The THYROID Thread

[luvmarypoppins]

Happy Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month!
@Christine
@macraven
Hope everyone here is doing well.
I went for my 6 month cancer check up at the endo’s Monday. I had asked the sono tech in addition to the regular stuff to take pictures by my left jaw as it was hurting. Same side as the dissection and where he cut the nerve. Well the endo said she sees 2 lymph nodes that shouldn’t be there. They are cylindrical and too small to biopsy yet but she says they are showing fatty characteristics so she thinks it’s dental related? Dh snd I are leery of this since last time , cancer #2 she said she thought it was from a cold. Also the dr. Who biopsied me last time said she thought there were fat cells in the needle. Um no. Wrong. they were cancer cells. She said she has to tell me it could be cancer again. The plan is to have another sono in November and compare. I am sure not looking forward to round 3 but hopefully things will resolve.
The cardiologist is still adjusting meds but my bp is getting better and acceptable level for the aortic implant.
Ds3 passed his nurse practitioner boards!
My Dh is going to Germany and Sweden on business sun.For 2 weeks. Coming home a day and going on another trip. He also has to schedule a Cali. Trip too. Somewhere in all of this we are thinking of going to Disney in October.
Check in when you can.
Wishing everyone all the best!

 

[macraven]

Happy Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month!
@Christine
@macraven
Hope everyone here is doing well.
I went for my 6 month cancer check up at the endo’s Monday. I had asked the sono tech in addition to the regular stuff to take pictures by my left jaw as it was hurting. Same side as the dissection and where he cut the nerve. Well the endo said she sees 2 lymph nodes that shouldn’t be there. They are cylindrical and too small to biopsy yet but she says they are showing fatty characteristics so she thinks it’s dental related? Dh snd I are leery of this since last time , cancer #2 she said she thought it was from a cold. Also the dr. Who biopsied me last time said she thought there were fat cells in the needle. Um no. Wrong. they were cancer cells. She said she has to tell me it could be cancer again.
The cardiologist is still adjusting meds but my bp is getting better and acceptable level for the aortic implant.
Ds3 passed his nurse practitioner boards!
My Dh is going to Germany and Sweden on business sun.For 2 weeks. Coming home a day and going on another trip. He also has to schedule a Cali. Trip too. Somewhere in all of this we are thinking of going to Disney in October.
Check in when you can.
Wishing everyone all the best!

I do hope it is not cancer…!
Have you in my prayers

 

[Dan Murphy]

Happy Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month!
@Christine
@macraven
Hope everyone here is doing well.
I went for my 6 month cancer check up at the endo’s Monday. I had asked the sono tech in addition to the regular stuff to take pictures by my left jaw as it was hurting. Same side as the dissection and where he cut the nerve. Well the endo said she sees 2 lymph nodes that shouldn’t be there. They are cylindrical and too small to biopsy yet but she says they are showing fatty characteristics so she thinks it’s dental related? Dh snd I are leery of this since last time , cancer #2 she said she thought it was from a cold. Also the dr. Who biopsied me last time said she thought there were fat cells in the needle. Um no. Wrong. they were cancer cells. She said she has to tell me it could be cancer again. The plan is to have another sono in November and compare. I am sure not looking forward to round 3 but hopefully things will resolve.
The cardiologist is still adjusting meds but my bp is getting better and acceptable level for the aortic implant.
Ds3 passed his nurse practitioner boards!
My Dh is going to Germany and Sweden on business sun.For 2 weeks. Coming home a day and going on another trip. He also has to schedule a Cali. Trip too. Somewhere in all of this we are thinking of going to Disney in October.
Check in when you can.
Wishing everyone all the best!

Good morning, LMP. Wishing you the best, in my prayers. 's

Congratulations to you son on passing his boards. Is he one of the boys I met so many years ago at the S/D?

 

[Christine]

@luvmarypoppins - well I had long response typed of and my wrist must have hit something because, whoosh, wiped away.

Anyway, I was just at the endo yesterday for my 6 month check. All is well. Wishing you the best on this health scare. The waiting is just terrible.

Not sure when I last posted, but my son is living in San Diego and I visited him in June. I don't think he'll ever move back and I can't even come up with a reason why he'd be better off here. San Diego is wonderful. I know every place has its downsides, but it was hard for me to find many faults. Well, it was SO sunny that I got weird sunburns IN THE CAR. Sheesh.

Otherwise, my life is peacefully dull!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Good morning, LMP. Wishing you the best, in my prayers. 's

Congratulations to you son on passing his boards. Is he one of the boys I met so many years ago at the S/D?

Yes Dan, he is the younger one you saw.
The other one you saw, middle ds, is married 4 years and an engineer .

 

[Dan Murphy]

Yes Dan, he is the younger one you saw.
The other one you saw, middle ds, is married 4 years and an engineer .

