Hi Sheila!
I had a suspicious nodule on the left side too, the decision for surgery was easy for me, because it was pressing on my eosophagus and causing pressure symptoms, so i was happy to get it out, They took out my whole thyroid cos i had quite a few nodules most of which came back as cancerous, I waited 8 weeks after getting the suspicious biopsy result before having the surgery and i don't think it had any adverse effect, most thyroid cancers are quite slow growing, thankfully!
I am also a registered nurse and i would have been fit to go back to work after about 2 weeks post op, but when i got the official cancer dx, i took an extra week off, mainly for appointments with endo and oncologist!
feel free to ask any questions! and just remember even highly suspicious nodules don't always come back malignant, i recall other people on here who have had benign result after highly susp fna, but do think it's best to get it out anyway!
good luck
love Helen x x x
Hi there, I had the left side of my thyroid removed a year ago due to a 'suspicious' nodule. It turned to be benign but I did have a tiny micropappilary carc' in the bit of removed gland itself. I had a RAI scan of my neck and the remaining part of the thyroid and all came back clear. I came on here at that time to get more info and support and found this site invaluable! Take a good look through all the posts and run some searches. There are some really knowledgable and helpful posts/answers.
As far as your surgery goes, if no complications, it usually takes 1 - 2 weeks to feel ok. I was in hosp for 2 nights and had 2 weeks off work and was ready to go back. The first few days are obviously a bit uncomfortable but nothing like as bad as I expected. By 6 month post op' my scar was geat - now you can only see it when you look hard - it's hidden amongst my other wrinkles!!
Try not to worry - I know that's easy to say - but so many 'suspicious' lumps on and around the thyroid come out benign. My readings all said 'inconclusive' after the FNAs so I decided to go ahead with the surgery anyway. I would do the same all over again - 'better out than in' as they say.
Even if this little thing turns out to be malignant, thyroid cancers are slow growing and VERY curable. As my doc said - if you're gonna get it - it's the best place to get it! Not really comforting at the time but I can laugh about it now.
I hope all goes well.
J
J