After writing and editing multiple documents literally all day, it is a wonder that I find myself in bed with the laptop writing yet again. I guess I came out of the womb with a pen in my hand, and as you know, derive great comfort from seeing the black letters reveal themselves on the white screen.
Life is a wild ride. It struck me again on Friday that indeed, as one lets go of all control, things can really begin to move in the right direction. After 14 months of testing in two separate hospitals, I have grown very frustrated with the medical system and their inability to accurately diagnose and treat the medical challenges that they first revealed to me. I didn't ask for this. Over the past months it has made much more sense as the symptoms have seriously begun to reveal themselves - they caught it so early they weren't in full swing yet. Oh the joy, a seriously swollen neck, unexplained weight gain, and hair loss. Attractive, I know.
Sitting on the edge of despair and helplessness is not an easy place to be, but admittedly, that is where I have been in the past two months. I am ready to be young, carefree and in love with life again, but it doesn't seem to be happening. And then things changed in an instant...
I am pooped tonight but will share snippets of the story in hopes to expound more later. Early Friday morning, my sister was in Rhinelander, WI (I know - who goes there?!). She ended up in Rhinelander because it contained the only rental car available in all of Wisconsin due to an air show. She changed plane reservations from Green Bay to Rhinelander instead of cancelling the trip all together. On a return flight from Rhinelander to Minneapolis, my sis began talking to an older gentleman in the airport lobby. Over several minutes, he revealed that he was the head of endocrinology for the Mayo Clinic and specializes in the treatment of thyroid cancer and its recurrence. He was on his way from his vacation home in Rhinelander through Minneapolis (where Mayo is) to Chicago to speak to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Almost directly after learning this, the plane boarded and they were separated, much to her frustration because she wanted to pick his brain about my case and get a referral. Before take-off, while sitting at the back of the plane, a woman asked my sister to switch with her and sit at the front of the plane. Unknowingly, when my sis agreed to the request and walked forward, her new seat sat directly next to the doctor.
Over the next 1 1/2 hours, they discussed my case in great detail. He was incredibly interested because I have experienced such challenges getting it resolved, and he himself experienced thyroid cancer in his early years as an endocrinologist. My sis was struck by how human he was and the great passion he has for this issue. His team at the Mayo is pioneering a new treatment for thyroid cancer recurrence that is not being done anywhere else in the world. Only 100 patients at the Mayo have received it. He is world renowned and people travel from all parts of the globe to get treatment from this man and his team.
He was disturbed by the extreme delays I have experienced in diagnosis and treatment here in Atlanta, and outright told my sister that my otoleringologist is on the wrong track and that I need to get rid of him immediately. This doc offered to contact me and suggested that I come up to the Mayo to see him for an initial evaluation and treatment plan. All of this from a man that does not take new patients and has so many layers around him that I could never get to him independently, if I tried. Unbelievable!!
I am in the process of corresponding with him and his 2nd in command via e-mail with the hopes to be up there very soon. He feels confident that we can get this resolved ASAP and I can get on with my life.
Is this incredible, ironic, weird?? I prefer to say this it is downright divine and holy and ordained by God and all of creation. I needed this more than any of you can know and I feel like there is hope around the corner. At last, the third clinic may be a charm. http://www.mayoclinic.org/thyroid-cancer/