Time flies way too fast, LMP. Seems like they were young teens back then. Now, grown up and unrighteous citizens.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Well I just saw that Sarah Huckabee Sanders had thyroid cancer surgery. She said she had her thyroid and surrounding lymph nodes taken out and now “I am cancer free” Um her dr. said it’s stage 1 papillary and she needs rai. I think her dr. needs to educate her a little more.
But I am glad thy cancer is getting some publicity.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

And in totally non thyroid related news…
We are going to Disney World. First time back in 3 years. Not having big expectations.
Just want to get my mind off the upcoming repeat sonogram.
Dh,ds and me. Ds can push the wheelchair. There is no way with this aortic implant I am doing a lot of walking. And I get to have my own personal nurse with me if needed.
We are staying 5 nights. 2 at Yacht Club( ;fainting at the price but Swan was sold out one day) and then the Swan for 3 days. Don’t like the non Disney bus aspect there now. Going Oct. 29-Nov. 3.

 

[HeatherLassell]

I just got diagnosed with thyroid cancer on Nov 2nd. My birthday. Yup. I have 3 nodules. Two on the right side (biopsy result = cancerous) and one on the left side. I am waiting for the biopsy results of the one on the left to find out if I'm losing my whole thyroid or half.

I'm stressed out. I love to sing and my dr (ENT) basically said point blank I won't be able to sing again. Yes, I am already thinking I don't want him do the surgery. I know there are risks and I see that some people can take up to a year for their voice to come back...but he basically just said "no you won't be able to yell or sing". Like is he just saying he is quick with the surgery and doesn't take care around the vocal nerves? Am I overreacting? Singing is one of my only joys in life. I'm getting depressed just thinking about it...

 

[Haimia]

Find a surgeon who will use necessary items to protect your vocal cords during surgery. I can't think of the name right now, but it is done!

 

[Caseheidi]

I just got diagnosed with thyroid cancer on Nov 2nd. My birthday. Yup. I have 3 nodules. Two on the right side (biopsy result = cancerous) and one on the left side. I am waiting for the biopsy results of the one on the left to find out if I'm losing my whole thyroid or half.

I'm stressed out. I love to sing and my dr (ENT) basically said point blank I won't be able to sing again. Yes, I am already thinking I don't want him do the surgery. I know there are risks and I see that some people can take up to a year for their voice to come back...but he basically just said "no you won't be able to yell or sing". Like is he just saying he is quick with the surgery and doesn't take care around the vocal nerves? Am I overreacting? Singing is one of my only joys in life. I'm getting depressed just thinking about it...

I would advise to get another ENT to work with. First, you need to be comfortable with who is doing your surgery. Second, I can't believe he would say such a thing to you. Not a good comfort. I had my full thyroid removed in 2019, and yes my voice was affected. But I can still sing and yell. Now, I have to admit that my singing register is lower then it was and my voice sometimes gets tired when singing longer songs, but I don't practice and work to build the endurance. But I will also say that my ENT said this was unusual. He was surprised to hear my croak the day after surgery, and at follow up. And I have spoken to many who never had any effects to their voice. I would ask for another opinion, and make sure the new doctor realizes that singing is important to you and you want to preserve your voice as much as possible.

Good Luck! I hope things work out for you.

 

[HeatherLassell]

I would advise to get another ENT to work with. First, you need to be comfortable with who is doing your surgery. Second, I can't believe he would say such a thing to you. Not a good comfort. I had my full thyroid removed in 2019, and yes my voice was affected. But I can still sing and yell. Now, I have to admit that my singing register is lower then it was and my voice sometimes gets tired when singing longer songs, but I don't practice and work to build the endurance. But I will also say that my ENT said this was unusual. He was surprised to hear my croak the day after surgery, and at follow up. And I have spoken to many who never had any effects to their voice. I would ask for another opinion, and make sure the new doctor realizes that singing is important to you and you want to preserve your voice as much as possible.

Good Luck! I hope things work out for you.

I really appreciate your kind words. I am going to get in touch with Manitoba Cancer Care to get some resources. I have no idea what kind of dr I am looking for or how to find one. But you're so right, I can't believe he said it either. I definitely want to find a dr who will do it and pay extra special attention to preserving my vocal nerves. I don't want to just be alive. I want quality of life. This dr makes me feel like I *will* have vocal changes 100% and that they're permanent. (I do know there is always a risk and that it can take up to a year for your voice to be back to 'normal') Scared me off even having the surgery to be honest.

 

[Haimia]

I had total Thyroidectomy, also. I was unable to sing (I was unable to sing BEFORE the surgery!!!!!). So, really no change for me. I am glad you are searching for additional sources. You need an ENT to do the surgery-that's who done mine. An endocrinologist handles the thyroid - however, my endocrinologist immediately stated I was a diabetic. I told him "No" as my husband is one and I knew I was not. He insisted and tested me. I was not there for diabetes, I was there for my thyroid. Test came back negative for diabetes. Needless to say, I found someone else to handle my thyroid meds!

