Three thyroid nudles, one with rim calcification, mother had thyroid cancer

[tamrakat]

Dr. Lupo, Thanks for your quickresponse to my earlier post! Here are some more of my blood test numbers:

TSH - 0.96
Renal Panel: Sodium - 141, Potassium - 3.8, Chloride - 101, Glucose - 81, BUN - 10, Creatinine - 0.8, Calcium - 9.0, Albumin - 4.3, CO2 - 29, Phosphorus - 3.1, GFR - Other >60,
Intact PTH - 11,    Free T4 - 1.06,     T3 - 85

My primary emailed the endo and told her about my mom's thyroid cancer and they moved my appointment up to this Monday, June 9. The endo's going to do an FNA. My doctors are at Palo Alto Medical Foundation in Los Altos, CA. My primary is Dr. Amy Muzaffar and my endo will be Dr. Seneviratne. She called yesterday and said she had reviewed the u/s and is not terribly worried, but wants to see me on Monday because of the family history. I will ask her about a thyroid antibody test for Hashimoto's.

Too many questions, I know..... but: Do the other blood test numbers indicate anything to you? Also wanted to ask you, how accurate is the FNA result? If it comes out benign, can I trust that result and stop worrying? Should I have the nodules out anyway? Will there be continued follow up even if the results are benign?

Still nervous, but at least I don't have to wait a month to get an FNA.

Thanks for your help!

Tamra

[utahmomma]

Hi Tamra

You reached the patient-to-patient thyroid forum, not Dr. Lupo, but we're glad that you are here!  There are many, many of us who have been in your situation.

Just my $.02 worth?

A family history of thyroid cancer is nothing to mess with and with you having calcification on one of yours, you need to take the situation seriously.  Labs aren't going to tell you whether or not it's cancerous and FNAs are *not* always accurate.

Two of my sisters had FNAs, both were negative for cancer, both had surgery anyway (because of family history) and both ended up having papillary carcinoma.  Please seek out a good endocrinologist, ENT, or surgeon who specializes in thyroids.

What type of thyroid cancer was your mother diagnosed with?

I'm just chiming in because, up until 2003, my family had NO history of thyroid cancer - then they found a nodule in my thyroid on an unrelated CT scan.  After pushing my doctor for a thyroid ultrasound, and seeing that although it was small it was still "complex" (mixed solid and fluid) I opted to have it out.  It was cancerous.  

Then my youngest sister was in a minor traffic accident a few months later and a nodule was found on a chest x-ray.  She had a small nodule and an FNA that was negative but she decided to err on the side of caution.  Hers was Stage II cancer (she was in her mid 20s then - if she would have been over 45 it would have been classified at at-least Stage III).  Hers was also in the lymph nodes and had distant spread to her breasts.  Three more sisters got checked then surgeries, two with cancer the other with atypical (precancerous cellular changes).   My daughter also had atypical thyroid cells.

Take it seriously and please keep us posted.  You will find you have many friends here.

Utahmomma
papillary carcinoma '03
recurrence and RAI '06 and possibly '08
three sisters with papillary carcinoma (one with three RAI and recurrences); another with atypical thyroid cells and a teenager daughter with atypical cells.

[tamrakat]

Hi, thanks for responding to my post! I'm going in on Monday for the FNA, but have pretty much decided I'm having surgery regardless of the FNA results. I don't want to mess with it. One of my older sisters has a hard thyroid nodule but her very bad primary doctor won't refer her to a specialist, and told her a recent MRI on her neck also ruled out the nodule being malignant. I'm worried about her and will continue to encourage her to find a new doctor.

Thanks again for your comments!

Tamra

[utahmomma]

Best of luck to you!

Please let your sister know that MRIs, ultrasounds, CT scans, x-rays, lab work . . . none of it can tell you for sure if the nodule is malignant.  The only way to know for sure is to have it taken out.

My doctors told me to just "wait and watch" the nodule but I couldn't sleep at nights with the thought of "what if".  Sounds like you may be in the same spot.

Please keep me posted and PM me at any time if you have questions.

Utahmomma

[tamrakat]

Thanks!!! It helps knowing there are others out there I can talk to about this.