The Costs of a Hospital Admission

My husband underwent total thyroidectomy on a Thursday morning for a thyroid nodule.

First, as a wife and second, as a doctor, the possibility of a neoplastic disease is a major concern. Although, literature suggests that majority of the solitary nodules of the thyroid prove to be benign and carcinomas account for less than 1 percent that represents 15,000 new cancer cases each year. A review of clinical criteria relating to the nature of the given thyroid nodule showed that (1) in general, solitary nodules are more likely to be neoplastic than are multiple nodules; (2) nodules in younger patients are more likely to be neoplastic than are those in older patients (my husband is 34 years old); and (3) nodules in males are more likely to be neoplastic than are those in females.

Economics of finances and time, initially, pointed us to postponing the surgery. We have PhilHealth, no HMO and a shaky Hospital plan. However, when I took a good look at my husband's eyes, I saw the fear and uncertainty. I tried to comfort him with the result of the morphologic evaluation in the form of the fine-needle aspiration biopsy, even as I know that the histologic study of a surgically resected thyroid parenchyma would provide the most definitive information about the thyroid nodule.

We prayed for guidance, armed ourselves with God's infinite resources; we took a leap of faith and proceeded with the surgery.