Challenges Differentiate Amongst Everyone
Everyone has their own challenges. Everyone has their own battles. Each person to exist has their own way of coping with life. I have a story that changed my life for the better. It makes me look at life in a different light. It is a story that not many people may relate to in terms of what occurred, but it is what happened afterward that many may relate to. When it comes to traumatic experiences, different people react in different ways, some good, some bad.
A Visit to the Doctor
What was supposed to be a normal doctor’s visit turned into a total 360 for me. This particular doctor’s visit is when I told my doctor what I was feeling. That raised several alarms for her, and she decided to take some blood samples to see exactly what was going on within my body.
That is when I received the phone call that there was something wrong in my blood and that I needed to go in as soon as possible to get this resolved. I was told I had “Hyperthyroidism,” which is, in short, an overactive thyroid.
The thyroid is responsible for the hormones in your body, and without your thyroid, treatment can be fatal. This is why it was so important to receive the treatment that I did when I did, otherwise, I would not be writing this article right now.
Medications
For two years I was taking a medication called Methimazole. This is what would help control the thyroid, and help it produce a normal amount of hormones. This had been working for a long time, two years to be exact, and everything was returning back to normal; until it wasn’t.
There was a long pause in the summer of 2022 in which I had not taken the Methimazole, as I had to change doctors since I was turning 18. Since I had no access to that medication for a while, and randomly started taking it again, made my thyroid ‘confused’ so to speak.
Around October 2022, is when things really got out of control. I noticed that my thyroid had enlarged, and therefore was making it difficult to eat anything like I used to. From November-April, I ate nothing but soup. I lost 75 pounds as a result.
Surgical Procedure
Losing 75 pounds is certainly not easy, and there were several days within those months in which I would not eat for more than 24 hours. However, in a way, I am thankful for this because it helped me lose the weight. However, it was done in one of the worst ways possible.
Around February, is where I could not take any more of this, and therefore decided to find a resolution as quickly as possible. I was spiraling into a deep pit of depression since I also could not really leave my house due to anxiety being incredibly high. Therefore, I reached out to my doctor and set an appointment for my surgery to be done.
This surgery was called a “Thyroidectomy,” in which they remove the entire thyroid, especially if it was enlarged like mine was. This was proven due to an ultrasound that was taken by my doctor, as well as a CT scan.
In my case, my doctor told me it was best to completely remove the thyroid. He stated it would definitely improve the quality of life after it was removed completely. However, I would have to take a pill for the rest of my life called “Levothyroxine.”
This was done since there would be no hormones in my body after my thyroid was removed. Levothyroxine helps in creating these hormones that the thyroid would create. It is as if the Levothyroxine is a thyroid in pill form.
Day of the Surgery
The day of the surgery arrived, and as nervous as I was, I needed to get this surgery done. I was receiving prayers from all ends of my family, even from those that were not considered family. I was put in that bed with my surgical gown on, and I kept telling myself, “This is it.”
In a way, this would help me reassure myself that this was the change that I needed. I received the anesthesia, and that is all I remember. I came out feeling really weird. It was a feeling I have never felt before. Swallowing anything was still an issue, as expected, and would take some time as I began the healing process.
I was more hopeful than scared when entering this procedure, and here I am, writing this article two months later, healthy as can be and finally turning my life around.
Cheers to a Better Future
There is always an end and a new beginning in life, something that I am experiencing as of right now. Knowing that if I do not take it for a long period of time could mean the end of my life sometimes does terrify me.
But in a way, I am grateful that this happened to me. However, this is something I would not wish upon, even my worst enemy. It truly is something that changes the way you see life.
It is also something you feel you will never get out of. However, there are solutions that are there, you just have to find them. I am now re-enrolling into school, and ready to get my associates in liberal arts, to then transfer to Loyola University to seek my Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering.
I am ready for my life to change. Furthermore, I am ready to write a new story.
Written by David Loran Jr
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of David Loran Jr
Inset Image #1 Courtesy of David Loran Jr
Inset Image #2 Courtesy of Bruce Szalwinski’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
