Hey all, I finally had a chance to catch up on everyone's latest.
@lise01 Sorry to hear about the lymph node situation. If you need help researching anything. let me know. I feel like no matter how many questions I ask, I never get a clear answer.
@cocha I assume that a definite carcinoma means it was Bethesda Cat VI, which is 99% chance of malignancy. Still very treatable and survivable. Of all the things I was worried about when I thought I had thyroid cancer, dying early because of it was not one of them.
@koh Let us know how it goes with your next blood work. I hope you start feeling more like yourself soon.
I think we could all use a crystal ball right about now JUST to help guide our decision-making. We all have so many questions for which the answers seem pretty elusive. TT or Lobectomy? RAI? Lymph nodes or no?

I'm still frustrated by the lack of communication, information, and follow-up on my surgeon's part. First he had a nurse call me with my path report (benign, as you know), but she couldn't answer any of my other questions. Then he had a PA call me last week for my follow-up appointment (when I was expecting to hear from the surgeon himself). The PA knew very little about my case, however, she noticed while talking to me that my labs from a month ago showed a high calcium level and high PTH (Serum parathyroid hormone) which pointed to hyperparathyroidism in my LEFT lobe that was left alone after my right lobectomy. I remembered my surgeon mentioning an enlarged parathyroid gland at some point, but he never brought it up again. I decided that I had to speak to him personally and we finally spoke today. He seemed to minimize my high parathyroid levels, but then casually added, "You'll need to get your lab work rechecked and if your calcium and PTH levels are still high, we'll just have to operate." I can't help but feel that IF he had seen my labs AND put that info together with the ultrasound he did prior to my surgery, maybe, just maybe, he could have gone in and grabbed the enlarged parathyroid gland and removed it during my first surgery. I would really rather not go through a second surgery so soon, but as with most of our journeys, only time will tell. More waiting. I tried to book a blood test for early June, but my surgeon's office said my endocrinologist should do it and my endocrinologist's office said they can only book labs associated with appointments and mine isn't until JULY. I don't know what people do who can't advocate for themselves. We must speak up for ourselves at every juncture until every last question is answered.