Aa
Also The Doctor Told Me The Ultrasound Machines Are Better Downstairs Oh I Wish
Also, the doctor or his medical assistent says to me that the ultrasound machines are better downstairs,then the one the doctor used on me two days ago! Oh how I wish they didn't tell me that! Now I'm going to wonder if my nodules *do* really have more vascularity and if they do in 6 months when I come back and get another ultrasound done downstairs there with the better machines,I'm going to wonder if they had it before and it just didn't show up on the ultrasound machine he used,or the nodules developed and got worse! Anyway,I'm still left with an unanswered ? about whether my nodules are not cancerous,even though it looks like it's not likely now. I'm still somewhat worried.
You and I are in the waiting game together. The 1/2 of my thyroid left intact contains a known 2mm nodule. Too small to biopsy. Too small w/o cause for them to have removed the whole thyroid during my surgery even though I wanted it the heck out of there very badly but not the other side unless Cancer showed up. Well, as you know some small cancer areas did show up but that was post-op so the other side is still there.
This puts us on common ground. Small nodule(s) .. ultrasounds not showing anything really crazy indicating Cancer .. no ANSWER other than wait and see. I know what it is like. I WAS THERE FOR 9 very long weeks and I am there again perhaps for a lifetime.
The risks of surgery outweigh the benefits right now. Too close to the main artery in your neck; risk of perm. vocal cord damage; risk of perm nerve damage. These things have higher risk factor than *if* you do have something cancerous inside of you.
Once being perfectly healthy and then the next day hearing the mere word "cancer" in your vocabular is scary stuff.
Sounds like you have a great team of Dr's .... my 3rd opinion will be in NY City someplace .. so far all the heavy hitters are out of network .. that isn't a good feeling for me right now but there are some more to explore out of another hospital that come with high regard. You are lucky to have team from PA available to you ........it is ok to have some fear .... but YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF THIS THING ... YOU ARE IN THE DRIVER's SEAT and that is A GOOD PLACE TO BE ..
Looks like we BOTH will be on-board together with this as we both watch and wait as we monitor our pesky nodules!
C~
This puts us on common ground. Small nodule(s) .. ultrasounds not showing anything really crazy indicating Cancer .. no ANSWER other than wait and see. I know what it is like. I WAS THERE FOR 9 very long weeks and I am there again perhaps for a lifetime.
The risks of surgery outweigh the benefits right now. Too close to the main artery in your neck; risk of perm. vocal cord damage; risk of perm nerve damage. These things have higher risk factor than *if* you do have something cancerous inside of you.
Once being perfectly healthy and then the next day hearing the mere word "cancer" in your vocabular is scary stuff.
Sounds like you have a great team of Dr's .... my 3rd opinion will be in NY City someplace .. so far all the heavy hitters are out of network .. that isn't a good feeling for me right now but there are some more to explore out of another hospital that come with high regard. You are lucky to have team from PA available to you ........it is ok to have some fear .... but YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF THIS THING ... YOU ARE IN THE DRIVER's SEAT and that is A GOOD PLACE TO BE ..
Looks like we BOTH will be on-board together with this as we both watch and wait as we monitor our pesky nodules!
C~
One other note .. pls. keep in mind that the reason you see so many Cancer Club members on this board is bcz those who have benign results drop off the board after their surgery .. I hope that helps you :)
C~
C~
Cheryl,
As I just posted to you on ivillage I'm really sorry that you *did* have any thyroid cancer! But I don't understand when you say it was not in any of your nodules but inside the gland. If it was cancer then it was growths which are nodules. Why would that many posters leave this board just because they find out they had benign nodules? They are still something to keep an eye on and have some worry over.
As I just posted to you on ivillage I'm really sorry that you *did* have any thyroid cancer! But I don't understand when you say it was not in any of your nodules but inside the gland. If it was cancer then it was growths which are nodules. Why would that many posters leave this board just because they find out they had benign nodules? They are still something to keep an eye on and have some worry over.
Good ? about leaving board when benign .. this is only *my* assumption and can be wrong .. but I mean many leave the board after having surgery and all is benign. Yeah alot of us continue to stay on-board with benign nodules in progress being monitored, etc. but the cut/dry cases probably post awhile and then fade away.
