i have an ultrasound and appointment scheduled with my regular endocrinologist on march 31st. i am going to keep that appointment, because number one, i am curious about what is going on in my neck( if anything. hopefully my two remaining parathyroids are knitting a sweater, or something) and the second reason is that i am going to talk to my endocrinologist face to face. you see, i found another endocrinologist who specializes in papillary thyroid cancer patients. her tests/treatments, from what i can see, seem to be cutting edge.she uses I-123 to do the tracer tests. now, i have never heard of I-123. i googled this- i went to the mayo clinic site, which i trust, and they only mentioned using this to test for adrenal gland tumors. but i am curious as to why this doctor uses this. it must be given IV, not in capsule form. she also does iodine study tests. i have never had one of those done, either.
i will admit that i owe my "old" endocrinologist a lot. she ordered the tests that (hopefully) saved my life- or at the very least, prolonged it. however, she did not look at my pathology report( nor did my surgeon) before she ordered my treatment dose of the I-131. i mentioned this in earlier blogs. anyway, she ordered a dose that was too small in my particular case.had the radiologist not caught this error and increased the dose from the 100 milicuries to 155 milicuries, i might have had to have another dose, or worse, more surgery. i am not sure how many papillary thyroid cancer patients that she sees, but i know that this new doctor sees a lot. her tests are ready for the patient to view within HOURS of the blood work being done! wow, it has taken me days, and weeks sometimes, to get my results previously. that is just needless stress on patients, i think.
my appointment with the new endocrinologist is on april 18th. i am due for another full body scan in may, so this works out pretty well. personally, i really like my old endo a lot, but i have to look out for what is best for me. i have not had the confidence to consider myself a "survivor" yet. i do not feel over this, and i keep looking over my shoulder at times.( having a little bit of trouble with skin cancer did not help things). anyway, i think that it is important for us all to find the best care that we can. maybe this time, i really will get to see the wizard and she will have something in her bag just for me.
I hope the new doctor works out for you. You need to have have the reassurance that your doctor is on top of things in how your case is treated. It seems a lot of people are not happy with their endocrinologists. I am happy with mine. One thing I do though is go to the lab where I get my blood tests and have them print out a copy for my records. I don't wait for the doctor on that one. I did that this afternoon. Most everything was good except the A1c was a little higher than I'd like. I had a lot more tested-not just the TSH and T4 and thyroglobulin. Good luck Bea
ReplyDeletei hope you are doing well, Karen. thanks for your comment. i, too, get a copy of my lab reports- the lab techs leave a copy for me at the front desk.i like having this record to compare, and with my present endo, if i did not take my lab results with me, even though they were faxed to her, she did not have them. that office staff is sooooo unorganized! anyway, thanks again and take care!
ReplyDeleteBea, yes I am doing well. I had the whole body scan last month. All negative. My endo said last week that I probably won't need to go through that again. He does tell me I am pre-diabetic, but I was not surprised. I feel good, and diet and exercise should be all I need to manage it at this point.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Karen