If I'm recalling correctly the sequence of events, after my neck was broken in 2001 (an SUV t-boned my compact car) an ortho or neuro doc spotted some enlargement in my thyroid and told me to get it checked out.

My family doc did a thyroid panel and found it was abnormal. After an interview to check my overall symptoms he said it ticked the boxes for Hashimoto's, not just hypothyroidism. I had a hodge-podge of seemingly unrelated symptoms that my previous doctors had ignored because they were thinking in terms of their niche specialties. It ranged from not just low energy to a fairly sudden onset of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis that came and went without any apparent pattern, body-wide aching during those episodes that lasted for days or weeks, increasing incidence and severity of headaches, depression, etc.

A rural county clinic was able to provide meds at no cost because I was out of work for years after the car wreck injuries. They included levothyroxine. Seemed to help.

But in 2006 I realized my mom wouldn't be able to live alone much longer -- early signs of Alzheimer's, worsening physical disabilities due to osteoarthritis and multiple falls with worsening back injuries and concussions, etc. I'd just finished a stint as caregiver for both grandparents (I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman and seemed to be the logical choice to handle those duties). So I took over the same chore for my mom, which lasted 11 years. I didn't expect it to be that long, but mom improved physically while her dementia worsened -- partly because I'm a good cook and got her off the junk food and onto a good diet, and ensured she made her medical appointments and took her meds. She lost about 50 lbs over a period of years, and I lost about 25 lbs -- I'd ballooned to 205 after my car wreck injuries, way above my natural 150-160.

Anyway, during that time I neglected my own health. Never went to the doctor, didn't renew my thyroid meds. I fell into the cliched caregiver trap of self neglect.

In late 2017 while riding on the MUP -- slowly -- I passed a small group walking and we started chatting. The woman took a look at me and said "You need to get that thyroid problem taken care of." Turns out she's an internist. Alas, her practice was outside my coverage area or I'd have visited her practice ASAP. Anyway, she said it wasn't just the lump in the neck but my overall appearance. That was startling.

But I still didn't do anything about it. My mom's dementia was rapidly worsening and she'd lost Medicaid coverage for visiting nurses and aids. So anytime I was away for errands or a bike ride I had to depend on neighbors to keep an eye on mom, but that wasn't practical at night or for more than a few hours once or twice a week.So I didn't go to the doctor until May 2018 when I was hit by a car while riding my bike. The neck X-rays showed the thyroid was much worse -- basically calcified and radio-opaque from calcification. Fortunately that helped encapsulate the cancer so it didn't spread. By then mom was in a nursing home and I had the rest of 2018 just to take care of my own health issues. Surgery in November went well. It's just taking awhile to get my energy back.

Some days are better than others. Most of last week was pretty miserable. Today is pretty good. So I'm going for a bike ride.

Thanks. A good day is when I wake up wanting to ride my bike, instead of wishing I felt like riding my bike.