If you read the main page of this site, you know I've been experiencing unusual tongue, throat and voice symptoms for many years. Doctors were at a loss, and none suspected thyroid problems. Blood tests right through the discovery of cancer showed normal thyroid levels, but at the low end of the normal range.

About 9 months before the cancer discovery, my skin, particularly on my hands and feet, had quickly turned orange-yellow. The whites of my eyes were normal, so doctors said it wasn't jaundice, and probably just because I was taking beta-carotene supplements. But had taken the same amount years ago with no similar effect, so I knew something was wrong. (It would take almost another year before I would learn on my own via the Web that this is a prime symptom of hypothyroidism.)

After searching for answers for years, consulting with many doctors, and spending an insane amount of money (about $200,000 so far, mostly covered by insurance), I had made no progress with the tongue, throat and voice symptoms. I returned to the doctor (an ENT) who had prescribed the meclizine (antivert). When I took that drug is when the tongue/throat symptoms had started. I reported my findings, and lack of progress, to him, but he had no further substantive ideas.

With all the swellings and pain I was experiencing, I thought it prudent to look inside the tongue/throat area via some sort of scan, and prompted him for such. He was reluctant to order such a scan. Only by threateningd him with a malpractice lawsuit did I get him to agree to order up a scan (MRI).

Well, the MRI imaged a mass about the size of a golf ball hanging off my thyroid isthmus. The lump was close enough to the skin to easily feel by touch. I had felt it, but without medical training, didn't know if it was simply a normal body part.

Why had all the doctors missed this? Why am I, untrained in medicine, able to find what these so called specialists can't? Do patients have to threaten lawsuits just to get sensible tests performed? Why do I often now feel that when I'm consulting with a physician that he's the second best "doctor" in the room?

I'm sharing all this with you to help you see how persistent you need to be to resolve your own tough medical problems. It's not an easy task, especially when you feel sick. Do the research, the Web is great for it, and try to find a doctor who you can work with.

I took the MRI results to a better ENT, and he quickly advised that the lump had to come out. He wanted to do an FNA (fine needle aspiration). The FNA procedure extracts some cells from the lump, which can then be studied by pathologists. I declined on the basis that I've had such bad experiences with each medical procedure over the past several years. He ordered up an ultrasound.

I went for a second opinion, and it was the same: do an FNA. This time I agreed.

The FNA procedure itself was not awful, but also not pleasant. The area remained sore for a month afterward. The results were not clear, but implied cancer.

I spent a few days researching the options. The surgeon recommended total thyroidectomy, but I kind of have this attachment to my body parts, and don't like having them removed. After a discussion of my case, the surgeon agreed to do a partial ("lumpectomy") unless the pathology tests while I was in the operating room came back as cancer.

I had never had surgery before, so I wanted to know what I was getting myself into. So, I searched the Web and found a few helpful pages written by others who had also had thyroidectomies. I decided I would create similar Web pages to help others who would have thyroid surgery in the future. The first page of my surgery diary follows next.