If you would have asked me 6 months ago what a person's thyroid does, you would have been met with a blank stare. No idea and really didn't care. Thyroid, what thyroid???
Back in the fall, my thyroid decided to do some remodelling and add a nice, questionable tumor on the right side. Needless to say, it hadn't gotten the proper permits and therefore, had to go. Because I am now without this butterfly shaped gland, I have to, for the remainder of my life, take synthetic thyroid replacement. I have to say, this bothers me a bit. Like I am somehow now less sturdy because I require daily medication. For example, if I were to get stranded on a desert island I would have problems because I require daily medication and that irritates me. Perhaps, you might say, not having food, potable water, shelter, sunscreen, etc. should be more of a concern in that imaginary scenario but no, I am bothered by the need for medication.
A few weeks ago was my first post-op check to assess the dosage of my new replacement medication. I got the lab report last week and normal levels are between 0.4 and 4.0 and mine came back at 19.85 (yeah......it's the overachiever in me). Not knowing what that meant, I called the doctor and they said that level means I am extremely hypo-thyroid and to quote the nurse "most people feel pretty well insane" at that level. She also said that if it were a few points higher they would be hauling me in for "radioactive ablation" because it would be dangerous. No idea WHAT that ablation thingy is but I am pretty sure I am against it.
All of this information explains a lot about my recent state of mind. Pretty much since the end of December, I have been feeling blah. Not depressive, no crying a lot, can't get out of bed, but just unimpressed and unmoved by everything. I have also been, and poor Kevin can vouch for this, in a constant state of irritation and have been instigating things and agitating people all over the place. Just ask my parents, Kevin, the construction worker I yelled at the other day, and various other random people. I have been chewing people up and spitting them out left and right. I was beginning to wonder about the state of my psyche and now, it is a relief to know that I am not, well, not yet anyway, going insane. The bad news is, it will take about a month to turn it around and get me back to human but knowing it isn't me but rather the biochemical nightmare that is my body is somehow comforting.
So, friends and family, if I am overly bitchy or piss you off please try to go easy on me for the next few weeks. :)
Back in the fall, my thyroid decided to do some remodelling and add a nice, questionable tumor on the right side. Needless to say, it hadn't gotten the proper permits and therefore, had to go. Because I am now without this butterfly shaped gland, I have to, for the remainder of my life, take synthetic thyroid replacement. I have to say, this bothers me a bit. Like I am somehow now less sturdy because I require daily medication. For example, if I were to get stranded on a desert island I would have problems because I require daily medication and that irritates me. Perhaps, you might say, not having food, potable water, shelter, sunscreen, etc. should be more of a concern in that imaginary scenario but no, I am bothered by the need for medication.
A few weeks ago was my first post-op check to assess the dosage of my new replacement medication. I got the lab report last week and normal levels are between 0.4 and 4.0 and mine came back at 19.85 (yeah......it's the overachiever in me). Not knowing what that meant, I called the doctor and they said that level means I am extremely hypo-thyroid and to quote the nurse "most people feel pretty well insane" at that level. She also said that if it were a few points higher they would be hauling me in for "radioactive ablation" because it would be dangerous. No idea WHAT that ablation thingy is but I am pretty sure I am against it.
All of this information explains a lot about my recent state of mind. Pretty much since the end of December, I have been feeling blah. Not depressive, no crying a lot, can't get out of bed, but just unimpressed and unmoved by everything. I have also been, and poor Kevin can vouch for this, in a constant state of irritation and have been instigating things and agitating people all over the place. Just ask my parents, Kevin, the construction worker I yelled at the other day, and various other random people. I have been chewing people up and spitting them out left and right. I was beginning to wonder about the state of my psyche and now, it is a relief to know that I am not, well, not yet anyway, going insane. The bad news is, it will take about a month to turn it around and get me back to human but knowing it isn't me but rather the biochemical nightmare that is my body is somehow comforting.
So, friends and family, if I am overly bitchy or piss you off please try to go easy on me for the next few weeks. :)
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