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thryoid nodulars and goiters
I have numerous nodulars and a Goiter. Have had them for years. Have a ultrasound every year to watch. The last one I just had showed a change of size and shape. I had roentgen therapy in 1950 at the age of 2 1/2 after tonsils and adnoids removed. Was sent to a specialist and he said he would not do a biopsy because their was no way of knowing if it was cancer or not, that I had to decided rather I wanted to worry about it being cancer and spreading or have my thryoid removed I'm confused does this sound normal?
I just looked into the chances of a FNA being wrong. This is what I found at thyroid.about.com. Makes me think I should ask my new endo about a repeat FNA!
"Can You Have a False Diagnosis?
False results, such as false negatives showing your FNA results are benign when they are actually cancerous, or false positives showing a benign nodule as malignant, are more common than you think. Some experts estimate that an average of approximately 2 to 4% of all FNAs may be false results.
Do You Need a Second Opinion?
If you have a negative result, but have risk factors for or family history of thyroid cancer, in particular, you should consider getting a second opinion on your FNA. And, if you have a positive result indicating cancer, a second opinion is also important. You may feel uncomfortable about mentioning this to your doctor, or feel that it will be perceived negatively by your doctor, but, as Dr. Oertel said in her presentation to the ThyCa conference, "Get a second opinion. My ego will recover, but you might not!" "
"Can You Have a False Diagnosis?
False results, such as false negatives showing your FNA results are benign when they are actually cancerous, or false positives showing a benign nodule as malignant, are more common than you think. Some experts estimate that an average of approximately 2 to 4% of all FNAs may be false results.
Do You Need a Second Opinion?
If you have a negative result, but have risk factors for or family history of thyroid cancer, in particular, you should consider getting a second opinion on your FNA. And, if you have a positive result indicating cancer, a second opinion is also important. You may feel uncomfortable about mentioning this to your doctor, or feel that it will be perceived negatively by your doctor, but, as Dr. Oertel said in her presentation to the ThyCa conference, "Get a second opinion. My ego will recover, but you might not!" "
I also had the fine needle aspiration test, but found out now that this test has limitations. If the doctor takes a biosy from healthy tissue, the test won't show cancer even if you have it. but a fine needle aspiration is certainly the next step after a nodule grows.
I would see another doctor. I have a multinodular goiter, and they did an ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration to determine if it was benign or malignant. MIne was benign and the endo doc didn't want to see me anymore. My new primary just refered me to a new endo which I will see on the 20th.
Unless it is cancer or the nodules are benign and causing problems, there should be no reason to remove the thyroid.
If it were me, I'd get a second, or even third opinion.
Best of luck!
Unless it is cancer or the nodules are benign and causing problems, there should be no reason to remove the thyroid.
If it were me, I'd get a second, or even third opinion.
Best of luck!
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