CT results

[Debbie C]

I got my ct scan result back today,and all looked pretty good BUT it said I had tiny nodules in my thyroid ranging up to 4mm.Which I never had nodules there before Also it said I had " dependent atelectasis " which I never heard of before so of course I googled it and read on the Mayo Clinic site that is is a complete or partial collapse of the lung or lobe !!! So I'm thinking WTH. I thought I overdid my excercise and its saying my lung is partially collapsed ! That would explain why it is so hard to breathe and being so dizzy.I will try to get ahold of the drs tomorrow but they will probably all be out for Easter, I know my pcp is. Has anyone else had this ????

[Dirty Don]

Hmmm, not the best of news Deb...hang tough. My wife had small nodules on her thyroid...docs ended up taking it completely out as the nods were precancerous. Hope not the same for you as most 'bodies' have nodules throughout their organs and musculatures of some sort...most are not dangerous. Best to you kiddo.

[me2]

I have not had this either. But like Don says most bodies have things have nodules. I have things in my liver which they tell me not to worry about. I guess it is good to know why it has been hard to breath but it isn't exactly great news.
I have no idea what it means to have a partially collapsed lung.
I just did some quick googles and I did see cases where this healed up on its own for some people. Lets hope that it works out that way for you. Focus on the fact that the rest of your CT looked good for now. If you can't get any info right away try and have a good Easter anyway.

[vdub]

I had several nodules on my thyroid and one thyroid was 3x normal size, but there were no worries to speak of. I had it checked once a year and no problems. That having been said, an opportunity came up to have my thyroid removed, so I took it. My thyroid was of no use to me since the pituitary was gone, so there was little point in having it hang around. Unless advised otherwise, I wouldn't worry about the thyroid nodules. Oh, btw, if for whatever reason they want to biopsy the nodule -- easy procedure.

As for the lung -- I don't have any experience in that area. I do have granulomas on my lungs, but nothing like a partial collapse. I hope they can find the problem.

[mishb]

A partially collapsed lung, now that can't be much fun :sad:

My brother did have this many years ago, and yes it corrected itself. I hope it does for you too.

I hope the doctors have some better answers for you, after the Easter break.

[annekat]

Thanks for sharing the results, Deb. I, too, would be a little perplexed about what it all means. I would go with the encouraging posts above and hope for the best. Let us know when you know more.

[Girly3800]

I can't speak to the thyroid issues but my husband (who has WG) has atelectasis. In the absence of other findings, no one is all that concerned because it can be caused by simple gravity and may come and go.

[Debbie C]

K,so heres the latest ... I called my pulmy today and he had 2 patients to see then was doing paperwork in the office before going to the hosp. I told the sec. about the scan ( I had even ran into the dr. at the hosp. the day I had the scan and he asked how I was and I told him what was up ) but anyway I asked if I could see him since he only had 2 patients and she said NO..so I asked if he would looked at the scan and get back with me. In the meantime I called CC and the sec got hold of Dr. Langford who was seeing patients.She wanted me to fax the report since the disc didn't arrive so shortly after I did she called me and asked what was my concern,so I told her about where it said my lung was collapsed.And she said she could she where that could be confusing but that is from laying on a flat surface and your lungs don't get filled up when they took pics.She was happy to see that I am keeping up with my health issues. But since that isn't the problem she wants me up there Tues. and have an echo of my heart and she will write a script to have my thyroid checked here. She is soooo good and I feel so stupid but she said she wanted to put me a ease. On the other hand the pulmy sec called me back and said the "He said you are fine,that nothing is wrong with you now or last year " What a f..... jerk !
So I have to see if my ins will go thru by Tues for the scan.I thought about going to the er and just seeing if I could get it done here.
But that's what going on...NO collapsed lung,still having bad chest pains and dizzy and soo tired, I need to get better,I go to Fl. in 3 weeks.

[Jaha]

Deb,
I hope you get to CC to have Dr. Langford make the calls and have your tests done. You need to get better so you can enjoy your trip to Florida, wishing you all the best. By the way,we may have just missed each other, I was at CC having some testing last Monday and Tuesday. Take care!

[Debbie C]

Well They were able to get my ins. to approve the test,which surprised me since this all took place Fri afternoon and Mon morn she called and said I was good to go with the echo. The lady said she put it on the top of her lists to get done since I was seeing the dr.
I also got my " monthlys " back and everything was GOOD. My sed rate went from 35 down to 15 and my crp went from 2.1 to .01. So all I need to do is breathe and I'll be fine !!! I really think I may have strained my chest from excersizing (trying to keep up with Pete !) and maybe a sinus infection from all this lovely weather.
Jana,I wished I would have been able to meet you up there. I hope all your tests went well.Keep us posted.
Oh,I was wondering the dr. wanted me to see a specilised for my osterporsis so I saw one last week and he wants to me to go on Boniva but I have heard some bad things about that,anyone else taking anything.My parmy told me to take testestorone ??? (sp ?)

[Jaha]

Deb,
I am glad that you got to have your test done and see your Rheumy. It sounds like you had some really amazing news, good job! I will keep you posted about my test when I get all my results. We will meet up one of these days. You can now get ready to enjoy Florida:biggrin1:.
Take care and have a great trip.:thumbsup:

[Debbie C]

Thx Jana, my echo came back good. I asked her about getting off or at least lowering my pred and she didn't want me to.She said everything is going good now and if I get off it then I will have to go up even higher if I had a flare.. SOOOO ! But she did give me a script to get my thyroids checked down here and she also wants me to have another pft done. My sinuses are draining down my throat like crazy but I forgot to tell her that.
Are you doing ok Jana ? Did you hear anything about your tests ?

