Appointments for Days, and Other Musings

I spent most of Memorial Day weekend trying not to think about my diagnosis.  It was my Mom's birthday on Memorial Day itself, so I went home for the weekend and spent time with my parents.  Highlight of the weekend, taking her and my uncle to see Mad Max: Fury Road, which is when I realized my true life's calling: to become an electric guitar player who calls a road-faring group of post-apocalyptic warriors into battle via killer sick riffs.

My future...no...OUR future.

Once the weekend ended, it was time to face my situation head-on.  As soon as I came in to work, I spoke to my boss, who had been in the know through most of the initial false negative biopsy experience, as well as this latest ordeal.  She was very supportive and understanding as I ducked out for multiple doctor's appointments, so she was sad to learn my latest test results, but was ready to do whatever it would take to transition things off my plate and make sure that I did not have to think about work at all as I recovered.

After talking to HR and learning more about all those parts in the welcome packet that you figure you'll never need, I retreated to my office, closed the door, and got to work on making some calls.  First item on the agenda: surgical second opinion.  Even though I was very comfortable and confident in Dr. Sigari, everyone I had spoken to had said the same thing: "a second opinion won't hurt you, so why not get one."  I had to agree, so after some googling, I settled on a surgeon with excellent reviews and made the appointment.  Done.

Next, I had to find an endocrinologist.  With thyroid cancer, it seems that oncologists rarely get involved, except only in the more complex cases; it is an endocrinologist that drives all of the hormone prescriptions and the radioactive iodine (RAI) treatment, once the surgeon is done you.  Dr. Sigari had referred me to an endocrinologist across the street from his office, so I called and found out that she did not have any openings until after my surgery.  I wasn't too comfortable with that idea, as once my thyroid was out, I felt like the clock would be ticking in terms of getting me on the proper thyroid medication and getting me ready for RAI.  So, back to Google I went. 

After finding some endos that looked good, I called each and learned the same thing: they did not have any open spots until July.  I quickly realized that endos were the hottest thing since sliced gluten-free bread.  Emily's cousin who works in pharmaceuticals was nice enough to do an extensive hunt on her end as well, and all of her recommendations did not have any openings either.  

Tip: If you will be in need of an endocrinologist, make sure you make the appointment before you're ever aware you need one.

Mmmkaaay?  Thaaaaanks, Peter.

But after a lot of searching, I finally made appointments with 3 different endocrinologists.  Since they're so important to the whole process, I figured might as well audition them, right?  

This is how I plan to show up to my appointments.

This week, I've felt like I've had three full-time jobs: my job as an accountant, being on the phone making doctor's appointments, and telling people about what was happening to me, both in my personal life and at work.  The whole weekend I had thought that the surgery would be the most strenuous part of all of this, but this last week has been exhausting.

But enough of that.  Time for the weekend!

-W