Thank you,for your explainations on what happened,to you"ll This helps me,some of what everyone has said is or has happened,to me.I am over in Australia and my doc is in the states,however I have a doc here and he says,If I dont have any problems,with it.that I wont need surgery.however I do experience some discomfort,with swallowing,and if I get,upset I cant hardley breath,I am trying for my,Visa in Australia,and if I have this,I am very scared,they wont give me my Visa.I would be a medical risk,for this country,so Im very upset,that this has gotten worse and I dont know what to do my husband and home is here,Any Advice anyone...........Cheri___
My thyroid nodule was discovered during an Ultra Sound for a swollen lymph node in my neck. I finally I had a reason for all the choking on food, coughing constantly especiallly when I tried to lay down at night. I gained weight no matter what, my voice was scratchy, basically i was not myself.
My symptoms started 8 yrs ago, right around menopause and I thought it was all due to getting older and lack of estrogen. NOPE. I am now able to reduce my Estrogen because my thyroid meds are helping me stabilize.
My ENT refused to leave the growth alone because my brother had thyroid cancer and he was afraid I was harboring malignant cells. My blood work was normal like yours, but my awful symptoms awful made the tests subject to interpretation.
My ENT said in 6 months or two years when it has grown so large you want it out, you will be older and the recovery may be more difficult. My surgery was 7 months ago at age 59...
I am glad we did it. I have 1/2 left and i am taking Levothryroxine to help me. I don't understand why any doc would leave a large goiter in. I was choking on everything no matter how slowly I ate. Even drinking water was choking me at times.
My biggest concern on having 1/2 or all of Thyroid removed, was the meds I might have to be on. I didn't want to travel that road.
But if you have to you have to. I am losing weight finally and my feet don't hurt anymore. In hindsight, getting rid of that growth was the best thing I did.
I have gone through every step possible since discovering my goiter by accident. A MRI of my neck from a car accident showed the mass so I went to 5...yes 5 different endocrinologists before I got the needle biopsy. Reason was 4 of them didn't do it themselves and were sending me to another facility for the procedure. I found a great doctor in NY (I live in FL) that did the biopsy guided by ultrasound right in his office. It took one pass and I was done...no pain like the stories I heard from others. I was thankful I found him because he knew what to do quickly and I was very comfortable with him. I had prior to that visit an ultrasound and iodine scan, and was still suggested to have the biopsy even though my blood is normal. The biopsy was negative and the cells were normal. It’s been suggested from the start to have it removed because of the size. They will grow and could possibly obstruct your breathing and swallowing in the future so the inevitable is removal. I was told to do it while I was still young and healthy. I am taking my time and will get another ultrasound next year to see the growth rate and decide from there when to schedule the surgery. I would be happy to refer you to the doctor in NY if you are in that area.
I just had a total thyroidectomy for my goiters 8 days ago. My levels were always normal too but my largest goiter had grown so large that it had started affecting breathing and swallowing. Do you have problems like this? You deinitely have to keep watching it as it will most likely grow. They will want to do a fine needle biopsy to check to be sure it's benign. The first step is normally a thyroid ultrasound. If your doctor isn't doing those things for you, then I would get a new one.
My suggestion to you is to follow with with a Endocrinologist or a Thyroid Specialist to make sure that the Goiter does not have Abnormal Cells. Most Goiters will continue to grow and cause problems. Most docs will recommend follow up every 6mos.