(no subject)

[serene]

It's not the best news I could've gotten, nor the worst. There was some cancer in the tumor that was removed, but it was very small (the doc called it "microscopic", but I'm able to see 2mm with the bare eye, so anyway), and it was clearly all taken out with the tumor. The surgeon recommends that I go on thyroid meds so that the half of my thyroid that remains will shut itself down. He thinks that taking it out surgically is overkill, and either way, I'll have to take thyroid meds forever. I'm leaning toward taking his recommendation, but it bums me out a lot. Not oh-my-god-freakout, just bummed.

Comments

[kightp.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

*hugsback* Thanks, dearheart.

[baerana.livejournal.com]

bummed because it means medication for the rest of your life?

as for "some cancer" in the tumor... I'm unclear on this. This means some malignancy?

*hugs*
i'm just glad you are ok :)

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Bummed because they didn't say "Nope, no cancer, don't call us, we'll call you." Bummed because I will have to take medication for the rest of my life, and I don't even like to take aspirin. Bummed because my healthy body has become an unhealthy one.

And yes, most of the tumor was benign, but there was a very small clump of cancer cells in it. Most thyroid tumors aren't cancer.

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's all a bummer for sure. I hope that they did in fact get it ALL with no questions and no recurrences. Certainly being on Thyroid for the rest of your life is not precisely desirable, but it's also by no means the worst thing in the world. I hope you can adjust soon to whatever you and your doc decide is the best course of actions.

Congrats on getting through all of this as well as can be, and good luck on a speedy recovery!

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

I was deeply bummed when they put me on thyroid medication, maybe three years ago now. I DID NOT WANT to take daily medication. Oh, no, not me.

Now it's second nature, and when I think about it, I think how lucky I am that that's all I take. (Not to say that you will ever feel either of these ways. Just a datapoint. With many hugs.)

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Oh, I already feel grateful. I told James yesterday, "I'm certainly not one of those western-medicine-sucks people, and I'm really glad they have something low-risk that will help me avoid cancer, but I'm just bummed." Y'know?

But now, I'm not as bummed. Mostly resigned, and feeling like being sweet to myself for a few days. This is me refusing to do anything I don't want to do for a while. :-)

[mackenzie]

*many hugs and much love*

(My typing has gotten worse since comment editing became a possibility)

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Yay, my first edited comment. ;-)

Thanks, sweetie.

[bayarts.livejournal.com]

Don't be discouraged, sweet friend. The scientific medicos are making progress with each passing day. What looks like a life long commitment to taking meds might not end up that way, so just do what you need for now and hope for the best in the future. I'm sorry you're bummed, but so thankful that your doctors caught the cancer when they did and that you're going to be ok now.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thanks, sweet thing.

[mamagotcha.livejournal.com]

What she said!

More hugs headed atcha...

[cerulean-me.livejournal.com]

Oh sweetie!! *HUG*

I'm glad the news isn't awful, but I'm bummed for you. Being med dependent blows chunks.

If you need a hug, or some company let me know!

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[karenthecroccy.livejournal.com]

*hugs* if you'll have them.

[zpdiduda.livejournal.com]

Well, fuck.

(((hugs)))

I'm med-dependent too, and it pisses me off. But I'm glad the meds exist and that I can take them.

I'm glad they got it all, but sorry you've had to go through this.

(((more hugs)))

[jb98.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad they got it all! *gentle loving hugz*

I totally get the bummed thing, but I know you will be your joyous, Serene self again as soon as you work through it. I'm thinking of you.

[cassidyrose.livejournal.com]

Well, shit. I am so glad you got the tumor removed. Sorry abut the med thing--I know that sucks and it sucks that they couldn't give you a 100% all clear.

I am so glad they got it all.

Thinking of you.

[nitoda]

Glad you were able to go ahead with the surgery and that they were able to get all the bad cells. Hope you and your GP will work out a regime that works for you and you can get back to feeling healthy real soon. Having to take meds does not necessarily, in my book, rule out being healthy. Just makes for more luggage to cart around whenever you go away! ::hugs::

[dryadgrl]

I think I'd like to take the tact of asm uch celebration as possible. Yeah it's not great news, but you deserve to be well an healthy and the celebration would be that you've come through surgery! yay!
And that people love you so much!
Yay!

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

I'm celebrating for yah! Really, from my POV, this is very good news. Not the absolute best, but right near there.

I understand about the "OMG my body is breaking down" aspect of having to take any daily medication, but, sadly, we all have to go through that if we're lucky enough to live a long time. The meds to destroy the thyroid are a bigger deal emotionally, too, but then that's over. (Avedon Carol had to do that and reported on it.) However, my thyroid decided to destroy itself (Hashimoto's disease, autoimmune), and I've been on thyroxin for decades, and it is probably the most innocuous meds to be on. Not even stomach problems like from aspirin; and it's very easy to tell the dose you need with a TSH test, so no annoying titration.

*hugs*

[haleth.livejournal.com]

*hugs* and eek! but yay, glad it was tiny and they got it all.

*hugs more*

[fluffthebunny.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

Autonomy's a good thing, but we all sometimes need a little help to preserve our quality of life.

That help can come in many forms... Sometimes it comes in the form of levothyroxine.

