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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