5/30/13 - I went to visit Dr. Heller and he did his usual digging around and told me that everything felt fine and looked good. He was supposed to be retiring at the end of May 2013 but he will be staying on until the end of the year 2013. I will be seeing him one more time before he retires, with my next scheduled appointment with him being on 12/5/13 at 5:30PM. With Dr. Heller retiring, I asked him who in his practice he recommended that I go see and he said Dr. Patel, which is the one I would have chosen based on the information on their website. I took blood tests in Dr. Heller's office and he told me to call for the results on Monday or Tuesday and speak with his PA, Liz.
6/2/13 - I read the blood test results online and saw that my TSH level was at around 0.05, which seemed a bit low to me since Dr. Fenichel usually wants me to be at around 0.1. I spoke with Liz in Dr. Heller's office and she agreed that they would want me to be at around 0.1, however the 0.05 level was close enough and I should stay on my current dosage of 137 for 4 days and 150 for 3 days, however I could be lowered to 137 all days but I would have to be monitored to make sure that I don't get hypothyroid. Liz in Dr. Heller's office said that doctors usually like patients to be oversupressed for up to 10 years after thyroid cancer surgery.
6/13/13- I spoke with Dr. Fenichel today on her final day before leaving the practice. She concurred that my 0.05 TSH level was a bit low and ideally she would lower my dosage to 137, but she did not know how I would react due to my weight fluctuations overs the years and the constant tinkering with my dosage.
Dr. Fenichel gave several options but said that I could switch my dosage to 137 for 5 days and 150 for 2 days per week, and that I should get follow up blood tests in 2-3 months to see how my body is adjusting to the change in dosage and to make sure that I am not becoming slightly hypothyroid. I do not need to go for blood tests before I see Dr. Bergman, but I need to schedule follow up blood tests 2-3 months after I see him. I told her that I if I knew that she was still at the practice through mid June, I would have switched my ultrasound and office appt up a few weeks so I could see her. Her staff told me that she already left the practice which is why I never made any attempts to switch my appt. Dr. Fenichel acknowledged that the transition was not organized or handled well - big shocker.
My next thyroid ultrasound is scheduled for 6/27/13 and my appointment with Dr. Bergman is scheduled for July 10th at 4:15PM.
No comments:
Post a Comment