WOOT, another doctor...

My visit with Dr. Oppenheimer, the endocrinologist, was generally just another physical... answer a bunch of the same questions, swallow while he poked and prodded my throat, answer more questions. He didn't want to get into what was going to happen after surgery until after the surgery ... so the only thing that I really know for sure about that is that what I read about only having to take one or two doses of radioactive iodine was correct. I won't get sick from it and may experience minimal hair loss, but it will come out in the shower and I will be the only one who will be able to tell.

During the visit he asked some questions about the bumps I have on my skin, if anyone else in the family has or had them ... the only one that I could remember was Dad having a couple of moles removed several years ago. Dr. Oppenheimer started talking about the possibility of them being Neurofibromatosis. Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a genetic disorder of the nervous system which causes tumors to form on the nerves anywhere in the body at any time. Both Dr. Oppenheimer and Dr. Helvig mentioned that it could be related to a problem with my adrenal gland, something called Pheochromocytoma, which could cause my blood pressure to skyrocket under anesthesia, which could "bump me off" ... SO, we are doing another test. This time I get to collect all of my urine during a 24 hour period and have it tested to measure different types of adrenaline, plus some other stuff. Doing the collection thing on Sunday, deliver the huge orange jug on Monday and then sit and wait again. He said that it can take up to a week for the results to come back. I'm willing to wait, because Dr. Oppenheimer will not allow the Thyroid surgery until he knows the adrenal gland is not an issue.

You'll have to forgive me for not writing more tonight, but I'm really tired and think I should take a break from the computer.