It being me!
This week has had it’s ups and downs. Wednesday was a particularly tough day in many ways, partly due to the way I push myself to the limits and partly because of some test results which were not as I’d hoped and brought back lots of very unpleasant memories.
Late in 2008 as we had been in Australia for two of the four years on my 457 visa we applied for permanent residency. My job was going well, we had made lots of friends and in general life was as good as it was ever going to be while I was not the person my heart knew I should have been. Unfortunately as part of the medical needed for the visa I had to have a chest X-ray, nothing difficult about that until the guy doing takes it too high and it revealed a mass of something in my throat. The doctor handling the medical was seemingly convinced that it was serious and needed surgery to remove what he surmised was a cancerous thyroid. He sent me to a surgeon who was rude, flippant and down right unpleasant, he too told me that my thyroid needed removing straight away before it spread. My then wife was having none of it and told me when we got back into the car that he was not touching me and she would find someone else. To her credit she did exactly that, a lady in Perth who specialised in thyroid surgery but was adamant that it was a last resort and that lots of surgeons remove thyroids unnecessarily as there are lots of other ways to deal with the issue. She asked us to go the the hospital where she operated from and have some tests, I enquired what the tests were and she mentioned a CT scan and possibly a biopsy. She wanted me there at 7.30 am and allocated a room on site so we didn’t have to travel up very early in the morning. I was concerned about what lay ahead for me but nothing could have possibly prepared me for that day. The CT scan was bad enough, for some reason I had to be at a very strange angle, almost upside down while they filled me full of contrast die, I thought it would never end but it got worse, a lot worse! I was informed I would need a biopsy, I am petrified of needles at the best of times but as my wife kept telling me it was necessary if we wanted to stay in Australia. I was taken into a small room where there were several people and lots of machinery. I took off my shirt and a guy who was seemingly in charge explained that the needle would be guided by ultrasound to the correct place for the biopsies to be taken. I questioned the biopsies word to which he replied that he would need to do several to make sure he got samples of every part of my thyroid. I panicked and burst into tears, I knew it wasn’t going to be fun. He then spent the next three hours taking thirty six biopsies from every possible angle. It was the worst day of my life to date without any exception. Three hours being told don’t swallow for the next five minutes and keep very still. Tears rolled down my face most of the time, the nurse at the side of me held my hand, I bet she wished she hadn’t as I squeezed it very hard at times.
The reason for telling this story is that on Wednesday it looked like it was all starting again, my thyroid is misbehaving despite having radioactive iodine treatment in 2012 and a biopsy was recommended. I thought of nothing else all day, it didn’t matter that I worked flat out all day to do a considerable job which I had quoted for in less time than I had allowed. Having these thoughts filling my head was probably not ideal while wielding a chainsaw! Consequently I didn’t sleep at all on Wednesday night, I even resorted to Tamazepam to try and get off but it didn’t help so I took another. When Denise got up for her walk I did manage a couple of hours but felt absolutely crap when I got up. This is where the caring people come in for which I am so thankful. First off I had an appointment with the crystal guy, immediately made a fool of myself and burst into tears, he was amazing, truly amazing. We talked for a while about what was going on in my life and how stress creates problems with the thyroid, he then got me to lie down while he proceeded to clear some blockages in the area of my throat and slowly draw them out of my body. It was unbelievable, he held a crystal above my throat for a while then I could have sworn he must have been touching my abdomen as it was a really strange feeling but his other hand was nowhere near me, something was moving for sure. He then went further down my body in order to get what ever it was out of my feet and I immediately felt a release. He then taped a piece of amazonite to me and said he wanted to see me in a week. Weird but remarkable, he was so kind to me, we talked about the stresses going on in my life and gave me some suggestions to help deal with them.
Next port of call was a massage appointment at our next but one neighbour. She could immediately see that I was not myself and rather than get straight on with the massage we had a cup of coffee and talked for a while. She held my hand as I told her the story of the surgeon lady in 2008/9 and we talked at length about a particular stress which has been ongoing for almost two years. When she did start the massage it was wonderful, she dealt with the knots in my shoulder which have been troubling me for some time and really got the blood flowing. A very pleasurable treatment indeed!
In the afternoon I had an appointment with my osteopath in Bunbury. It doesn’t matter how bad I feel when I see her I always leave feeling much better. Like the crystal guy you need to have some belief in the methods she uses but with me it just works, not only do I feel better physically but somehow she always helps with the emotional side as well. I left her clinic with a clarity which I didn’t have when I went it (and a very heartfelt hug as usual) and some instructions on how to help myself improve the thyroid function on a day to day basis. This lady has made such a difference to me on so many occasions and was indeed pivotal in setting the ball rolling all those years ago which got me to where I am now.
To complete my day when I arrived back from Bunbury Denise was at home waiting for me. We talked for a long time about my day and how lucky I am to have all these wonderful people caring for me. Having such a beautiful person as Denise to tell about the day was the perfect ending, needless to say I slept much better last night, my head was clearer, my body less aching and ready for a big day today preparing for a busy weekend at Nannup.