiple lymphpocytes in my neck, but that is typical of Hashimoto’s. Cancer nodules typically have multiple blood vessels in and around them; mine had one. This nodule was not even touching my thyroid, which obviously meant it can’t be thyroid cancer.

Again, I wondered how and/or why a doctor would even suggest such a severe diagnosis. Dr. Interlandi explained that when there are cells of similar size, it can be indicative of cancer, but that the ultrasound alone should have ruled that out.

So here I am, exhausted yet exhilarated.

Make no mistake, my thyroid is far from healthy. In fact, I can’t count on both hands the number of times the doctor used the phrase “Thyroid Failure”. And don’t even get me started on what happened when I mentioned I had been taking kelp supplements (but you can read about it here – what I thought was helpful could have been deadly!)

I have a feeling it’s still a long road ahead. I’m still going to stick with my elimination diet and lifestyle change and of course keep in close contact with these two wonderful doctors I’ve found this week. I’m sure there are still many blood tests, ultrasounds and adjustments in my near future, but I can handle it.

After all, I’ve got you to ride the wave with 🙂