In early December, I was told after an ultrasound of my thyroid at the Oklahoma Heart Institute that “this is a big mess”. The doctor speculated “a 50% chance it may be cancer”. He was aware of my uterine cancer diagnosis. He (an endocrinologist) went on to suggest surgery, and informed me he would discuss it with my endocrinologist.
January came, and no one called. So I called, and left a message concerning his conference with my endocrinologist. About 4 or 5 days later, I received a call back. The endocrinologist’s office expressed the doctor would like to perform a biopsy. Well, I had a biopsy in late May, and wondered if it was sufficient. They said to send the report, so I called the office at OU Physicians were I took the biopsy, and the person said they would fax the report over within 48 hours. The report revealed no cancer.
Two weeks passed by, and I heard nothing from Oklahoma Heart. I called, and they told me they never got the biopsy report. I drove 60 miles to go to the place were the biopsy was performed, got the report, and hand delivered it to Oklahoma Heart Institute. The biopsy report proved insufficient.
A couple of weeks ago I saw my endocrinologist. The doctor she consulted with still wants to perform another biopsy and still prefers surgery as opposed to radioactive iodine ablation. The only confirmed diagnosis at this point, is hyperthyroidism and a multi-nodular goiter. Now, keep in mind, I was told because of the amount of nodules I had, the size of the goiter, that I had a 50% probability of something being cancerous. If this is a true concern, why is it heading towards March, and no action has been initiated? I called their office today, and they have scheduled a biopsy for the last day of April!
Why, who gives a rip it may be cancer? Why even tell me that—for the matter, even believe a great potential for a cancer diagnosis; and not take action from the point of early December to late April? In essence, it would be five months later from the time it was expressed to me the thyroid had a 50% probability of being cancer.
Five months.
I personally rather the ablation, as I have not recovered from a craniotomy I had last year at St. John’s. However, if it is cancer, I would not hesitate to go through surgery. But the indifferent behavior from the doctor who did the ultrasound, and the slow movement in addressing this issue, has me really wondering do they even believe what they are saying.
Surely, the type of insurance (Medicare/Medicaid) must be one pertinent variable. Also, how about the general insensitivity towards patients which has come to characterize so many medical institutions and professionals today? What if it were someone in their family or a close friend? How then would the logistics towards setting up testing and treatment differ–with new found flexibility! Even for someone with lousy insurance.
The past several months, since September, I have also been experiencing new types of pain, extreme pain all over my body. In May, a lab revealed lymphocytes are down and my platelet count has gradually become lower. It is now borderline to being too low. I am still having trouble getting the testing I need at the OU Schusterman Clinic. I saw my primary last week who ordered no further testing, although she did a CBC the month before. She never got my lab report back from St. John’s in Tulsa, so I mailed it to her. I mentioned being assessed for Leukemia, Lupus, and osteoporosis; but to date, no further action has been taken. She has requested reports from doctors I am seeing and provided me with a form to release data. I always assumed such information was being sent to the clinic all along.
Good grief. Sadly, I know a lot of you out there, identify with some of the things I have been writing about.
