SURGERY - PLEASE HELP!!!!!

I have recently posted stating that my US showed I have a 7cm nodule on my right side. I have been told by many this of course needs to be biosiped. Will see ENT next Thursday.
I spoke with my aunt, whom has been a nurse for many years and she says I need to request that the nodule be removed and biopisied after it's taken out.

Do nodules shrink?? Has any one requested surgery, before a biospy?

Any thoughts............. :)

[TamraW]

I think that even with a biopsy, this nodule is too big to get a thorough sample. Your aunt is right, IMHO.

Yes, nodules do shrink on thryoid medication. Mine did, but my largest one was one cm. It is now 8 mm after three months of medication.

However, yours is very large, and I don't know how much it will shrink. My mom had one your size removed. After the surgery it was biopsied. It was benign, luckily, but we were still glad she had the surgery. She was back to her normal self within the week.

The key is to get an experienced thyroid surgeon. I would insist the surgeon performs at least two thyroid operations weekly and has been doing such surgeries for a few years.

:) Tamra

[mayhala1]

Thanks for responding,

I have been o thyroid med for about 9 years now(i'm hypo). My last US was 6 years ago with normal results. So I don't know how long this nodule has been there or how the growth has progressed.

What does IMHO mean?

Thanks again,

[FaithfulMom2]

I had a partial thyroidectomy (right side removed) in august and had two nodules (both were about 4cm). I had a needle biopsy, which was uncomfortable but worth it, then one of the nodules came back suspicious for cancer. They went in and removed the right side and then sent it off to biopsy. Thank the Lord it came back benign, but I would definitely get a needle biopsy before surgery.

[utahmomma]

I had thyroid surgery without a biopsy, so did two of my sisters (one was cancerous, the other precancerous).  The other two had biopsies which were both negative - but they went ahead and had the surgeries anyway because of the family problems - both of them had cancer.

Biopsies can miss the cancerous areas and some cancers just cannot be diagnosed on a biopsy - you need to remove the entire nodule and send it to pathology.

A 7cm nodule is very, very large and is causing problems in your throat.  7cm is about 3-3.5 inches (bigger than a golf ball) and is moving/compressing vital structures in your neck.  It sounds like surgery is a good call (IMHO)

Utah
papillary carcinoma '04, second surgery '05, recurrence and RAI '06
three sisters with papillary carcinoma
another sister and daughter with precancerous nodules (including one compressing the jugular vein)

[utahmomma]

Oops - I meant 7cm is about 2.5 - 3 inches (so much for my American education)

[TamraW]

IMHO - In my humble opinion


:) Tamra

[TamraW]

What made you hypo? Was it the auto-immune disease, Hashimoto's?

Hashi causes nodules, too.

Has any doctor ever given you the TGab and TPOab tests for Hashimoto's?

Also, thyroid meds usually shrink nodules. The medication shrunk mine. Because you obviously have a very large nodule, and you've been taking the medication, then you should definitely get it removed.

Most nodules are benign. My mom's was as big as yours and it was benign. If it is cancerous, please note that thyroid cancer has a very high cure rate. My brother had thyroid cancer. The surgeon told my mom, "If I had to get cancer, I'd want it to be thyroid."

After surgery, please post your experience on the forum. Also, if you're still tired, constipated, etc, after surgery, then post your levels here. Some endos undermedicate hypo patients because they're afraid of disturbing the almighty TSH.

:) Tamra

[Katfalls]

Hi,
I currently have a two by two inch nodule on right side of my thyroid  . . .I had the left side removed seventeen years ago, that time it was a nodule the size of a lemon.
Well, that is what hashi's causes. I just had a needle biopsy and us . . .biopsy was inconclusive but no positive signs of cancer. Until I can't swallow or it bothers me alot I just try to ignore it. It has caused my normal hypo thyroid to go hyper so had the meds lowered from 100 to 88 and I feel alot better. Everyone is different though, the ENT guy I saw knew something about thyroid so that made me feel better. The medical field has made alot of progress in surgeries, techniques etc. that weren't here twenty years ago!