Monthly Archives for July 2010

Lumpy

Norah and I left for Children’s Hospital at 11:30 this morning and arrived home at 6:30 tonight.  It was a long, tiring day, but the doctors and the rest of the staff were great.  Norah’s ultrasound showed that her thyroid is indeed enlarged, but it didn’t show a separate nodule or anything unusual beyond the fact that her whole thyroid is BIG.

After the ultrasound we met with a fellow and a resident in the endocrinology department.  I wasn’t sure what a “fellow” was (Dr. Abby Fleisch is definitely NOT a fellow in the gender-related sense of the word), so she explained that she had gone to college, gone to med school, completed her 3-year residency in pediatrics, and is now doing a fellowship in endocrinology.  She works with an attending physician who we also met with.

During our time in endo, there were at least 10 people who came in to check out the lump because it’s so unusual to see on a 4-year-old or really any kid younger than an adolescent.  Norah was so cute, lifting her head to show off her lump.  We had talked a lot about what she should expect at the hospital, and that she would be seeing new doctors there, so when we were sitting at Au Bon Pain surrounded by medical staff on their lunch breaks, Norah threw her arms open and said, “Are THESE my new doctors??”

There are basically two possibilities since the ultrasound didn’t show anything definitive.  One possibility is Thyroiditis, which would go away on its own.  If that’s what she has, she’ll take medicine for her high blood pressure until the thyroid issue resolves itself, at which point the rest of the symptoms would resolve themselves too.  The other possibility is Graves Disease, which is an autoimmune disorder.  Graves Disease would be treated with medicine to reduce the amount of thyroid hormone, which would resolve the other symptoms.

The trick is figuring out which of these is the cause.  More blood work was done today to look for specific antibodies.  On Monday Norah will have to drink some iodine and 2 hours later will have a scan to see how much iodine has been absorbed by her thyroid.  The next day she’ll have another scan to check the iodine in her thyroid again.  These test results should confirm one cause or the other, which will determine the treatment.  Meanwhile, she will be on a low dose of high blood pressure meds.  Her blood pressure is not high enough to be an emergency, but it’s pretty high.

I probably won’t have more to report until the middle of next week.  Thank you to everyone who called, emailed, and texted to ask for news.  Everything’s fine.

Click here to go to the next post about Norah’s thyroid.

Click here to start at the beginning and read the first post about Norah’s thyroid.

Yup, That’s a Lump.

I’m headed to Children’s Hospital tomorrow with Norah, so she can have an ultrasound on her thyroid and an appointment with the endocrinologists.  A few weeks ago I thought her neck looked a little swollen, but then she changed position and it looked normal so I didn’t think too much of it.  Then on Monday I was sitting on the bottom stair and I saw her neck from a different angle.  As soon as I touched it, the 3 other grown-ups standing there pointed out that something was wrong. You can see the lump in the photo of Norah with our friend Norm at right.

I called the doctor and he didn’t seem worried at all.  He said to watch it for a few days and to call him if it bothered her, if it was hot to the touch, became red, or changed size.  This morning I made an appointment to see him, and when he came into the exam room it went like this:

Dr:  “So, you’re here.”
Me:  “Yup.”
Dr:  “Did it get bigger, turn red, or get hot?”
Me:  “No.”
Dr:  “Is it bothering her?”
Me:  “No, but it’s bothering me, so you can tell me I’m crazy but I want you to look at it.”
Dr:  “You’re crazy.”

He then commenced the exam…
Dr:  “Yup, that’s a lump.”
Me:  “Well, it doesn’t look right to me and I have thyroid issues so I get concerned when I see swelling in that area.”
Dr:  “It’s bigger than what I was imagining when we talked on the phone.  You were right to follow your instinct.”

Considering that he didn’t ask me how big it was when we talked on the phone, I’m assuming that he had already decided it was nothing during our phone conversation.  In the office today he said that he thought it was definitely thyroid-related because the lump moves when she swallows.  Norah’s blood pressure was also high which is a symptom of hyperthyroidism.

They sent some blood off to the lab, and this afternoon another doctor called with the news that yes, her thyroid levels were very elevated.  The doctor from Children’s also called to talk about tomorrow’s appointment, and she said that it’s not that common for kids to become hyperthyroid, but it does happen.  The ultrasound may give us a clue as to what’s causing the excess thyroid hormone, but most likely it will just show an enlarged thyroid, not an overproductive nodule.

From what I’ve read, it may resolve itself eventually so that she won’t need medication forever, or it may not.  If it doesn’t resolve and she has problems regulating how much thyroid hormone is in her body at any given time, they sometimes “deactivate” the thyroid at which point she’d have to take synthetic thyroid forever (like I do).  I’m guessing they will at least give her medication for the high blood pressure in the short term.

The doctor from Children’s asked me if I had seen any other symptoms.  When I look at the list of possible symptoms I see lots of things that we thought were just part of Norah’s personality or a phase she is going through – hyperactivity, emotional issues, constant eating without weight gain, excessive pooping (sorry – TMI).  It’s possible that by reducing the level of thyroid hormone some of these issues may be resolved.  Or not.

