adenure
Hi!
Don’t you love moms??!! They’re the best! My mom factored into my healing through my Graves journey as well! I too am a person of faith and I’m not a believer in coincidences. My Graves was discovered after I had my 4th baby, but more because of an allergic reaction triggered by azithromycin. I chalked up my symptoms to post partum issues and being tired, run down. The azithromycin episode pushed my body over the edge and got me into the doctor to have blood work and diagnose hyperthyroidism with a referral to an endo who did more blood work (antibodies as well) and diagnosed Graves which was further confirmed with an uptake scan. If it hadn’t been for my scary bout with azithromycin, I would have probably kept thinking it was all baby related!
I started methimazole (5 mg daily) for 7 weeks, but it raised my liver enzymes 8 times the normal amount, so I had to stop taking it right away. It did level out my hormones fortunately, so I was able to have a total thyroidectomy 5 weeks ago. I was not comfortable with RAI for many reasons, but I know that it is the right choice for others. The first surgeon I met with left me uneasy, so my mom (here’s where mom comes in!) told me to come out to where my parents live in CT and have the surgery done there by a surgeon she’s worked with and knows well. She’s a surgical technologist (has been for 20-25 years- not sure exactly). She called her anesthesiologist friend as well and basically assembled her favorites for me! Wow, what a blessing. Plus, we stayed at my parents for 2 weeks- made it a family vacation of sorts and I was spoiled as I recovered. Very, very grateful indeed. My surgery went super well with no complications. I was a good candidate as my thyroid levels were normal, I took SSKI (potassium iodine) drops 7 days before surgery to shrink my thyroid and draw blood away from it to make the surgery safer, my heart rate was fine, and apart from Graves, I am a healthy person.
Right now I’m on the hormone journey- waiting to get labs to get the Synthroid dose right, requires patience and I have headaches, hard time sleeping, and I don’t feel quite right, but I know that with time it’ll get better . It’s a journey, that’s for sure. I am happy with my decision to go with surgery; that isn’t to say RAI is a bad choice or that long term ATD’s are a bad choice. I probably would’ve tried for remission if my liver hadn’t had such a hard time, but knowing for sure that hyper symptoms won’t be visiting me again is a nice relief.
It sounds like, if you are able to get your hormone levels normal, surgery would be a good option for you due to the mass found. I had nodules, but they weren’t very big; they tested them after surgery and were benign. Good luck to you & stay in touch. 
Alexis