I forgot your other ? .. will reread and post answer in a moment :)
C~
I forgot your other ? .. will reread and post answer in a moment :)
C~
"But I don't understand when you say it was not in any of your nodules but inside the gland. If it was cancer then it was growths which are nodules. "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I guess, techincally speaking you are correct. If they found small microcarnioma it is technically a "tumor" or "nodule" as we know it in our terms as we speak on the post.
However, these "incidental Cancer findings" (that is what they can be called as many people walking around possess these) actually are less consequence than if the same findings were in the larger nodules I went into the surgery for in the first place!!! And, those nodules were BENIGN!!!
Yes, they call them incidental findings as they can become a problem or can stay encapsulated my whole life and just rest there & remain dormant. IF the nodules were cancer then more aggressive treatment would be in order for me. They would have removed the other side during surgery.
Good point . thanks for letting me reclarify and realize the post was ambiguous a bit :)
C~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I guess, techincally speaking you are correct. If they found small microcarnioma it is technically a "tumor" or "nodule" as we know it in our terms as we speak on the post.
However, these "incidental Cancer findings" (that is what they can be called as many people walking around possess these) actually are less consequence than if the same findings were in the larger nodules I went into the surgery for in the first place!!! And, those nodules were BENIGN!!!
Yes, they call them incidental findings as they can become a problem or can stay encapsulated my whole life and just rest there & remain dormant. IF the nodules were cancer then more aggressive treatment would be in order for me. They would have removed the other side during surgery.
Good point . thanks for letting me reclarify and realize the post was ambiguous a bit :)
C~
Cheryl,
I knew about these microcancers and that they have found them in about 10% of autopsies of men and women equally and many don't ever grow during a persons lifetime and these people died of old and other unrelated causes. But the scary thing is that medical studies have also found that many of these microcancers can be just as aggressive as the larger ones! And we don't really know which ones will become this way and which ones won't! Please look up online AACE American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Task Force On Thyroid Nodules. It's a long extensive excellent paper by oncologists and endocrinologists that addresses these very things.
I knew about these microcancers and that they have found them in about 10% of autopsies of men and women equally and many don't ever grow during a persons lifetime and these people died of old and other unrelated causes. But the scary thing is that medical studies have also found that many of these microcancers can be just as aggressive as the larger ones! And we don't really know which ones will become this way and which ones won't! Please look up online AACE American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Task Force On Thyroid Nodules. It's a long extensive excellent paper by oncologists and endocrinologists that addresses these very things.
Yes, I totally agree and will take a look at your reference .. thx for sharing. This is why I *think* we'll be sticking around on the boards together as we watch and wait with our issues .. the common ground we share is that we both have a nodule that is too small to biopsy and not convincing enough to have removed at this point.
Why I have my ups/downs and in betweens is the reasons you stated.
C~
Why I have my ups/downs and in betweens is the reasons you stated.
C~
I posted this already but it didn't post so I;m posting it again and I really hope it doesn't double post. I wrote that I already knew about these microcancers and that they are found equally in about 10% of men and women's autopsies and many of these people died of old age or from other unrelated causes never knowing they had them. But there are also medical studies you can find online about how many of these microcancers are just as aggressive as the larger ones. And the really scary thing is they don't know which ones will become this way and which ones won't. Please see an excellent online paper called,The AACE American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Task Force On Thyroid Nodules by oncologists and endocrinologists that addresses these very things. Also it's really scary because I could have additional microcancers that were not seen on my ultrasounds too!
I have *3* very small thyroid nodules too small to get a good biopsy,one is 5mm another is 7mm and the biggest is 8mm.
Well no you got rid of all of *yours* except one! I'm stuck with 3 that I have ? about!
Ahhh but what equals us out is my *unknowns* for undetectables on the other side given my history .. I'm just busting you .... <<wink wink>>
I had read that study once before and booked it for any future reference .. thanks again.
Cheryl
I had read that study once before and booked it for any future reference .. thanks again.
Cheryl
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Thyroid Disorders Community
We tapped the CDC for information on what you need to know about radiation exposure
Endocrinologist Mark Lupo, MD, answers 10 questions about thyroid disorders and how to treat them
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
