Talk about getting a lump in your throat.

2011 has been a pretty crappy year for us, and to cap it off, this past week has been one of the worst ones I can remember. I'm not going to go into all of the details but I will tell you that the most recent episode involved a bit of a health scare for me.

I've been dealing with a string of issues since this summer and last week saw me visiting the doctor for an EKG, a chest X-ray and a cardiac stress test due to some chest pains I had been experiencing. Everything turned out normal and it seemed to all just be a false alarm until I got a call from the doctor's office saying they saw something abnormal on my X-ray. Apparently while they were looking at my chest cavity, they noticed that my trachea was curved and were concerned. To take a closer look, they recommended I get a sonogram immediately.

This is where I began to start freaking out, thanks in large part to Google search.

So, after a very stress-filled weekend, Carrie accompanied me to my sonogram on Monday morning during which they found a large mass on my thyroid.

Commence further freaking out.

Tuesday, I spoke to the doctor's office and they said I now needed to get a CT scan, so yesterday Carrie once again accompanied me to the office. I'd never gotten a CT scan before and I've got to tell you, it's pretty scary, from the iodine drip that makes you feel like you pissed your pants (which I actually might have) to the possibility of them actually finding something, I was pretty worse for wear. Luckily I didn't have to wait too long to get the results, my doctor scheduled an appointment for later in the afternoon to go over everything.

Yes, even more freaking out.

My appointment finally rolled around and after what seemed like an eternity, my doctor finally got to the point of discussing my results. It seems that I have developed a rather large cyst on my thyroid (about baseball size, although my doctor described it as "half a basketball" which sounds more impressive, so maybe I should go with that). While that sounds pretty bad, the important word here is "cyst" as in fluid-filled which means it's very unlikely that it's cancerous which was my primary concern. My doctor was pretty amazed by it and by the fact that it doesn't seem to be effecting my breathing or eating. In fact, he was so impressed by it, he brought in the PA to look at it too (I thought about charging a nickel a touch and hiring a carnival barker).

All in all, it was great news, which should tell you a little something about just how crappy things have been for us.

I go in next week to see an ENT to determine what the course of action will be to get the thing removed. Not exactly how I wanted to spend my Christmas break, but maybe I will be able to get it all taken care of this year so that we can start 2012 on a good note. For now, we're just going to focus on giving Park the best Christmas possible.

I'd like to thank everyone who has known about everything we've been going through and has offered their love and support. It has meant the world to us. More than anything I would like to thank Carrie for being the amazing person she is and Park for being the motivation to get through it all.

Now for the photographic evidence.

Looking up.