Question about Thyroid Issues

Lexica

I have a question for those who have been through thyroid cancer or have issues with their thyroid. My MO sent me to endocrinology to get my thyroid checked because it looked enlarged. I didn't report this to him until after he had mentioned it, but that general area had been causing me discomfort for the previous couple weeks. Three weeks later (no more discomfort in that area) I saw endocrinology and the physician confirmed after the exam that it was enlarged. US was negative. They did say it looked enlarged, but nothing looked suspicious. I heard this twice before with breast cancer and it was wrong. They did thyroid bloodwork, as well and everything came back normal - should I push for additional screening, or just let it go? They are recommending that I get thyroid tests done regularly... maybe that will be enough.

Yogatyme

Lexica, I have been hypothyroid for about 15 yrs. My levels will be stable for a long time and then seemingly go wonky for no apparent reason, so it’s a sneaky little gland. It sounds like having regular checks may be all you need to do, particularly if you don’t feel any lumps on your thyroid nor have swollen lymph nodes in your neck. I have 2 friends who have had thyroid cancer and they both had swollen lymph nodes as a primary symptom. I can certainly understand your concern with your history of misdiagnosis and if you continue to worry, it’s worth an appointment for evaluation. Take good care.

ceanna

Sounds like you are doing what you can to ID enlarged thyroid issue. Just keep having doctors check periodically and let them know asap if you feel any new symptoms. All the best, and please let us know how you're doing. Ceanna

GlobalGal

I had Hashimoto's, a multinodular goiter, was a little hypothyroid, and took Synthroid for about 15 years.

I had a thyroid ultrasound in 2017 and fine needle biopsy, which was clear.

However, by November 2018, the ultrasound showed one of the nodules had an irregular edge, which I could see on the screen myself. The fine needle biopsy showed papillary thyroid cancer, so I had a complete thyroidectomy-- with 3 central neck lymph nodes removed too.

The pathology report confirmed papillary thyroid cancer, but the neck lymph nodes showed metastatic breast cancer.

The ENT surgeon, endocrinologist, and breast cancer surgeon, all very experienced physicians, had never seen a case like this, nor had their colleagues at other hospitals in our large city.

So far, they have not located the original site of the breast cancer despite every test under the sun.

I am scheduled for another PET scan this month.

In the meantime, as there is nothing to surgically remove, or radiate, or treat with chemo, I am taking Anastrozole.

rrshannon

After a Pet Scan for growths on my cervix 5 years ago my Thyroid lit up. My blood work had always been normal, though TSH was always on the border or low. I had been followed for 5 years with annual ultrasounds and after 3 biopsies and the largest nodules that always cam back benign. I was told I had thyroiditis and that is why the PET Scan lit up. After seeing a new endocronologist I had a thyroidectomy in July and there was a 1.1cm tumors in my 3.6cm nodule along with multiple cancerous spots on the left side. They then took the right side which had only benign growths. Follow up is important but if something continues to grow there is a chance that the needle biopsy is not always getting the right cells.

Lexica

Thank you all for your responses!

Spoonie77

I'm going through something similar. Hope you find answers sooner than later.

There is something promising in the works about finding Thyroid Cancer it seems:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191007153441.htm

"Using a technology called mass spectrometry imaging, the new metabolic thyroid test identifies metabolites produced by cancerous cells that act as a kind of diagnostic fingerprint. The researchers worked on identifying these diagnostic metabolic fingerprints for over two years using 178 patient tissues before starting a pilot clinical study. During the clinical study, 68 new patients were tested, nearly a third of whom had received inconclusive FNA results. The new metabolic thyroid test returned a false positive only about 1 time in 10 and could have prevented 17 patients in the study from undergoing unnecessary surgeries.

The improved accuracy would prevent unnecessary surgeries, many of which lead patients to need hormone replacement therapy for the rest of their lives or to have to cope with other consequences of having all or part of their thyroid removed."