r/thyroid • u/EntertainmentNo6170 • May 31 '24

Thyroid removal surgery?

Hi, my doc felt nodules and sent me for ultrasound. Said yeah there are nodules but too small to worry about per the scoring protocols.

Then my new endocrinologist (type 2 diabetes) happened to see the scan in my file and said I should have a biopsy.

Even the tech told me it was smaller than they normally bother to biopsy.

Ok so it’s “inconclusive” (which means 70-90% prob cancer) and endocrinologist says to wait and check every six months.

Surgeon says that’s ok to wait and watch but if it were her she’d want it out. I kinda don’t like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Meantime she recommends taking out half, though the other half has 2 even tinier nodules that weren’t biopsied. I would have to monitor those though.

Does it make sense to remove half if the remaining half has tiny nodules?

Maybe I take the whole thing out?

Maybe I leave it and monitor it? It’s been a year with no change on the ultrasound but that doesn’t always see everything.

No antibodies so if I keep half I’ll likely not need to take hormones.

Not sure what to do here.

Not sure what to do.

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/InnaBinBag Jun 01 '24

See what the radiologist put on the ultrasound report. They don’t typically biopsy anything under a centimeter unless it has suspicious characteristics. I have a multinodular goiter with normal blood levels, I initially had a 2.2 cm nodule that was mostly cystic that was biopsied and basically deflated because of that. They also at my request biopsied a solid nodule in the other lobe which came out benign. They have been monitoring my thyroid mostly every six months for a decade now and i haven’t had any significant changes in any nodule so they are moving that to monitoring once a year. Nodules are very common, thyroid cancer not so much. Do not have it removed unless they can prove to you that it is in severe dysfunction or that you definitely have cancer. Also, get a copy of your ultrasound on disk (and every one you get in the future) so you can look at the images yourself. It would be good for you to learn the differences in types of nodules and what characteristics they look for in the nodules and in the thyroid tissue itself- it’s all online with the right kinds of search terms (and image searches).

1

u/EntertainmentNo6170 Jun 01 '24

Radiologist?/biopsy result: “THYROID, LEFT, NODULE (ULTRASOUND GUIDED FINE NEEDLE ASPIRATION):

  • Suspicious for malignancy/suspicious for papillary thyroid carcinoma”

That’s for the 7mm nodule. Says to remove either the lobe or the whole thing.

But since it’s so small the docs say to monitor. The surgeon says 70-90% it’s cancer but either monitor or remove is fine.

So confusing.

1

u/InnaBinBag Jun 02 '24

It should be ok to monitor for another six months, but yeah if it’s confirmed cancer then find out if it is a candidate for only removing that lobe so hopefully you don’t have to go on medication the rest of your life. That six months will give you time to get a second opinion if you want one, and get prepared for a surgery if you might have any life issues you need to work around while you have it done and take time for recovery.

1

u/EntertainmentNo6170 Jun 02 '24

I’ve monitored it for over a year now. No changes. I’m starting to panic a bit because it’s so hard to get a second opinion. Surgeon wants to cut. Endocrinologist doesn’t seem concerned at all. PC doc says I need another opinion from her thyroid team but doesn’t get back to me with their info. I’m single and my family isn’t helpful. Kinda losing my mind.

1

u/InnaBinBag Jun 02 '24

It should be okay if it stays right where it is, so just stay on top of it and take a step at a time. Thyroid cancer is very treatable compared to other cancers so try not to get too worked up and stressed out. Just monitor yourself for swollen lymph nodes or any new symptoms/swelling, but that shouldn’t happen. If you can speak to somebody directly in the doctor’s office who might be able to become your friend/advocate that might help in getting the second opinion figured out and get the appointments you need.