As if Carolyn didn't have enough trouble, one of the things that the doctors picked up on last fall was that her right thyroid gland was swollen about four times the size it should be - about the size of my thumb instead of the tip of my little finger. With all the extra iodine they had pumped into her system for scanning purposes, they weren't sure whether it was permanently enlarged or just a temporary thing. She's been on medication to moderate the thyroid output and also had a biopsy several months ago which was completely negative.
However, Carolyn's endocrinologist feels that an enlarged thyroid is not a good thing and will only get worse if left alone. Since she's feeling really good right now, he feels she should go ahead with surgery to remove the thyroid - both sides. It means that she'll have to take thyroid hormone supplement for the rest of her life instead of thyroid hormone suppressant but apparently the supplement has less complications.
The bottom line is that Carolyn will be going back under the knife later this year. There's no particular hurry so she's going to schedule it for mid- to late summer after the bulk of her travel is out of the way and after Steven and Lisa's wedding which is scheduled for June 17. This surgery is supposedly a piece of cake compared to her chest surgery. Still, surgery is never risk- or pain-free. She'll be in the hospital overnight and be advised to take two weeks off work. And she'll have one more scar to show off.
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