Need some help on this one

[Shark]

As many of you already know, I had 2 surgeries 1-1/2 years ago to have my thyroid gland removed. Four small spots of papillary thyroid cancer were found in the thyroid gland after surgery. At the time, I was led to believe that I was "clean" but that it (cancer) could rear it's ugly head again 5-10 years down the road. A post surgery ultrasound of my neck area was done last year to establish a baseline for what that area looked like after surgery. I was told at the time that I would just need an annual ultrasound to ensure that nothing was progressing. Fast forward one year (about 6 weeks ago).

 

I returned to OU Medical Center in late August and was told that the ultrasound from a year ago showed a couple of lymph nodes in my neck that were "suspicious".

 

So for the last 5 weeks I've been off of my thyroid medication and today they had me swallow a radioactive pill. I go back in on Thursday afternoon for a full body scan.

 

The only problem is since I swallowed the pill my skin has turned green, I've doubled in size and repeatedly say "Hulk smash!". Anybody know what I can do about this? I really don't want to break everything in our house.

 

 

[catrick339]

Look around the neighborhood for a kid named Jones, barring that, invest heavily in purple trousers.

 

 

(Ducks and runs, giggling, despite the serious situation)

[Junkdrawer]

Purple pants are making a comeback

[miraclemet]

 

I returned to OU Medical Center....

 

 

well there's you're problem right there.

 

It's a well known fact that OU Medical is a teaching hospital, and the OU med students are pretty interchangable with the OU veterinary students.

 

just be glad you didn't have this lady show up for your procedure.

[oakman29]

Try to stay as calm as you can.

[Shark]

 

I returned to OU Medical Center....

 

 

well there's you're problem right there.

 

It's a well known fact that OU Medical is a teaching hospital, and the OU med students are pretty interchangable with the OU veterinary students.

 

just be glad you didn't have this lady show up for your procedure.

 

Hey....wait a minute. She does look kinda familiar....

[catrick339]

Probocop

[jimjum12]

As many of you already know, I had 2 surgeries 1-1/2 years ago to have my thyroid gland removed. Four small spots of papillary thyroid cancer were found in the thyroid gland after surgery. At the time, I was led to believe that I was "clean" but that it (cancer) could rear it's ugly head again 5-10 years down the road. A post surgery ultrasound of my neck area was done last year to establish a baseline for what that area looked like after surgery. I was told at the time that I would just need an annual ultrasound to ensure that nothing was progressing. Fast forward one year (about 6 weeks ago).

 

I returned to OU Medical Center in late August and was told that the ultrasound from a year ago showed a couple of lymph nodes in my neck that were "suspicious".

 

So for the last 5 weeks I've been off of my thyroid medication and today they had me swallow a radioactive pill. I go back in on Thursday afternoon for a full body scan.

 

The only problem is since I swallowed the pill my skin has turned green, I've doubled in size and repeatedly say "Hulk smash!". Anybody know what I can do about this? I really don't want to break everything in our house.

 

 

.... i would have sex with the wife before it wears off ........ GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[jaybuck43]

Hey shark, good news buddy. Amazon has purple pants in size xxxxx-Large so you should be just fine. Start ordering.

http://www.amazon.com/Dickies-Unisex-drawstring-Purple-Medium/dp/B0072K1Z64/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1381199518&sr=8-4&keywords=purple+pants

O and I hope everything gets better real soon. Sorry you have to go through this again.

[Shaven Kev-migration]

 

Seriously though I'm in Norman, send me a PM if you need anything

[Shark]

Hey shark, good news buddy. Amazon has purple pants in size xxxxx-Large so you should be just fine. Start ordering.

http://www.amazon.com/Dickies-Unisex-drawstring-Purple-Medium/dp/B0072K1Z64/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1381199518&sr=8-4&keywords=purple+pants

O and I hope everything gets better real soon. Sorry you have to go through this again.

 

They're not jagged enough. Guess I can cut them off though....

[comicstock]

Go with an extra thick enema. It'll calm you...

[Shark]

Go with an extra thick enema. It'll calm you...

 

[Buzzetta]

Back to reality...

 

How did they notice a year later that there was an area of concern on something that they should have noticed last year?

 

I hope this turns out to be something that you can look back and easily laugh about in thirty years.

[Mark 1]

Funny post and glad you have a sense of humor about things.

 

I hope all turns out good for you. Best wishes

[Shark]

Back to reality...

 

How did they notice a year later that there was an area of concern on something that they should have noticed last year?

 

I hope this turns out to be something that you can look back and easily laugh about in thirty years.

 

Yeah, that struck me as odd too. I actually think they knew about it a year ago. Like Miraclemet said, things (cancer patients like me I guess) tend to fall through the cracks at a teaching hospital like OU. When I asked the doctor why I wasn't told about this last year, her comment was something like "Oh, something like what you have takes years to progress. It wouldn't change that much in one year."

 

The thought of a lawsuit has entered my mind. That decision may be made soon - especially after I get the results of the full body scan back.

[MedicAR]

I just had a PET scan a week and a half ago. It was negative. I'm still not sure that I am happy about that as we still don't know why I feel lousy all the freakin' time. We are rapidly running out of ideas and "desperate" doesn't begin to cover it.