Click here to go to the next post about Norah’s thyroid.

Big Salad

One advantage to being able to vent on the blog is that Ben always knows where I’m at mentally.  He came home today and made my favorite salad, and then took the kids to the movies.

I’m actually in a much better place today, because all of the kids took long naps…must be the cool, rainy weather.  I love this weather even though we missed the concert on the common because of it.

Anyway, if you’re looking for a great salad that travels well, here’s the recipe.  It’s DELICIOUS!!!

Grilled Mediterranean Chicken, Melon, and Feta Salad

1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup coarsely chopped mint
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cantaloupe
8 cups baby spinach leaves
4 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 green onion, thinly sliced diagonally

In a large measuring cup, whisk lemon juice with pepper, garlic, 1/2 cup oil, and 1/4 cup mint.  Pour half into a resealable plastic bag.  Add chicken to lemon juice mixture in bag, turning to evenly coat.  Press air out of bag then seal tightly.  Alternatively, place chicken in a shallow dish and pour in half the lemon juice mixture and cover with plastic wrap.  Marinate in the refrigerator, turning occasionally for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.  To remaining lemon juice mixture, whisk in remaining 2 Tbsp oil and the salt.  Refrigerate, covered, until ready to use.

Grease grill and preheat barbecue to medium.  Remove chicken from marinade, discarding any remaining marinade.  Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt, then place on grill and barbecue until juices run clear, about 6 minutes per side.  Remove from barbecue and set aside.

Meanwhile, remove reserved dressing from fridge.  Peel cantaloupe, discard seeds and cut into very thin wedges.  Line 4 large salad plates with spinach.  When chicken is cool, slice each breast and fan onto each plate of spinach.  Arrange cantaloupe on spinach.  Sprinkle salads with cherry tomatoes, feta and green onion.  Drizzle to taste with remaining dressing.  Sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp mint.

Serves 4.

I’m Alive and (Un)Well

For anyone who’s wondering if I’m dead because I’ve been incommunicado, I’m not dead.  I’m just in a dark place.  Or maybe I AM dead and this is hell.  I’m ready for summer vacation to end and there’s still 6 weeks to go.  Somehow, even with day camp and our team of caregivers – the nanny, the mother’s helper, and random relatives who fill in as needed, I’m struggling.  The fact that nobody is listening to me is even more evident when they’re not listening to me for a greater number of hours per day.  I just don’t get it because outside of my house, people listen to me.  They usually even do what I say.  But as soon as I step through the door of my home, I may as well be mute.

And the house…oh, the house makes me want to rob Ty’s Pies at gunpoint so I have to go to jail, where I would do something inappropriate so I could be put into solitary confinement.  If I didn’t already have a full-time job, I could make a full-time job out of picking up after the kids.  Just for fun, I kept track of what I picked up OFF THE FLOOR ONLY, for a 6-hour period.  Two of the kids were out of the house for more than 3 of the 6 hours, and the list below does not include anything that I picked up off of furniture, etc., ONLY THE FLOOR. The list doesn’t include a large-scale bedroom clean-up, or cleaning food off the approved eating area floors either.

Clothing:  22
Toys:  12
Legos & Lincoln Logs:  19
Spills:  2
Books:  24
Games:  5
Writing Implements:  4
Wrappers, Papers, Trash:  26
Bedding:  4
Food:  8
Shoes:  7
iPod:  1
Fuse Beads:  49
Other:  12

WHY???????? What am I doing wrong here?  And don’t tell me to make them pick it up because I DO make them clean up after themselves.  I’m constantly demanding that they appear front-and-center to pick up something that doesn’t belong where it is.  But I’m worn out, and sometimes I don’t even have the energy to tell them to pick up their crap.

And then there’s the constant noise.  The fighting, the whining, the screeching…it makes me want to stab a chopstick into each ear and put myself out of my misery.  I literally wear earplugs on car trips and I’m thinking about just going 24/7 with them.  How can it be that my Facebook friends are writing about their blissful summer days and I’m trying to get arrested?

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So, I was feeling like this post was too negative, nobody wants to listen to me rant about my kids, etc., so I went downstairs to get a cup of coffee which I was hoping would put me in a better mood.  Then…I smelled poop.  Yep…a big pile of dog-diarrhea.  Thank God I didn’t step in it or I swear I might have gone Ya-Ya and headed down to the Motel 6 for a few days.

Why did the dog poop on the rug?  I’ll tell you why – because someone gave her PEOPLE-FOOD!  I guarantee it!  I’ve told all of them at least 900 times not to give the pets people-food, yet they continue to do it!  Why am I the one cleaning up the poop?!?!

Whatever mood-lifter I might have used to end this post on a bright note just went down the toilet with dog-diarrhea, so I apologize.  If you’re like the rest of the people I’m surrounded with, you won’t have heard a word I just said anyway.