It’s been a while since we have done a update, here is what is going on.

On June 9th I went to my endocrinologist at UCLA, to get the results of my latest CT scan and blood work.  The news from the doctor was not as good as my last results.  I was told I have 7 lymph nodes that are larger than a centimeter.

If they are over a centimeter they get concerned. The larger lymph nodes are in my neck and upper sternum (top middle of my chest.  My thyroglobulin, “goblins” is what I call them, were elevated from 14 to 19, not bad but when number start coming up it shows that there is disease.

This was hard news to take I knew it would never be gone but did not expect it to come back so fast.  Doctor suggested I do a PET scan to verify that there aren’t any larger lymph nodes under the sternum or in lungs or heart. I would then go see the surgeon who did my surgery at Loma Linda to get his opinion on our next move.

I finally got the PET scan approved and scheduled for July 24th a day before my appointment with the surgeon.  Today I got a call from Loma Linda stating they need a significant 20% copay before they will do scan.

I am discouraged.  I had to fight for months to get CT scans approved, fight to get a PET scan approved all to find out that my part of the scans need to be paid upfront and in full.  At this point the financial impact is too great to move forward, I am going to have to postpone my PET scan and just go see the surgeon to see what his suggestion is.

The options are to proceed with surgery, Iodine pill or just wait to see if the blood work changes and Lymph nodes grow.  I assume his next step will be to do an ultrasound guided biopsy to see if the lymph nodes are affected.

I am asking for prayers, I need strength to keep fighting for these tests, I hit a wall every time I am constantly on the phone with doctors, nurses and insurance company.  Prayers that Biopsy will come up clean and blood levels go back down.

Thank you for your continued prayers.  I will be sure to send an update after my appointment with the surgeon.