About Me

I'm a student of the Diagnostic Ultrasound program at Bellevue College.  I was diagnosed with papillary carcinoma of the thyroid in May of 2013 that was discovered because of an ultrasound one of my fellow students performed on me.  Because of this my prognosis is so much better than it could have been.  The cancer is located on the back of my thyroid and it would have taken years for it to become big enough for me to notice by which time it could have spread even further.  I feel very lucky to have had my cancer caught so early, but it's still scary.  I started this blog partly to wrap my head around the idea of being "a person with cancer" (I refuse to be a "cancer patient", person first, disease second if it all).  I also started it because I don't live near most of my friends and family so I wanted a way to keep them involved so hopefully they'll worry less.

Why "Bowties n' Butterflies"?

I named my blog this because it's two of the ways we describe the shape of the thyroid in school.   When we do an ultrasound we draw a bowtie or a butterfly on the patients neck using acoustic gel before we start the scan.

Are you sick?

A little, probably more than I'd like to admit.  I seem to get alot of colds easily, they're a lot worse than they should be, and it's harder for me to get over them.  I also feel tired a lot.  I tend to fall asleep if I sit still for too long.

Are you going to lose your hair?

Nope!  The kind of cancer I have has very specific receptors for iodine that no other cells (other than healthy thyroid cells) have so when I get radiation treatments it'll only target the bad stuff and leave everything else alone.  I am hoping for super powers, but I'm told this is unlikely.

How bad is it?

Thyroid cancers grow very slowly and metastasize late so the fact that it was caught early is really good.  I'll need surgery, radiation, and life long medication but the odds are very much in my favor for a long, normal (for me) life.

What can I do?

My sister is working on a way for people to donate towards helping with medical expenses.  Since I don't have health insurance this is my biggest fear right now.  I very much want to be able to continue my education but I might not be able to if I can't afford tuition. Other than that I could use your love, support, prayers, mojo, and hugs.