Last night I dreamt I was back at secondary school. This is not unusual in itself, as being back at school is a reoccurring dream for me. I did spend seven of my most formative years there, after all. I still vividly remember my classmates: their names, nicknames, personalities. My secondary school was also the most unpleasant and traumatizing part of my life. Back then, everyone thought I was a loser.

So last night, I was back at school in my dream. But this time, I had recovered from hypothyroidism. I was energetic, talkative and sociable. I was excitedly telling people that I was better. One of my schoolmates went to laugh at the protrusion from my neck (my enlarged thyroid gland). Then he stopped, and said "It's gone", or something to that effect.

I have a strange regret: I threw away my old bus pass, circa 2000. On it was a photo of teenage me, with what I called back then an "ice cream cone neck". I didn't know what else to call it. My neck looked like an ice-cream cone - that is, my throat protruded out from my neck. If I had that photo today, I could show you that even way back then, I had an enlarged thyroid.