Day 12: Members Only! Where's my jacket?

Friday morning had me sweatin' with the oldies at the Cardiologist's office.  I completed my stress test on a fast-moving treadmill, jogging my way to a clean bill of heart health. Yay!  While there, the tech regaled me with stories of her struggles with Hashimoto's. 

Then, in preparation for the RAI upcoming on Wednesday, I stopped  by Quest and had some blood drawn. The phlebotomist, looking at my lab order and my neck, started quizzing me about my thyroid.   Turns out, she's struggling with hypothyroidism.  

It seems my scar is now an all access pass into a previously silent Thyroid Disorder Club.  Its members are numerous and varied.  I've run into women of all ages, sizes, colors, and lifestyles who, upon seeing the three-and-half-inch slash at the top of my collarbone immediately touch their own necks (scar or not), smile, and spill stories of their journeys with problematic thyroids.  I've heard tales of hypo, hyper, Hashi's, nodules, ablations, Synthroid, endocrinologists, TSH, surgeries, radiation, and cancer. And I've been imparted words of encouragement, hope, laughter, wisdom, and, yes, frustration.   I didn't ask to join this club (and lord knows, neither did they), but it definitely is nice to feel welcomed.


This membership has not come cheaply, however. After my morning appointments, I went to pick the kiddos up at daycare.  Lily, my youngest, upon seeing the bandage across the inner crease of my arm, sighed loudly and said, "Mommy, bloodwork again?"

I hear ya, Lil, and I couldn't agree more.  The sheer amount of medical attention I've had over these past four months is enough to make both my little family and me quite dizzy -and with much lighter piggy banks! I have now officially reached my "maximum annual out of pocket expense" with my health insurance, a feat I'm not sure I should be impressed or appalled at.  But this part of my battle with thyroid cancer is (hopefully) coming to a victorious close soon and, if it takes a couple more bandaids and a few more copays to get me through, I can deal with that.