Hi -I'm new with questions

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2006
Hi -I'm new with questions
6
Fri, 08-04-2006 - 1:26pm

Hi!
Another newbie!

I have read the posts for a few weeks now, and am read to post now myself. I found a lump about three weeks ago and saw my MD. Bloodwork showed normal thyroid levels and the ultrasound showed one cystic nodule and a goiter. My ultrasound-guided biopsy is in three weeks. It'll be done by a very experienced radiologist in the hospital.

My MD said that if it comes back "OK" we'll do the scan. I have read enough to know that the biospy isn't 100% conclusive. I am scared and I know I'm not alone. Your posts are so interesting. I haven't found one that is like me though. Is there? I am so "early-on" in the process. I realzie that. As so many of you have said - the worst is the waiting. I am all too familiar with that. But I'll talk about that another time.

With thanks
F

Avatar for cl_calley7
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Fri, 08-04-2006 - 11:49pm

Hi Canadiangirl2006,


Welcome to our board.

 

Calley7

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2006
Sat, 08-05-2006 - 8:03am
Thank you for your response - it's all about the waiting, isn't it?
I guess what I worry about is that my blood work is normal and it is a single nodule plus the goiter. So why did it form? I just think cancer every time I put those things together.
Avatar for cl_calley7
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Sat, 08-05-2006 - 8:29pm
That is an interesting question.
 

Calley7

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-13-2006
Sun, 08-13-2006 - 9:20pm

Hi canadiangirl2006!

I am new to this too! In June I found a lump the size of a golf ball on the right side of my neck. I went to Urgent Care because I didn't know what else to do and the doctor there referred me to a ENT doc. After waiting a week, I went to see him, he assured me it was fine, but sent me to have an ultrasound and needle aspiration biopsy.

I just had that done on August 1st. Word to the wise, if you haven't had it done yet, make sure you tell them you can feel the needle insertion, I didn't and it was definately uncomfortble. The radiologist told me the golfball was a fluid filled cyst and that I had a 1.9 centimeter sized nodule. However, I have smaller nodules and cysts on the left side as well. He told me this is a good sign, because cancer usually presents with a single larger nodule.

Anyway, a week later, my doctor called and told me some unsettling news, he had found folliculat cells. They are most commonly associated with goiters, but can also be a tumor. I am scheduled for surgery on the 30th of this month and I am frightened beyond all belief. I am a single mom with two teenage children, so I hold it together as well as I can. They are both aware, but I am trying to downplay the cancer possibility as much as possible. All my bloodwork came back normal from the biopsy, so I truly believe I am ok.

But, I know exactly how you feel, the waiting is excruiciating! I have been doing research nightly and found this board today, I have read almost all entries and I feel much calmer. Please feel free to respond back, since we are newbies to this, we can lean on each other.

My thought and prayers are with you!

Julie

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-16-2006
Thu, 08-17-2006 - 8:21pm
Not necessarily. Since my daughter has been having thyroid problems, I have been talking to a lot of people about thyroids. I did not know there were so many people with types of thyroid conditions. What I am finding very interesting is it seems like every story varies from just a little different to drastically different. There are people who go straight to medication, straight to a scan, or ultrasound, or biopsy. I am not sure just how the course for diagnosis or treatment is determined. (I am new at this too). I have a cousin with hypothyroid who went straight to medication after a blood test. I have a co-worker who had goiter and a nodule who went straight to needle biopsy (no scan done) and after the biopsy has no problems and needs no medication. I know a wife of a co-worker who had hyperthyroidism who had no scan or ultrasound, went straight to killing the thryoid and is starting medication just as soon as her levels drop into hypothyroid. There are a few more stories, but you get the idea. I guess just waiting through the testing process and asking a lot of questions to your care providers so what you get is the right treatment for your specific condition. Seems it is very individualized. It is SO hard to WAIT. You didn't say--how are you feeling PHYSICALLY? Since your blood work seems normal, do you have any symptoms besides the goiter? Good luck.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2006
Wed, 08-23-2006 - 7:46pm
Waiting is the worst. I have waited 3 1/2 weeks for this biopsy. It's tomorrow. My family is at a cottage and I had to come back today for tomorrow's test. I have managed to control over active imagination but it is not easy. Waiting for the results after the biopsy will be even worse.
I have struggled with energy, lack of weight loss, thinning hair, heavy periods for the past year. When I found the lump and had it assessed, it seemed that I would turn out to be hypothyoroid, it all made sense. But according to the MD, my bloodwork was normal. So then what? I was told that there was 1 nodule - not a good sign, I know. It's so aweful! I hate all of this!!
Thanks for the info - I'll keep you posted!