Goodness Gracious: I Am Rose's Enlarged Thyroid, Part 1

Tuesday, I went to have a venous Doppler test done on my left arm.  Now, I've had a venous Doppler done before, on my legs, to make sure that I didn't have some circulatory side-effect of diabetes.  That test, as I recall, took about thirty minutes.

But the test on my arm took nearly an hour.  I had to strip to the waist and put on a hospital gown (ick).  The radiology tech spent what seemed to be a long time on my neck and the juncture of my shoulder, and then took readings all the way down to my hand.  She left the room briefly, just long enough for me to wipe off the goop (ick) and get back into my bra before she came back in and took more readings, all around the base of my throat, with two scanners of different lengths.

This morning, I got a call from the doctor's office.  The venal flow in my arm is just fine, no bloodclots or anything that would cause pain and/or swelling.

HOWEVER ...

I have an enlarged thyroid.  There is a heterogenous nodule on the left side.

Of course, it's on the left side.  My left leg is the one that's swollen; my left arm is also swollen; something on the left side of my face was swollen a few months ago, the sinus polyp was on the left side.  The filling that fell out of my tooth years ago is on the left side of my mouth.

I freely admit to having a raging case of hypochondria.  I was going to wait until next week to get my lab work done --- the liver panel I requested, a A1C to check the state of my diabetes, a urine test to make sure my bladder infection of a few months ago is truly gone --- but, after the doctor's office called, I decided to beat it in there ASAP, which would be tomorrow (Thursday).

My Daddy had a thyroid condition.  I don't know now what it was ... as I recall, he had to take a pill every day.  Thyroid conditions seem very amenable to treatment.  I am willing this to being an infection, and trying not to obsess ...