Thyroid Cancer : Part Four
Last week was my PET scan. What was supposed to be a 30-minute body scan turned into a 2-hour appointment with multiple scans. After the first one, they said they “saw some things” and wanted to be thorough. I immediately was a nervous wreck and told Andrew I had a really bad feeling. Flashbacks to getting my lump checked out for the first time flooded my mind.
I got home thinking they'd call me in a few days but three hours after my scans my doctor's nurse called.
“Hi, Nicole. We got your results back. Are you nursing?”
"No....I stopped in February."
"Well, there is fairly intense uptake in both breasts..."
After talking with her more, I spiraled downward into a week of devastation thinking my cancer had spread to both breasts. What would this look like? What treatments would I have next? How am I going to manage all of this ALL over again?
Fast forward 8 days to today...
In comes my doctor and the first thing she said was, “Congratulations!!!” I was so confused but she went on to tell me the scan showed that I’m still producing milk! So what I thought was cancer was me lactating! TMI for some of you, but ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?! I was so relieved, so thankful, so confused, and so grateful. I went from thinking my cancer spread last week and having all of those awful thoughts...to this week realizing my body isn't over breast-feeding! I've been having babies and nursing for the last 5 years! I was shocked.
After that news set in, I asked if I was cancer free now (you know me...let's get to the point. :) ) They said they won't ever declare me "cancer free" because there is always a small percentage of people whose cancer comes back. But, basically, I'll have blood work and neck ultrasounds every 3-6 months for 5 years and then I can put all of this behind me. If thyroid cancer comes back, it typically shows up 2-5 years after treatment so they want me to keep getting checked, obviously.
But in my heart, this is it.
August 8th will be forever stamped in my mind as a day of hilarious miracles because God knew I needed to laugh a little more. Who would have thought...cancer or breast milk? HA!
My next appointment is at the end of September. Until then, I need to get these thyroid levels normal, rest, and get the boys settled in preschool. Can't wait to get our lives back! We are rejoicing for what God has done. We are rejoicing for what God will do. And we are trusting that the next 5 years and beyond will show CLEAR ultrasounds until the day Jesus takes me home!
Still so much to share, but I'll wait for another post :) Love you all!