Here's a photo of my cancerous thyroid and lymph nodes after they were removed. Neat, huh?

My current stats:

Thyrogen-stimulated Tg 4.0, TgAB less than 20
(down from hypo-stimulated Tg 16.7 in Dec. 2009)
WBS negative

Saturday, April 5, 2008

NED (Not Nickerson) And ED

My two sisters (one older, one younger) have been obsessed with Nancy Drew books since they started reading them when they were young girls. I read a few, too, but for one reason or another, they never caught on with me the way they did with my sisters. In the original Carolyn Keene series of Nancy Drew books, Nancy’s love interest was always Ned Nickerson.

NED means No Evidence of Disease, and that’s what we thycans want to hear after our battery of one-year follow-up tests. But there was no NED for me 14 months after my surgery and
diagnosis. First, let me describe what the testing is like, and what the doctors are looking for that would indicate NED (or ED).

The process of doing the follow-up testing

Describe it, going hypo
Off Synthroid
Day 5: Dream about filling a purse with milk and carrying it around all day
Day 8: Tired and wired at the same time
Day 10: Dizzy, tired, shaky
Day 11: TSH only at 4
Day 18: Go skiing with family; feel great. TSH is probably in the 30 range.
Day 25: TSH at 60.27. Feel fantastic. Energy level fine.
Day 26: Gut-wrenching diarrhea day before scan dose. God-induced bowel prep? God tells me you have diarrhea for a reason
Day 29: my last day off Synthroid
Back on Synthroid
Day 1: Very tired. Hard to keep arms raised over head for more than a few seconds. Weak and shaky.
Day 2: Need 2-hour nap in afternoon. Night of Day 2, I cannot sleep—eyes racing around head, heart palpitations, I think from the ½ Cytomel I took. Not taking that again.
Day 3: Migraine. Shot of Imitrex. All better. Feel very good and happy rest of day.
Day 4: Feel good but a little tired. Nap in afternoon.
Day 5: Feel VERY good. Tons of energy. Work in snack bar at Brendan’s baseball game with Jack. Very good mood—talking to lots of people. I’m friendlier than usual.
Day 6: Migraine. Shot of Imitrex. All better. Fine rest of day. Tons of energy around dinnertime. Making dinner, Swiffering, have lots of physical energy.
Day 7: Feel good.
LID diet

I can breathe through both nostrils for the first time in years. No dairy the reason? Or God?