Monday, October 20, 2014

My Journey




Dear Friends,

I'm usually posting a poem or story on here and for once this is not the case. I've been wanting to write this for a long time but have been putting it off. My health issues prevents me from getting on here long at a time but I feel like this is long over due. First of all I'd like to thank each one of ya for the emails, cards and sweet messages ya'll have sent me and most of your prayers.. Ya'll mean so much to me and I cherish your friendship.

As most of ya already know I've been on a long journey this year and haven't been on here much. This journey started ten months ago and still ongoing. I've been to many doctors and had many tests and it took them till the first of August to find my problem. I've had Thyroid Disease for 22 years, Hypothyroidism, (Low) and all of my numbers were coming back good every time they checked them in my blood.
Back the end of July I was at my wit's end after being shuffled back and forth to many doctors and going to the ER four times with my Blood Pressure sky high that I finally.threw a hissy fit on my Primary Care doctor and told him I wanted him to check everything and anything to do with the glands, hormones, etc. WHAM, the long awaited mystery started coming to life.
 Let me explain first that anyone with any type of Thyroid Disease has what they call Antibodies and I'd never heard of them .Yep, after 22 years one should know all about them but no doctor had been willing to check them so how was I to know. I'd already been doing alot of research on the web. I guess you could call it looking for a diagnosis.

 He checked them among other things and they came back sky high, which meant something was terribly wrong but his words were , "I don't know what it means".  I went straight to my computer and pulled up Antibodies and it told me what I needed to know. My body was attacking my Thyroid Gland and destroying it. That's when something goes wrong with the immune system like a lack of Vitamin D and they'd already found that back in April.  He'd also told me I was in Full Blown Menopause. I blew a gasket for sure when he told me that. I said, "no way, I had a complete Hysterectomy  17 years ago and went through all of that". My research told me when the Thyroid gets messed up it throws off the hormones in our body. And everything else for the matter. The Thyroid controls our whole body from our head to our toes. I'd already found that out many years ago but I never knew just how important and how much damage it can do till now. So that meant going to a Gynecoligist and starting Hormone Shots once a month.

Then I really took the bull by the horns and went out on my own.  First, I found another Primary Care Doctor that was willing to listen to me and go farther by doing an Ultrasound on my neck and what she discovered wasn't pretty. My Thyroid was swollen and full of inflammation.
 She said I had some type of Thyroiditis and she didn't know what kind but I needed to see a Specialist right away. I told her I'd already seen four and she just looked at me when I told her.
 I took it upon myself to do what I had to do. After all it was my body and I was the one living in the agony of a diseased thyroid so bad that was sending me into a tail spin day in and day out. One minute I'm Hypo (Hypothyroidism) and the next Hyper (Hyperthyroism) . burning up with heat all day long with nary a drop of sweat  or freezing to death the next. When my feet hits the floor in the morning I never know what to expect. Everyday is a challenge and never ending battle. But there is light at the end of the tunnel Finally.

Who says ya can't get into a Specialist without a referral. I did and I found one that told me exactly what I had been  needing to hear and long over due. He said I had Hashimoto's Disease a type of Thyroditis that is the worst kind and the thyroid gland was burning itself out in my neck and had to come out .

The surgery has been set for November 6th for a Thyroidectomy (complete removal of the thyroid gland) .
I know my journey is not over but finally I can see the light and it's gonna take time for them to get me balanced out on my Thyroid Meds afterwards but Praise Be To God I'm on the right track.

I'm sorry to make this post so long and drawn out but ya'll deserve to know everything and this is just the icing on the cake. Ya'll wouldn't believe me if I told ya all of it cause I can't believe it myself. My goal now is to feel better again and get back to doing the things I love to do. I've missed so much but God has plans for me and he's been there every step of the way. There's been lots of days he carried me and he's not gonna drop me now. We serve an awesome God and his mercy is everlasting. I know in my heart there's lots of ya that are fighting your own battles and I want ya to know I'm sending up prayers for ya everyday. Just remember this, where there's a will, there's a way. My mama used to say this all the time and how true it is.

I'll close for now by saying many thanks to all of ya for your prayers. They have been heard and answered. I will be back as soon as I'm able and who knows between now and then I may be putting up more posts but if ya'll don't see me for a while at least you'll know I've not forsaken ya.

 God Bless, ~ Susie

8 comments:

  1. I;m so happy to hear you are on the road to recovery. People expect doctors to be all knowing (with some justification, considering what they charge), but often the best answer lies in doing the research ourselves. I'm darned if I know why the doctors don't also do the research.

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  2. Bless your heart, Susie. None of that sounds like the least little bit of fun, but I will join you in giving thanks to God for finally giving you hope for a medical solution. I will continue to pray and to believe that through it all you will be strong in body and strong in faith, believing our Father to work all things together for your good.

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  3. Susie , Ciejay and Me are praying for you here in Thailand , we have seen first hand God's healing touch in Ciejay and my body many times.God is Good and He is a healer. Bless you.

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  4. Dear Susie.....Sometimes we just need to take charge of our bodies and take the bull by the horns!! As they say "the squeakiest wheel gets fixed first"!! I totally understand where you are coming from with these Dr.'s. Many years ago I was having a bad pain on my right side...I went to "7" different Dr.'s before I got a straight answer. I had a group of 4 Dr.'s said I had a female problem..and gave me medication to treat it...A Month went by and I still had the pain. Every Dr. I went to said I had something different, until I saw the 7th. Dr. He was an older man and when I told him my symptoms,...he then proceeded with the examination and when he was done..he told my I had a "Inguinal hernia" which was causing the pain on the lower right hand side of my abdomen. I had the surgery and never had that pain again!! Our God is an awesome God! He is always there ahead of us paving the road. I beve the Lord directs our paths with a purpose...so that we can be a beacon of help for others to see. Susie, Your faith in the Lord is powlieerful and all of us together with the Lord will have the strength to conquer our struggles together, one by one. Love you my dear friend, and God Bless you and yours. xoxo

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  5. Susie, I am glad you finally have some answers. My daughter had her thyroid taken out due to cancer, then she got breast cancer which seems to follow thyroid cancers. She is always getting her meds adjusted. I am still praying for you Susie. We do know that it seems it unending dr. visits...which is crap in this day and age...The drs. need to get on line themselves or call their dr. pals....go where they need to go to get the info. I think we are almost to a time where we will have to dr. ourselves on line. Sad day from the old GP who knew it all. Bless you, xoxo,Susie

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  6. I am glad you are finally getting some help! I hope you have a speedy recovery.

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  7. Oh Susie, I am so sorry you have had these struggles for such a long time. I'm glad it looks like things will turn around soon for you. Prayers for you that all will go well with your surgery and that you will soon start feeling better. Hugs to you.

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  8. Susie,
    Just stopping by your blog to wish you a speedy recovery and hope you are doing well after surgery. Love and prayers, Brenda

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