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How Many Posters Had Benign Nodules Without Any Thyroid Conditions?
I was wondering how many on here who have benign nodules have no hyper or hypothyroid conditions and normal blood tests?
artsyrose,
Did you just have the thyroid nodule removed or did you have to have part or all of your thyroid removed? And you didn't say whether you had any thyroid conditions like hyper or hypothyroid with a benign nodule.
Did you just have the thyroid nodule removed or did you have to have part or all of your thyroid removed? And you didn't say whether you had any thyroid conditions like hyper or hypothyroid with a benign nodule.
I'm a bit confused by your definition of benign growths:
You posted: "benign growths are much more common in the thyroid though than in the breasts. And breast cancer is much more common than thyroid cancer."
My breasts are *full* of benign growths, I have very dense breasts with fibrocystic breast disease. Don't even talk to me about self-exams, EVERYTHING is a lump. I have to have multiple mammograms every year and breast ultrasounds. I've been told to feel for a lump that DOESN'T hurt (difficult when the rest of the breast tissue hurts), feels hot (yeah, try that with thyroid and menopausal hot flashes), looks red or dimpled (my entire body looks like that), appears dry or scaly (I live in Utah and it's 7 degrees outside - EVERYTHING is dry and flaky). They know me by name at the breast imaging center at my local hospital and I've never been diagnosed with anything "suspicious" in my breasts however, with the characteristics of some of the fibrocystic breast lumps if they were in my thyroid they would have to be biopsied. Between the mammogram and ultrasounds I don't have to have 80% of my breasts biopsied (better tests, better scans).
If you are referring to suspicious areas in the breast that are later found to be benign on a lumpectomy or FNA, I'm sticking by my observation about better tests, treatments, and scans for breast cancer versus thyroid cancer. There aren't tests to tell whether or not a nodule in the thyroid is malignant or not (unless you get "lucky" and get a positive hit on an FNA) and the resolution on an ultrasound leaves a lot to be desired versus a mammogram.
Breast cancer *is* more common than thyroid cancer and it IS much more aggressive - especially when it's estrogen fed. However, cancer in the thyroid is still cancer and shouldn't be dismissed like many people (and doctors) do. Some forms of thyroid cancer tend to metastize (as does breast cancer and most other cancers) and can be just as deadly. Plus there is NO huge PR effort to get thyroids scanned and checked (unlike breast, colon, and prostrate cancers). No one really thinks about their thyroids until something goes wrong then the cascade effect throughout the body is overwhelming.
You posted: "benign growths are much more common in the thyroid though than in the breasts. And breast cancer is much more common than thyroid cancer."
My breasts are *full* of benign growths, I have very dense breasts with fibrocystic breast disease. Don't even talk to me about self-exams, EVERYTHING is a lump. I have to have multiple mammograms every year and breast ultrasounds. I've been told to feel for a lump that DOESN'T hurt (difficult when the rest of the breast tissue hurts), feels hot (yeah, try that with thyroid and menopausal hot flashes), looks red or dimpled (my entire body looks like that), appears dry or scaly (I live in Utah and it's 7 degrees outside - EVERYTHING is dry and flaky). They know me by name at the breast imaging center at my local hospital and I've never been diagnosed with anything "suspicious" in my breasts however, with the characteristics of some of the fibrocystic breast lumps if they were in my thyroid they would have to be biopsied. Between the mammogram and ultrasounds I don't have to have 80% of my breasts biopsied (better tests, better scans).
If you are referring to suspicious areas in the breast that are later found to be benign on a lumpectomy or FNA, I'm sticking by my observation about better tests, treatments, and scans for breast cancer versus thyroid cancer. There aren't tests to tell whether or not a nodule in the thyroid is malignant or not (unless you get "lucky" and get a positive hit on an FNA) and the resolution on an ultrasound leaves a lot to be desired versus a mammogram.
