PPD, Thyroid Disease, or something else?

Image by trublueboy 

I just went in for a cough. To the doctor that is...on Friday. I.don't.ever.go.to.the.doctor.


But the cough was lingering. And there was a tight feeling in my throat. And, besides all that, I was keeping my family up at night listening to my hacking.


So I went. And the doctor found something I would have never imagined.

Image by stevekrh19

"You have a very large thyroid," she said. "Have you ever noticed that before?"

Well, since I really wasn't 100% sure where my thyroid was located, no, I hadn't.

"Let me have another doctor come in and take a peek." And they started asking me questions about this whole past year. 

I told them I had thought--for a year--that I had post-partum depression. There, I said it. Out loud. (Well, sorta.)

I've felt like my brain was in a "fog." I've had trouble focusing. I've been fatigued. 

Since all these symptoms came after Baby Girl was born in October 2010, I just assumed it must be PPD. 

But all those symptoms point to hypothyroidism. 

"You may just have a very large thyroid," the doctor said. "Or you may have thyroid disease. Or...worst case scenario, you may have thyroid cancer."

Cancer? I'd been through that before--twice...with my mom. 

And all I could think about was Little Girl and Baby Girl--in the same shoes I had worn as a teenager--but at a much younger age. 

The doctor ordered blood work immediately. And sent me in for an ultrasound of my neck.

I didn't sleep Friday night. At.all. When Baby Girl and Little Girl awoke at 3, I eagerly pulled them into bed with me and my husband. 

Suddenly, a night of uninterrupted sleep didn't matter anymore. Let my babies cry. Let me nurse and cuddle them. 

Those cries were music to my ears. 

I expected not to hear anything until Monday, but my doctor called mid-morning yesterday. 

"You don't have cancer!" she said. 

Relief flooded me. 

"It's very likely you have hypothyroidism, but it's very treatable," she said. "I will call you Monday with the lab results. We're going to get you better."

It's funny. I went in with a cough. I didn't even plan on mentioning all the weird symptoms I've had this past year. I took them as normal, you've-added-your-second-child-and-this-must-be-PPD changes in my life. 

I walked away thinking I may have cancer. And I get the news today that I do have some underlying health issues--and it's not cancer, but I can get out of this "fog."

Praise be to God our Father and Jesus Christ!

I'll keep you posted. 

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