 

[HeatherLassell]

I had total Thyroidectomy, also. I was unable to sing (I was unable to sing BEFORE the surgery!!!!!). So, really no change for me. I am glad you are searching for additional sources. You need an ENT to do the surgery-that's who done mine. An endocrinologist handles the thyroid - however, my endocrinologist immediately stated I was a diabetic. I told him "No" as my husband is one and I knew I was not. He insisted and tested me. I was not there for diabetes, I was there for my thyroid. Test came back negative for diabetes. Needless to say, I found someone else to handle my thyroid meds!

That's who I have been dealing with. An ENT. He did the biopsy of the nodules for me.

Drs can be pretty frustrating sometimes.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Heather - I would seek another opinion too.
My experience was not normal though. After my surgery for thyroid cancer that was actually 3 surgeries in 24 hours my one vocal cord is still bruised 12 years later. I don’t have a good singing voice as my one cord is weak.
Make sure your surgeon uses the vocal cord monitoring machine. I had this during my recurrence as well.
They can also scope you while you are awake and check your vocal cords. (Only slightly uncomfortable). This can be done in surgeons office or ent if they have the equipment.
Wishing you all the best.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I am having to wait to schedule the repeat sonogram as my Dh got a cold in Disney that I seemed to get a little of.
This could cause the lymph nodes to swell and give a false positive so I might send a little note to my endo on the patient portal and see what she says to do.

 

[HeatherLassell]

Heather - I would seek another opinion too.
My experience was not normal though. After my surgery for thyroid cancer that was actually 3 surgeries in 24 hours my one vocal cord is still bruised 12 years later. I don’t have a good singing voice as my one cord is weak.
Make sure your surgeon uses the vocal cord monitoring machine. I had this during my recurrence as well.
They can also scope you while you are awake and check your vocal cords. (Only slightly uncomfortable). This can be done in surgeons office or ent if they have the equipment.
Wishing you all the best.

Thank you for that information. I think I will talk to my family Dr. about my concerns once I hear back the biopsy results of the other nodule. I don't know how it works to get a referral to another ENT.

 

[Christine]

@HeatherLassell, While I'm not a singer, I have had my whole thyroid removed (it took two surgeries) and a lot of cleaning out. I can sing (badly) and yell also.

There have been reports of people who have very invasive thyroid cancer and having the nerve damaged because the surgeon is trying to "scrape" so much around it. OR, they get a very bad surgeon. If your surgeon is telling you to expect that, he's obviously had some of this happen in his practice.

Also, sounds as if you're in Canada so I know protocols can be different, but I only had one nodule. They thought they'd just leave the "good" half in. After surgery upon full pathology they found microscopic dots of thyroid cancer outside the nodule so I had to go back in and get it out.

I cannot for the life me understand why they'd leave half your gland in even if the nodules on the other side are benign. What and wait until those act up? Nodules can grow very large over time.

 

[HeatherLassell]

@HeatherLassell, While I'm not a singer, I have had my whole thyroid removed (it took two surgeries) and a lot of cleaning out. I can sing (badly) and yell also.

There have been reports of people who have very invasive thyroid cancer and having the nerve damaged because the surgeon is trying to "scrape" so much around it. OR, they get a very bad surgeon. If your surgeon is telling you to expect that, he's obviously had some of this happen in his practice.

Also, sounds as if you're in Canada so I know protocols can be different, but I only had one nodule. They thought they'd just leave the "good" half in. After surgery upon full pathology they found microscopic dots of thyroid cancer outside the nodule so I had to go back in and get it out.

I cannot for the life me understand why they'd leave half your gland in even if the nodules on the other side are benign. What and wait until those act up? Nodules can grow very large over time.

From my research there is always a chance that you may have to have surgery a second time to have the other half removed. But most women have nodules that will never actually effect your life since they are very small and benign. Nodules apparently grow very slowly. And once half is removed I will be monitored after for thyroid function and checking on the nodule on that side.

Mine are also very small but the one came back as papillary cancer. Which is why they'll take one side. From what I can tell, they do this so (hopefully) you're not stuck on meds the rest of your life as half a thyroid can take over the work of the whole thyroid. (And sometimes it can't).

Yes I'm in Canada. I've spoken to Cancer Care Manitoba and now I feel much better. I am passing on the fax number to my family Dr. so he can send it in to them to get me a referral.

 

[Haimia]

I had the choice of having full thyroidectomy or only half. I choose to do full, as my thyroid was not working the way it should prior to having nodules. I did not want to have the remaining half left to mess with the medication and have to keep adjusting because the other half was still there. Also, if cancer was found, they would have had to take the remaining half out anyway and endocrinologist was betting on cancer. Well, he got that wrong as well as my being diabetic! And, by the time I had surgery, he had left the practice. Grr.