Thyroid Cyst?

Christmas 2013 came and went. I love Christmases..it always has a special glow and warmth in my heart! We needed to get back to the normal January days and brush away the tinsel from New Year.

What was harder than putting the Christmas décor away and saying goodbye to the wonderful firefly lights was the thought of another evaluation of Ernie's health condition. Only prayers and trusting in the LORD can calm the tightness in my gut at this time. Seeing Ernie so happily going about  with his high school reunions  (which has become more often to his delight!!), serving in  Sta Rita Church, Knights of Columbus, Kagawad No 1, etc etc etc..re-assures me that  our LORD loves him tremendously and has given him so much "work" while here on planet earth!

For this evaluation Dr Charity asked for CT scan of the lungs and chest, MRI of the spine and pubic bone (where metastesis first felt), complete abdominal ultrasound and ultrasound of the thyroid gland where a cyst is being monitored months now.

 Bones, spine, lungs, liver, pancreas, etc..all normal, no change! In cancer, no change is glorious news, something that calls for a celebration!! Except for one thing...Ernie's thyroid cyst grew to almost double the size. We immediately found ourselves goggling information about thyroid cysts and the risk of lung mets, after all this butterfly shaped gland at the base of our neck is close to the lungs.

Dr Charity, upon checking all results congratulated Ernie and even introduced him to several patients asking him to give them words of inspiration! She said not to worry about the thyroid cyst ..from ultra sound it looks benign. But just to make sure, Ernie should have a needle biopsy.

An endocrinologist is the md that does these biopsies. Dr Aquino had to perform this procedure at the 12th floor of the Cathedral Heights building in St Lukes QC. They put a anastetic lotion all over Ernie's neck to numb it..but I thought "what about the inside where the needle passes through??..isn't that going to hurt?" I look at him reading the papers and he couldn't care less about pain or worry.
Can anyone beat that attitude!!

The procedure takes 10 minutes and Dr Aquino calls me in to show me the liquid he extracted from the cyst. He says.."from my experience since 1980's, I say there is a .3% chance this is malignant...let's bet on a bottle of Stella something ( a beer!!!). I could feel my breath going back to normal.. after all point 3 % is less than 1%!! But we had to wait for official patho report.

It came by email after 2 days. Cystic Goiter (thyroid enlargement) - a benign condition that never becomes cancer.

Ernie took his 99 year old Mom and 66 year old sister for a cardio checkup at Heart Center a couple of days back. Dr Romy Santos, a family friend and respected cardio of many years was surprised with Ernie's health update. He said science cannot explain everything. His wife Lala passed away a couple of years back from lung ca that metastasized to the brain. It was a painful story.

Statistics will show that there is a 5% survival rate after 5 years for stage 4 lung ca. It has been 3 years since Ernie felt excruciating pain in his pubic ramus. He is upbeat, energetic and excited about life!! Statistics do not apply to individuals, special one who believes that ANYTHING is possible with GOD!