Author: Katherine Williams
It’s all part of growing up. Many of us have had our wisdom teeth removed, but far fewer have had this “coming of age” experience turn into a one-week hospital stay.
All four of Sharon’s wisdom teeth were impacted; they’d have to be pulled out. The dentist told her to get a physical and have her family doctor fill out a form indicating her state of health.
In order to determine any underlying medical conditions that could affect Sharon while she had her wisdom teeth removed, her doctor questioned her about any genetic illnesses or diseases in her family history. He then performed a general physical that included measuring her blood pressure. After being given the “all clear”, she was scheduled to have her wisdom teeth removed.
In October 1989, the dental surgeon removed all four wisdom teeth. Sharon awoke in the recovery room to a flurry of activity around her gurney. The activity was a response to her quickened heart rate – 175 beats per minute, where the normal range for an adult is 60 – 100 beats per minute.
On the advice of the recovery room doctor, Sharon was admitted to hospital where she spent one full week. After two days of blood tests, they had an answer as to the huge jump in heart rate – Sharon’s thyroid was overactive.
Why had she been given a “clean bill of health” prior to this operation? Backtrack one year earlier and Sharon notes she made five trips to her family doctor regarding symptoms that included physical exhaustion after going up only three steps, declining academic achievement noticed by professors in her Masters Program, elevated heart rate, sweating, nervousness, and jitteriness.
While hospital nurses monitored her decreasing heart rate, the attending endocrinologist offered suggestions on how to manage an overactive thyroid and suggested she speak to her family doctor about this condition upon her release.
Sharon’s next appointment with her family doctor included an examination by another doctor in the practice. An overactive thyroid swells. To test for an overactive thyroid, she was asked to do two things: tip her head back while swallowing, so the doctor could look for any enlargement, and then have the doctor palpate her throat. While her doctor still was unable to notice any swelling, the other doctor immediately pinpointed the problem. Sharon did not make any subsequent appointments with the doctor who was unable to identify her condition.
An endocrinology specialist advised Sharon of two options she could choose to manage her overactive thyroid:
1) Surgical removal of part of the thyroid; or
2) Radioactive iodine treatment.
Surgery would involve undergoing a general anaesthetic, an experience that Sharon did not particularly look forward to. She wasn’t looking forward to sporting a visible scar either and the surgery wasn’t an absolute promise that all would be well considering that the surgeon could take away too much or not enough, leaving the possibility that she may have to undergo another surgery.
The iodine treatment involved a test that determined the amount of radiation required to reduce the overactive thyroid to a normal level. This was the treatment the specialist recommended.
Sharon underwent the treatment, however, the physician gave a larger dose of radioactive iodine than required so that the procedure would not have to be repeated a second time. The larger dose resulted in a now under-active thyroid. Fortunately, an under-active thyroid is easily treatable with thyroid replacements and Sharon now takes Synthroid™ which is fairly reasonably priced. The proper function of the thyroid is important to the overall feeling of vitality, and cholesterol metabolism.
Although Sharon is doing better today, she still has challenges with her metabolism. Each year, Sharon’s doctor assesses the level of thyroid medication her body requires and adjusts her prescription accordingly.
© Copyright, PeopleMenders.com Inc., 2009. All Rights Reserved.
About the Author
|
|
Comments
|
All blog comments are strictly opinions of the writers and do not reflect the views of peoplemenders.com.
Post Your Own Comment
Don't forget to
Log-In first.