Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Hashimoto's Revenge!

Sounds like a Jackie Chan movie or something, doesn't it? Well, it's not! Let me back up just a bit. About 6 weeks ago I started noticing that my wedding ring was getting really tight, at first I thought it might be the heat this summer so didn't think much of it. After about a week I couldn't get my ring on at all, so I figured I must be retaining water or something. It seemed a little odd to me, however, because I was able to wear my wedding ring throughout my entire pregnancy. So I stopped drinking carbonation to see if that would help, and tried to stay away from salt, but nothing seemed to make a difference. Finally, last week I decided to call the nurse line at my doctor's office. Once I got a hold of someone they told me that swelling in your hands (or limbs) is never a good sign and that it could be a number of different things. So I went in the next morning to have some blood tests done. While I was there, they asked me a list of questions, then she wanted to check to see if any of my glands were swollen. Well, come to find out, it's my thyroid causing all the ruckus! She had me feel my neck and pointed out a large "goiter" and said that my thyroid glands were much larger than they should be and that would explain all the swelling in my face and hands. So they took some blood to be tested and I just got the results today..... Ladies and Gentleman, I have "Hoshimoto Thyroiditis!" For real, that's what it's called. I had to ask her how to spell it so that I could really understand what she was saying. Apparantly it is an auto immune disease where your body attacks your thyroid like it's a foreign tissue or something. Once she gave me a list of symptoms, a lot of stuff made sense. However, my only real warning sign was that my wedding ring wouldn't fit. I was started today on some medication and have to make an appointment to see an endocrinologist so they can take a closer look.

ANYWAY, the point of this blog was not to ramble, I really just had to tell everyone the name of this little disfuntion of mine. I cracked up when she told me the name! Really, who comes up with these names??

4 comments:

Poulsen Family said...

Oh, no...that sucks! So...I asked Jake just to be sure, but that's a guys last name...could you imagine the telemarketing calls..Mr. Uh?

Anonymous said...

Ohmigosh! So, what can they do for you? I imagine NSAIDS, Cortisone, and immnuno suppressants etc. Call me when you get a chance, we need to talk about something. Okay!

Chris and Hilary said...

For now they have just started me on "levithyroxine" to start shrinking my thyroid glands until I can get in to the endocrinologist.

ash & mat said...

that really sucks! Mat's mom has had a history of problems with her thyoid, but I can't remember what the problem was. I know at one time she had to undergo some radiation therapy.