Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Return Of Drugs To My Life

One would have to say this has been an interesting week.


My head cold finally seems to be getting under control, thanks to Otrivin nasal spray.  Things started to clear yesterday, but this morning has dawned with even more improvement.  Some residual sniffle will curtail weekend activities (keeping warm remains priority), but at least we're moving forward again.


Wednesday was Gang of Seven day and was to end up being a strange old day.  The Gang of 7 was the Gang of 4 to start with - a new oncology registrar I'd seen only once before, Paul the dietician, Shirley the speech therapist and one of the Dental team (who's name I keep forgetting, but he is a really nice guy).  Things were plodding along nicely, then another couple of people joined in and I have no idea who they were.  One was obviously a senior oncology guy - he took over - but doesn't exactly possess a good chair-side manner.


Anyhow, after the usual touchy feely thing with my neck, he decides he wants to put the scope down my nose to have a look at my throat/tonsil.  With the head cold, we agree the right nostril is the least congested, so they numb that up and run the scope down.  Despite having this procedure on a number of occasions so far, it doesn't make it any more pleasant.


The results were mixed - his view was screwed up by the build-up of gunk in my throat, so he ended up not that much ahead.  It was however interesting that he described that gunk as saliva - given the ongoing issues, maybe there is indeed some degree of recovery that I'm not really noticing or just taking for granted now.


So, the discussion moves on to the blood tests and thyroid results specifically.  Seems the last two tests have shown slightly low TSH levels and they want another set of bloods to see how it is now.  If results are still on the low side, they'll call me directly and I'll need to go onto thyroxine to try and stabilise it.


Here comes the technical bits.  The thyroid gland regulates the body's metabolism in conjunction with the pituitary gland.  Every cell in our body needs thyroid hormones to function correctly, so if the thyroid levels are out, things go wonky.  TSH = Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, and its job is to balance out the T3 (Triiodothyronine) and T4 (Thyroxine) levels in the blood stream.  With my TSH level being low, it means it can't produce enough to keep T3 & T4 in balance, thus by boosting the thyroxine, it can return to doing its normal level of duties.


Side effects of the low TSH level go a long way to explaining some of my recent symptoms (I know I've mentioned them before, but it seems appropriate to restate them here) - increased appetite, weight loss, fatigue, weakness, increased anxiety, sleeping difficulties, temperature regulation problems and eye/vision issues.  This last one has actually crept up on me over the last week or so and I had no idea why, but this does sort of fill in the picture now.


Before I move on, end result of Gang of 7 was another clean bill of health.  My weight has stabilised as far as they're concerned and they'll see my again in 3 months.


Thursday morning I got a phone call confirming the the TSH level is indeed still low and they'll mail out as prescription for Thyroxine directly to me - it arrived yesterday and I'm off to get it filled shortly.


So, it seems my pantry will once more contain drugs that I'll need to take on an ongoing basis.  Fortunately it is only one small tablet and I've already set up a daily reminder in my phone to ensure I take the thing each day.


I will also resume weighing myself every couple of days to make sure I don't start gaining weight as a result - not an outcome I'm prepared to go unchecked.


Next medical interlude is the hearing update on the 9th of November.

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