Breast cancer *is* more common than thyroid cancer and it IS much more aggressive - especially when it's estrogen fed. However, cancer in the thyroid is still cancer and shouldn't be dismissed like many people (and doctors) do. Some forms of thyroid cancer tend to metastize (as does breast cancer and most other cancers) and can be just as deadly. Plus there is NO huge PR effort to get thyroids scanned and checked (unlike breast, colon, and prostrate cancers). No one really thinks about their thyroids until something goes wrong then the cascade effect throughout the body is overwhelming.
utahmomma,
What types of thyroid cancer mestasize this is really scary I thought the majority of thyroid cancers don't spread beyond the thyroid and are very treatable and curable except that anaplastic type which is very rare and mostly people in their 60's and older get it. I agree there really needs to be much better screening and dettections for thyroid cancers. But benign thyroid nodules are still much more common than benihn breast nodules compared to cancerous breast growths. I mean do they say 50% of women get benign breast growths and that 90-95% are benign and only a very small % are cancerous?
What types of thyroid cancer mestasize this is really scary I thought the majority of thyroid cancers don't spread beyond the thyroid and are very treatable and curable except that anaplastic type which is very rare and mostly people in their 60's and older get it. I agree there really needs to be much better screening and dettections for thyroid cancers. But benign thyroid nodules are still much more common than benihn breast nodules compared to cancerous breast growths. I mean do they say 50% of women get benign breast growths and that 90-95% are benign and only a very small % are cancerous?
3 years ago in the Fall of 2003, I had went to my gynocologist for a regular check up and I hadn't been there for a year and 3 months. My doctor tells me then,a year and 3 months later that my pap smear came back with some abnormal cells! I was so afraid I didn't sleep for almost a week until my new pap test came back and the doctor put a rush on it. I have had 2 pap smears including that one after I found out and they have both been normal. But I haven't had a pap test in almost 3 years because the insurance companies don't pay for it until then and gynocologists don't recommend getting one sooner unless you have real risk factors which I don't. But I started to have some reddish brownish blodd spotting a little bit in between my period last fall and it still happens sometimes although it goes away for a couple of months at a time.
I went to my gynocologist last fall about this and she just gave me a regular gyno exam,and didn't see anything wrong. But it happened again a month later so I went back and was seen by another gynocologist who is there when my doctor isn't since my doctor is only there two days a week. This gyno doctor also gave me a regular gyno exam and said everything looks normal. I said isn't there any other test you can give me? She said no just a gynological exam. She said if you were bleeding heavily then she would be real concerned. Well I wasn't satisfied with this so I went to my internist. Now my mother died at 49 from uterine cancer,so I was really worried about this. My internist said that there are certain things you can't see with a regular gynological exam,and she gave me a prescription to get a pelvic vaginal ultrasound,and she said she didn't think it was anything serious and that it could be fibroids but that given that my mother died of uterine cancer she said it was totally understandable I would be worried. I had the pelvic vaginal ultrasound in October the same day I had my thyroid ultrasound that I asked for to check for my weight and slow matoblism. My pelvic ultrasound was totally normal,and the mammogram I had three days later was also normal,but I got the wonderful call from my internist three days after my thyroid ultrasound that I had three small nodules which I never even heard of before!
I went to my gynocologist last fall about this and she just gave me a regular gyno exam,and didn't see anything wrong. But it happened again a month later so I went back and was seen by another gynocologist who is there when my doctor isn't since my doctor is only there two days a week. This gyno doctor also gave me a regular gyno exam and said everything looks normal. I said isn't there any other test you can give me? She said no just a gynological exam. She said if you were bleeding heavily then she would be real concerned. Well I wasn't satisfied with this so I went to my internist. Now my mother died at 49 from uterine cancer,so I was really worried about this. My internist said that there are certain things you can't see with a regular gynological exam,and she gave me a prescription to get a pelvic vaginal ultrasound,and she said she didn't think it was anything serious and that it could be fibroids but that given that my mother died of uterine cancer she said it was totally understandable I would be worried. I had the pelvic vaginal ultrasound in October the same day I had my thyroid ultrasound that I asked for to check for my weight and slow matoblism. My pelvic ultrasound was totally normal,and the mammogram I had three days later was also normal,but I got the wonderful call from my internist three days after my thyroid ultrasound that I had three small nodules which I never even heard of before!
I posted two comments that are listed as my posting on the board,but they didn't post in the topic! I had said to utahmomma,that it's really scary that they didn't know from the ultrasond that your sister had a lymph node effected,I'm really scared that I could have it and that my lymph nodes could be effected and they won't be able to se it on the ultrasound! Also I said that benign growths in the thyroid are much more comon than benign growths in the breasts and breast cancer is much more common than thyroid cancer.
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