Musings

Now I'm not one for doctors unless I'm completely disabled by whatever. Over a year ago a lump appeared on my neck to the right of my Adams Apple which following some research on the Internet I self diagnosed as a Goiter. Now for those of you who don't know what a goiter is, it's just the swelling of a thyroid gland due to some 'deficiency' or other.

Mine was not at all painful and is hardly visible, I only became aware of it by touch. Since it doesn't bother me I heeded the wisdom of the Internet and patiently awaited its eventual demise.

Wasp Doctor
After a year of virtually no obvious change in the goiter [a year is quite normal apparently], by chance I was stung right on my resident goiter by a wasp. Now I haven't been stung by a wasp since childhood so being stung is rare, that it should sting me on the goiter is extremely rare [to say the least].

How I came to be stung by a wasp is another story and in any case it was nothing to be much bothered about at the time. It was not painful and some mildly anesthetic skin ointment made me forget all about it within 5 minutes, that is until the next day. At breakfast I noticed that the site of the sting was a bit itchy, which was only to be expected and that another small lump was piggy-backing on the goiter. The itch was soon remedied by the application of some of the same ointment.

But, and here's comes the really strange thing, I also noticed that the goiter had now gone from a fairly hard lump to being quite 'pulpy' and unless I was imagining it, seemed to be reducing in size. Have I accidentally discovered a cure for goiters I wondered?

Cliff Fraser