Ok, where did I leave off? Oh yea, I left Dr. Wang’s office thinking “Great! he’s not worried and he may not even want to do a biopsy! I have nothing to worry about!”
I walked out of the little exam room and went over to schedule a possible biopsy- just in case.
My biopsy was scheduled for 3 weeks out- October 2, 2013. I really didn’t think I had anything to worry about. The following Wednesday we had our annual health insurance meeting and AFLAC was there like always. The AFLAC rep went over all kinds of crap that I usually don’t pay any attention to- but, when she went over the short term disability I thought “hhhmm, I should look into that.” I made an appointment with the rep for later that day.
During my appointment she informed me that because I had already had an ultrasound that the short term disability would not cover this situation- unless I waited a whole year to do anything else. In my mind I thought well I don’t have cancer but I should sign up anyway.
If you don’t have any short term disability now- SIGN UP FOR IT! Life is unpredictable! And if you are like me- live in boyfriend, no savings, and already used my vacation up- then I recommend you work on at least a savings account!
In the meantime, Dr. Wang did not call to cancel my biopsy. My boyfriend had to work the day of the procedure, so, his sister-in-law took me to the appointment.
This is what I knew about how the biopsy would go down before I got there: they take 5 very small needles and put them into my thyroid to get samples of my nodule. They only use 2 out of the 5 samples right away just in case option 3 occurs. I had 4 options of results- only one of them good.
1) They didn’t get enough cells and have to do it again. They would tell me this over the phone and schedule another biopsy.
2) It’s not cancer (which they would not tell me over the phone). I would find this out via appointment after at least 7 days.
3) It doesn’t show regular cancer cells but it doesn’t show regular thyroid cells either. When this happens they take those extra 3 samples and send them to a lab where they do a molecular test on them to see if there are any deformities on the cellular level. This test adds 2 more weeks to the process.
4) Cancer- same thing as option 2: wont tell me over the phone and I find out in about 7 days.
The Biopsy:
So, I was anxious about having this done so Dr. Wang gave me an Rx to relax me the day of the procedure- which I am SOOO glad he did!
This is how the actual biopsy went down-
I showed up with my future sister-in-law but they would not let her come back with me. The nurse led me back to a little room and put some topical numbing stuff on my throat. I laid down on the table and Dr. Wang came in and said “the first one is the worst because you don’t know what to expect. After that you will realize that it’s no big deal and relax.” Ok, let me just say that that is a load of crap!
I laid there while the nurse got the ultrasound machine ready and the Dr. got the GIANT, albeit skinny, needles ready. Now keep in mind that the ONLY numbing I received was topical! He poked around and I thought “oh man this is ok!” I said “are we done?” His response- “No, that was just the pen marking where I am going to go in.” Ok, I felt like a dumb ass! I was thinking ok 5 needles in and out. He puts something in the base of my throat that hurt a just bit more than a little at first. He’s pulling something in and out and telling the nurse to take ultrasound pictures. It feels like he’s scrapping and jostling around in there for about 15 minutes- which it was actually 15 minutes. When he pulls that out I thought maybe he inserted something and then put the needles through that- they only use one inserted needle for getting blood right. When he’s finished with that one I looked up and said “great now we’re done right?” The nurse looked at me and said “Oh no, honey- that was only the first one.” THE FIRST ONE! I have to do this 4 more times!!! I took a deep breath and focused on a small spot in the ceiling. Now something for you all to consider- I was not numb for long and only on the top of my skin, when they had the needles in my throat I couldn’t swallow or talk and it was hard to breathe. Here comes the second needle- Oh Shit! I am no longer numb! Another 15 minutes of what I would consider torture and Dr. Wang looks at me and says “now that wasn’t so bad right?” I looked back up at him and said “I am no longer numb and it hurts. Also, I did not expect you to be moving around so much in there.” He looked at me like ‘what did you expect’ and said “well I have to break up the cells.” I laid there in pain for an hour while he jabbed 5 needles in my throat, scraping each one up and down and in and out! Word of advice: DEMAND a numbing shot!
I left there wanting nothing more than to cry! I went back to my future sister-in-laws house and relaxed until the drugs wore off. Then I headed to a good friends house to have a drink!
Now, this is where I got really stupid!
I left my friends house and headed home- stopping off to get a very large bottle of wine. When I got home I had a couple glasses of wine and (what else was I going to do- watch a movie?) started Googling. I continued to drink and Google until I got the bright idea in my head- “hey, I already had the biopsy done. Now that is over I can go ahead and Google that!” BAD, BAD, BAD! Idea! I now call this droogling! Drunk Googling! We have all done it- don’t lie!
My poor boyfriend walked in to me sitting at the dining room table, on YouTube, watching videos about thyroid cancer! I had gotten myself to full blown, hysterical, snot running down my face, crying! Now, if you know me you know that I actually don’t cry very often and when I do I prefer it to be by myself. Needless to say, my boyfriend did not know what to do. He held me until I calmed down- like the amazing boyfriend that he is.
Now it was time to wait…
My Fight with thyroid cancer 