 

It's hard to determine from your original post how much is serious. Were you really given a radioactive pill? I know they inject a radioactive dye for a PET scan but it wears off after 12-24 hours.

 

I am all for going after somebody that has done me wrong but I don't know how much of a case you have. "Malpractice" by definition requires ill intent. I don't know what it is called if they just failed to tell you about findings.

 

I have never used a teaching hospital, but I would think that they would be better for the patient. You get minds that are fresh and full of ideas that are more likely to scrutinize every detail in addition to whomever is mentoring them looking everything over as well.

 

I'm going gluten and sugar free for a month. Not because we have an idea of what is wrong but because "why the hell not?" I am losing weight but not mass and feeling weaker all the time. I fear this means whatever is wrong is now attacking my muscles and destroying muscle mass so I don't see any outward changes with my weight. Despite my large size, I have always been shockingly healthy. No heart problems, blood pressure problems, diabetes, and even very active...at least until the cancer. Since then, activity has been steadily decreasing, weight has been steadily increasing (until the last 6-9 months) and fatigue is the center of my life.

 

I wish you nothing but the best and hope they find whatever is bothering you. I'd like to keep up with your findings as well. Like I say, we have no idea and I'm no looking for anything from anywhere.

[Shark]

I just had a PET scan a week and a half ago. It was negative. I'm still not sure that I am happy about that as we still don't know why I feel lousy all the freakin' time. We are rapidly running out of ideas and "desperate" doesn't begin to cover it.

 

It's hard to determine from your original post how much is serious. Were you really given a radioactive pill? I know they inject a radioactive dye for a PET scan but it wears off after 12-24 hours.

 

I am all for going after somebody that has done me wrong but I don't know how much of a case you have. "Malpractice" by definition requires ill intent. I don't know what it is called if they just failed to tell you about findings.

 

I have never used a teaching hospital, but I would think that they would be better for the patient. You get minds that are fresh and full of ideas that are more likely to scrutinize every detail in addition to whomever is mentoring them looking everything over as well.

 

I'm going gluten and sugar free for a month. Not because we have an idea of what is wrong but because "why the hell not?" I am losing weight but not mass and feeling weaker all the time. I fear this means whatever is wrong is now attacking my muscles and destroying muscle mass so I don't see any outward changes with my weight. Despite my large size, I have always been shockingly healthy. No heart problems, blood pressure problems, diabetes, and even very active...at least until the cancer. Since then, activity has been steadily decreasing, weight has been steadily increasing (until the last 6-9 months) and fatigue is the center of my life.

 

I wish you nothing but the best and hope they find whatever is bothering you. I'd like to keep up with your findings as well. Like I say, we have no idea and I'm no looking for anything from anywhere.

 

Yes, they really did give me a radioactive pill. I believe the radioactivity attaches itself to problem areas to help highlight them during the scan. It was actually kind of eerie because they removed the pill from a special steel vial due to the radioactivity. I do go back in Thursday afternoon for the full body scan.

 

I've actually never sued anybody for anything. My line of reasoning on this one is that they failed to tell me anything about the suspicious lymph nodes until a year had passed and that in a year's time the cancer may have spread to other parts of my body. That's my wife's fear anyway.

 

And I really hope you find out what's wrong with yourself soon. There's nothing more frustrating than not knowing....

[miraclemet]

 

Yes, they really did give me a radioactive pill. I believe the radioactivity attaches itself to problem areas to help highlight them during the scan.

 

The pill contains an ammount of radioactive iodine.

 

Your thyroid processes iodine as it makes hormones.

 

After your thyroid has had a chance to process the iodine they'll do the scan to see how much radiation is present in your thyroid (more radiation means it processed more iodine and made more hormones, less radiation means it processed less of the iodine because it had to make less hormones).

 

An overactive thyroid (one that makes more hormones) could mean a few different things... or nothing depending on what your baseline is. Im no doctor so I wont speculate, but thought you'd like to know the point of the radioactive pill you took!

 

 

[Shark]

 

Yes, they really did give me a radioactive pill. I believe the radioactivity attaches itself to problem areas to help highlight them during the scan.

 

The pill contains an ammount of radioactive iodine.

 

Your thyroid processes iodine as it makes hormones.

 

After your thyroid has had a chance to process the iodine they'll do the scan to see how much radiation is present in your thyroid (more radiation means it processed more iodine and made more hormones, less radiation means it processed less of the iodine because it had to make less hormones).

 

An overactive thyroid (one that makes more hormones) could mean a few different things... or nothing depending on what your baseline is. Im no doctor so I wont speculate, but thought you'd like to know the point of the radioactive pill you took!

 

 

Thanks for the info....that helps. My thyroid gland (most of it anyway) has been removed - the left half in April 2012 (3 spots of cancer) and the right half in May 2012 (1 spot of cancer). I know they had to leave at least a sliver of the thyroid gland behind as it was very close to one of my main nerves. I had several nodules in there (a couple of large ones) and one of the large ones had actually caused the thyroid gland to wrap itself around the one main nerve.