Friday, September 16, 2011

The diagnosis:

I went to my doctor in July 2011 for my annual exam.  She felt my thyroid and said that it felt enlarged.  She asked me if I had a family history of thyroid problems.  I told her that my sister, who is 32 years old, was diagnosed two years ago with thyroid cancer.  I am 45 years old. 

She sent me for an ultrasound to find out why it was enlarged.  The ultrasound found 4 nodules in my thyroid.  Thyroid nodules are pretty common, and less than 10% of the time they are cancer. 

Since I had the family history, she thought that I should then have a fine needle aspiration on the 2 largest nodules.

The procedure was done in the ultrasound room, by a radiologist.  I was injected with lidocaine on both sides of my thyroid first.  Then he used 4 needles to obtain a sample on the left side, and 3 needles for the right side.  The procedure wasn't very painful.

This is what my neck looked like after the procedure:




It hurt to swallow some foods and to laugh for a couple of days.

My doctor's office called me to come in as soon as they had the results. The first nodule tested, which is solid, is just a goiter.  The second nodule, which is cystic, is thyroid papillary carcinoma.

My doctor had already set up an appointment with an Ear/Nose/Throat physician to discuss my options.

He said that if the cancer hadn't spread to the lymph nodes, he could just remove the one side.  Or, I could have him remove the entire thyroid.  He said, "If it was my wife, I would have the entire gland removed."

It's been an emotional roller coaster since I've had the diagnosis.  My surgery was scheduled for 6 weeks after my diagnosis.  I really didn't want to wait that long, but his thyroid surgery schedule was booked up until then.




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