[annekat]

Thx Jana, my echo came back good. I asked her about getting off or at least lowering my pred and she didn't want me to.She said everything is going good now and if I get off it then I will have to go up even higher if I had a flare.. SOOOO ! But she did give me a script to get my thyroids checked down here and she also wants me to have another pft done. My sinuses are draining down my throat like crazy but I forgot to tell her that.
Are you doing ok Jana ? Did you hear anything about your tests ? I'm glad the echo came back good. I'm going through the same thing with pred right now, and the doc is letting me regulate it myself, since I felt flarish but my bloods were OK. He said I could take 20mg. for a week or so if I still felt flarish, so I did, and it helped. I think I accidentally took an extra 10mg, for a total of 30mg., the other day! I did not like that at all! Not doing that again. Shooting for doing some alternating doses to get down to 10mg., at least. Anyway, it's good to hear Dr. Langford's point of view, as it sort of goes along with mine. Also, I SO know what it's like to forget to tell the doc something, and almost always remember something later. People say to make lists, but I've tried that and it hasn't helped much. I almost feel like the docs are rolling their eyes and mentally looking at their watches when I pull out a list. IMO, If they were really good docs, they'd be bending over backwards to hear the details of what goes on outside of the 10 minutes I see them every 2 or 3 months. HOWEVER, I'm NOT implying that Dr. Langford might be that way. From what I've heard from you and others, she is more the bending-over-backwards type, who covers all the bases, and you are lucky to have her. Sorry about not getting to lower the pred, but it may be the right thing in the long run. Enjoy your time in Florida! And when you get back to Ohio, be sure to meet up with Jana and tell us all about it!

[Debbie C]

I bet you did feel like crap Anne, taking that extra 10 mg. I'm sure you won't do that again. Are you feeling any better ? It would be nice if you could get down to 10.
I know I should write things down to mention because I do that all the time...as soon as I leave I think of something.

[annekat]

I bet you did feel like crap Anne, taking that extra 10 mg. I'm sure you won't do that again. Are you feeling any better ? It would be nice if you could get down to 10.
I know I should write things down to mention because I do that all the time...as soon as I leave I think of something. Yep, I take my meds out of their bottles while I'm drinking my coffee (in other words, not awake yet), and I saw the one 10mg pill sitting there and thought I hadn't taken the other one out of the bottle yet, so I took another one out and swallowed both. But judging by how I felt later, I must have taken the first one out and swallowed it already. I was just feeling pretty jittery and then I could really tell when I got into a discussion with someone and things got a little more heated than necessary. Yes, you are right, I need to work my way down to 10, and was almost there this last time.... have been there before and even got as low as 7.5 but then had flares. Yes, I'm feeling better. And I should start using my daily pill dosage compartment thing again. Are you in Florida yet?

[Debbie C]

No, I am still in Ohio ,I don't leave until the 30th and will be there 3 weeks. I am just now putting my winter clothes away and going thru the summer ones. I am such a clothes and shoe hoarder..its ridiculous,but if they fit and are cute I can't part with them...even if I haven't worn them in years. I keep saying 1 day !!! The problem is ,I have no room for them.
That was funny when u said you knew you took too much pred when you got into a heated discussion...gotta love that pred.

What kind of flare ups do you have when you lower your pred ? Is your bloodwork off or could it just be withdrawals ?
I got SOOOO mad at Jack when we went to CC. He ask the dr. if my biggest problem isn't my anxiety.....I just wanted to punch him in the face.I told him he is NEVER going back there with me again. Her reply was by the way..No she has a right to be concerned but right now nothing to worry about.Needless to say I haven't spoke to him much since w came back and he is not happy about me going to Fl.

[annekat]

My flares usually come on slowly over a period of time so I don't think it's withdrawals so much, though they usually do happen when I'm at one of my lower levels of pred, but I may have been at that level for awhile. The flares usually happen in winter, and I may have had a cold beforehand, and/or been through some stress, nothing major, just everyday stuff like getting enough pottery made for the Christmas season. Then I'll have the flare once that time period is over and I'm just chilling. Usually I'll start feeling it before it shows in my blood work. It is just extra fatigue, extra mucus, and eventually some feverish feelings and maybe some night sweats. This year, if I had one, it was pretty mild. But I was having some night sweats and feverish feelings, and my inflammation level had gone up some, but not a lot, so the doc said I could raise the pred to 20mg. for a bit and then taper back down. I did it and it helped. Now comes the tapering back down. I know I'll have to put up with a little withdrawal symptoms such as greater fatigue. I'll roll with it and try to do it.

Well, it sounds like Jack is very devoted to you, and I understand your being annoyed that he blurted out about your anxiety in the doc's office, but I wouldn't be too hard on him. After all, we do know that anxiety and stress are a factor in our symptoms and how we feel. But it couldn't be just that, your symptoms are real, and I'm concerned about the lung pain you've been having. Maybe I missed it, but it didn't sound like anyone had much to say about that or what might be causing it.

Enjoy your time in Florida, and Jack will be OK for three weeks! You at least need to make up before you leave.