questions about multi nodular goiter...

[KellyK725]

Hi,
I had high TSH, next time tested - High Antibodies, went for an ultrasound which showed a goiter.

My GP is sending me to an endocrinologist. She is worried because I just got a cancerous ovarian cyst removed and she thinks it could be linked to my thyroid problems. It's a multi nodular goiter, there are about 9 nodules that it says on the ultrasound report and most of them are like .05 cm x .05 cm x .05 cm.

Does anyone have guesses as to what the endocrinologist will do at this point? I was reading somewhere that they won't even consider cancer or performing an FNA unless a nodule reaches 1 cm or larger.

Any insight or past experiences from anyone would be helpful! As you can imagine, It hoguht my cancer scare was over and I was just dealing with a stupid goiter and maybe being hypo for the rest of my life, but now hearing the possibility of the "c" word again is scaring the **** outta me.

Thanks for your help!

[lcjackso]

Hi Kelly,

I've also got a multinodular goitre and was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (which I'm guessing is what your antibodies are) Apparently multinodular goitres are not uncommon, particularly if there are antibodies and VERY RARELY mean cancer. Single nodules are considered more worrying.

When I saw an endocrinologist about my thyroid I had a scan showing a few nodules which are about 0.5/1 cm in size. He put me on a dose of levothyroxine and did a repeat scan a couple of months later. The idea was that the thyroid medication would take the pressure off my thyroid which would hopefully shrink slightly and if the nodules shrank too then they were part of the thyroid rather than cancerous. He said that they could do a biopsy (take a small sample of the nodule) to test, but the antibodies could cause a false positive result. Since then I've had follow up scans every 6-12 months and as long as nothing substantially changes there's nothing to worry about.

Obviously your situation is slightly different given your history and they may take it more seriously, but it's likely that it's nothing to worry about. Good luck anyway

[Barb135]

I have a multinodular goiter too, but the report stated "no dominant nodules", so it's a wait and see; but then I don't have a history of previous cancer.  Your situation may very well be different.

Good luck.