Hi Im worried about my thyroid.

Hi my family member was diagnosed with thyroid cancer recently. I am aware of hot nodules and cold nodules. I think cold nodules are cancerous? Well she is awaiting surgery to remove her thyroid as I was told. I also have several nodules on my thyroid , I had an ultrasound but nothing further was said other than several nodules on my thyroid.They can be cancerous for all i know. what is the next step for me to do. I am very worried. We all have thyroid issues in our girls side of family.Waht to do next???

[rose625]

I have recently had my thryoid removed and can tell you a little bit of information. After your ultra sound they are going to want to do a biopsy and then they will go from there. Because you have a history of cancer then they will more then likely want to do surgery depending on what they find. Don't worry to much, though. You will be back to normal in no time.

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  Cancerous lesions in the thyroid are usually "cold" nodules (meaning, they don't take up and concentrate radioactive iodine as much).  However, not all cold nodules are cancerous - only around 10-14%.  If you have a solitary or suspicious nodule which is "cold" on thyroid scan, the next step would be to do either a fine needle aspiration biopsy or an ultrasound-guided biopsy to determine its histology (whether cancer or not).