Between my own hypertension, hyperlipids, asthma, and overcoming previous testosterone-poisoning, I'm quite med-dependent... and fairly recently so.

It's easy to forget what "normal" is supposed to feel like, but it's hard to forget the moment you reclaim normalcy.

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear about the medication for life - that sucks. But I'm glad you and they are taking care of your health.

[supergee.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[beth47.livejournal.com]

[more hugs offered]

[elissaann.livejournal.com]

Hugs. I'm glad the malignancy was small, and that it's out. The most important thing is that you are going to be okay. Bummer about the medication.

[deakat]

*hugs* (if I may be so bold)

Echoing others, I'm glad that they got it all, and that the doc doesn't recommend having to go back in for more. I'm with you on being med-dependent for life... it gets me down sometimes, but it's what I have to do, and I'm glad that it's an option.

[tigerbunny-db.livejournal.com]

My mom's been on thyroid for similar reasons since she was our age, and it hasn't changed her life a bit, except for the part where she's not sick because her thyroid's not working right.

Bummer that it wasn't all-clear, but in the "getting older, body starting to not work right" sweepstakes, you could do a lot worse.

[tesseract26.livejournal.com]

*hugs* i'm so, so glad it wasn't worse, but sorry you're bummed. another "with you on the med-dependent for life" from me. i am generally healthy, it's just that there's This One Thing i always have to keep an eye on. i've had to learn to think of healthy as a continuum rather than a boolean state. if i'm doing good things for myself, including taking my meds, i stay on the side of the continuum that i prefer.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

i have been on meds for life since i was sixteen (this is not me looking for sympathy) so while i can intellectually understand that it bums you out i am having a hard time thinking of anything to say about it.

so instead, i will say something cheerful about thyroid meds. cheap! totally cheap! nearly free! i think that levoxyl (the one i'm on) is on target's $4 a month list! woo! also, a very tiny pill, very easy to swallow. and depending on what manufacturer you get it comes in interesting colors. most frequently yellow, sometimes other colors.

also, yay only a weensy smidge of cancer. would that it were weensier, but weensy and they got it all, we'll settle for.

*hug*

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

Wow, everybody's said so many smart things! I could see why you'd be bummed out about this news, but I am VERY VERY GLAD that everything malignant was taken out with the tumor.

[marci-ny.livejournal.com]

Thinking of you!! (((Hugs)))

[gramina.livejournal.com]

*Yay& for the "all-gone!!" I'm sorry about the thyroid damage and meds, and I do get it about the mixed feelings, but from *my* perspective, it's very much on the yay side!

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

Yikes. I'm glad to hear that they got it out, small or not. That stuff is invasive like shasta daisies, sometimes.

I'm sorry that you may have to take thyroid meds for life, but know that you are not alone in this and many around you have thyroid conditions -- and can offer you any support if needed.

I've been on Synthroid since 1995, when I first had depression, and was given blood tests in the hospital at 5:30 am or so every morning for a few days to determine that having hypothroidism was a major factor contributing to my depression.

The Synthroid helped. Sometimes throwing pills at a problem does make it go away. From what I can determine, this health problem is genetic and I just have to live with it, anyway.

Good luck, and let me know if you need support/have questions around this condition.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

I'm glad they got it out. Thinking of you!

[pameladean]

Wow, I'm sure glad you were able to have the surgery while the bad part was still small.

I'm on medication for life too, and it upsets me still to some degree, but I just have to consider the alternative. Mostly it's just a routine thing, and occasionally it becomes an annoying thing if I lose track. I'm lucky in that I didn't have to take daily meds until I was almost menopausal, and the usual level of annoyance is about the same as I used to get trying to remember to keep tampons in the house and in my bag and so on. I think I'm less organized than you are, too, so I bet it will settle in pretty soon.

P.

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

I think all that would leave anybody feeling kind of shaken up, but I'm very glad you and your medical people are so on the ball about this and taking care of it. You are one person who definitely knows how to enjoy life and appreciate all the good things they have, so I'm sure you'll be feeling unbummed pretty quickly. And yay for the successful surgery!

[clever-doberman.livejournal.com]

more love here for you

knowing that you will adjust to taking a daily med doesn't make it any easier to accept. most of us face this at one point or another, and I'm so grateful that the pills I take are available, but each of us has to walk thru those doors that lock behind us on our own terms.

now for some more love.................

[hnybny.livejournal.com]

Its out and you have the honest truth. Now you no what to do and look out for. *Hugs* hon, I'm thinking of you.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I can see what you mean about being bummed out but it also not being the worst possible news. For me, I'm just glad that you're still here.

[firecat]

I'm glad you don't need any more surgery and your thyroid is now cancer free.

[phantom_wolfboy]

Yeah, it ain't exactly good news, and having to take medication just to keep things normal is a downer, but it could have been so much worse. I join the others in being glad that you're over-all okay (and doubtless, in parts, excellent).

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

yeah, that's definitely mixed news. *sigh*. sucks that there was cancer at all. but glad they got it all, that's for sure. and taking meds for the rest of one's life -- so with you on that, even after having done it already for 10+ years. bums me out still occasionally.

but, alive, and tumour-free. good things. :) *hugs and sympathy*.

[gloriajn.livejournal.com]

I'm just glad you're okay, Sweetie.