September 25 at Duke

Oct 2

As many of you are aware, I went to Duke September 25 for three appointments.

I’m going to start out by reiterating what I’ve said before. The standard of care at Duke is phenomenal. If I have to be a patient, I am thankful to be a patient at Duke.

8 a.m. Labs

Inhibin A
Inhibin B
AMH

I was seen on time, had a pleasant conversation with the woman drawing my blood, and was out the door in less than 10 minutes.

9 a.m. Dr. Rossi and Dr. Patel

This was a routine appointment since I don’t have any major complaints and labs were done for the first time post-op just an hour before.

We talked about the need for routine monitoring, and we agreed on doing a CT scan for January. It’s likely I’ll have CT scans every 3-6 months and blood work every 3 months for the foreseeable future.

On my way to Duke for the first time back in April, I had my first Detox Island Green smoothie from Tropical Smoothie. I drank quite a few of those same smoothies while in the hospital after surgery, and because there’s a Tropical Smoothie in the Duke Cancer Center, I now feel like this smoothie is just a needful part of the whole routine.

1 p.m. - Thyroid Biopsy

So, no one warned me. A thyroid biopsy is no joke.

I’m not kidding. The biopsy was more painful than anticipated, though in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t even compare with some of the things I’ve already done. Part of the issue was the Lidocaine did not work the way it was supposed to, plus they needed to go in three times - the 3rd time with larger needle. And I felt pain every single time they punctured the thyroid.

After they’d gone in the 2nd time and decided they need to go in a 3rd time, I had to ask for a short break to gather myself because I really thought I might pass out. Thankfully, I did not, and on the 3rd attempt they got an adequate sample.