FNA or not?

[english bulldog]

HI
I was meant to have an FNA today, I worried my self sick all weekend and was a nervous wreck before my appointment!
I prepared myself for a little bit of discomfort and remained  positive because i hoped by wednesday (Endo Appt) I would have a better insight as to what was going on with my thyroid!!

Imagine my surprise when the doctor told me he was not going to go ahead with the procedure!! He told me that there wasn't a nodule big enought to obtain a sample from, which left me even more confused as i had been told by the previous doctor that he had found some nodules about a centremeter and a half big?! When i questioned that, he said that even if he did take a sample from one, there were so many other tiny nodules that that one could have come back ok but the others we wouldn't know about! I asked if i had any on the right lobe and he said that my whole thyroid was abnormally large and was covered in nodules (the word he used was course in appearance?) I think?
I also found out that the other doctor on the previous ultrasound report had put suspicious that why i was called for an FNA.
He said i should wait until the endo appt and discuss it further with the doctor.
If my thyroid is abnormal and the other doctor described it as suspicious, will they just leave the thyroid or are there other tests you can have done to rule out cancer? Do they normally order a thyroidectomy (sorry spelling!!) just to be on the safe side and do you think i should push for one if the endo decides to leave well alone?!!!! VERY VERY CONFUSED!!!!!!

[hazelhurst]

If you feel fine, one option is to monitor the nodules, doing another ultrasound in 4-6 months (this is the course I took). If the nodules show growth, and depending on the rate of growth, then it's time to talk about surgery.

[ChitChatNine]

Sorry to read your post .. very frustrating and confusing for you now.  I have no answers as out of my league.  In may case the u/s showed my larger nodule to be 1.7 - 1.9cm's and in biopsy it was only 1.0 cm so there are some discrepancies sometimes.

I had 2 nodules on the one lobe and bcz the one FNA was suspicious they didn't even do the other nodule as he said i had to have that side out regardless.

C~

[utahmomma]

Actually I completely understand why the surgeon did not want to do the FNA.  If your nodule(s) was "course" there is a VERY good chance that they could get a false-negative reading from a FNA.  Meaning that they could miss the area that had cancer and give you a diagnosis of "non cancerous" when there really was a problem.

This happens  - it happened to BOTH of my sisters who opted for the FNAs.  Both of them were told the nodules were benign then, on study after the TT, it was found that they had cancer.

your doctor's description of the nodules(s) being "course" is not a good sign.  Usually benign nodules are smooth in appearance.  Mine was not - it was partially cystic (fluid filled) then had irregular (course) edges of solid material.  That's why I opted to get it out (and it was cancer).

I know there are plenty of others on the forum who had benign FNAs then found cancer after surgery.

Unfortunately there is NO definitive test to tell you whether or not the nodules are cancerous.  I wish there was!!!  Ultrasounds, uptake scans, PET scans, etc. can all give "clues" to your doctor about whether or not the nodules have any worrisome traits but cannot tell you whether or not there is cancer.  A "positive" FNA can tell you, for sure, if you have cancer but a "negative" one CANNOT tell you for sure that you don't.  It's maddening!!

Your doctors may either suggest a TT (depending on the amount of nodules, actual sizes (yeah, ultrasounds aren't real accurate on that), characteristics, etc or suggest close monitoring.  *IF* you opt to monitor them and they determine they are growing, please consider the surgery.

[venora]

Fna s anr not very credilble for showing the cancer .I am one of those Utahmama mentioned that had a negative fna and then had cancer after the TT.My vote goes for getting the thing out.
Love Venora