rly? why? beest got away with having only half removed, but some doctors were gung-ho for the whole thing. Did you get a bazillion opinions? Scary stuff, mtp, very upsetting, I agree

Oh MTP! I agree with Mon very scary and get more opinions!

Had a biopsy on my a big nodule on my thyroid, its some sort of lesion apparently. Something like 20% are cancer, but no way to tell if its cancer for sure except to remove it for testing. This was just the largest nodule they tested, I have a lot of other small ones on my thyroid as well. Did meds for a year but it did not shrink. My mom had to have her thyroid and most of her parathyroids removed, and she turned out to have cancer. My endocrinologist is my mom's also, we have a lot of trust for the man. He knows all the family history, thats part of why he's making this call. I'm not really scared about the medical side, just paying for it is freaking me out. I even asked my doc outright if I could wait a couple of years. He said that was not a good idea in case it is cancer and it increases even more. This really sucks, my Doc seems pretty disappointed too. When I saw him for a check up in January he was thinking I was probably all better since my thyroid itself had shrunk back to normal. The double-check ultrasound showed that the nodule had not shrunk though, so he had to send me for the biopsy and so on.
Well I guess there goes my plans to move to Austin. Defiantly will not be able to afford it.

oh, very scary, MTP. wish you the best, and fuck cancer.

GET A SECOND OPINION!

Have you had tests to establish whether your major nodule is cold or hot?

your case sounds so much like beest's.....

.....and he had the dodgy nodule biopsied for cancer while he was on the table ...and it came back negative. 20% is pretty much the minimum chance they give.

regarding funding/urgency of surgery.... have you had biopsies? Is the nodule hot or cold? DO NOT avoid a second opinion because of cost issues. If medical money was ever well spent, it was on second and third opinions.

Best of Luck MTP !!!

FUUUUUUCCCCKKKK Cancer !!!

ouch mtp! :eek:

nirvana - he has to do what? remove what? pics. i need pics. you may be able to do this yourself and save an ass load of cash.

oh and mtp def get a second opinion. my father was a general surgeon he always recommended second opinions. sometimes third and fourths too.....just saying....

Insomnia...

Because I had an urgent assignment to complete and was not sure whether I will be able to complete it on time :mad2:. Though irritated I worked really hard and the end result, yes, I was able to do it completely :):D

I had a biopsy last Friday. Its a follicular lesion. How old was Beest when he had his lobectomy?
This is why my doc is saying to do the full thing:
LOBECTOMY: This procedure is associated with a lower incidence of complications, but approximately 5% to 10% of patients will have a recurrence in the thyroid following lobectomy.[10] Patients younger than 45 years will have the longest follow-up period and the greatest opportunity for recurrence.

With my family history, my risk of recurrence and cancer are higher than if I did not have thyroid issues. My mom is just the tip of the iceberg on that, I have an aunt, great aunts, ect that have/had thyroid issues. Sure, another doc might say I only need a lobectomy (I'm sure I could find one), but they could be wrong also and I'd end up having to have a 2nd surgery as well. This is not the only nodule on my thyroid, just the largest right now. I have them on both lobes.
Its a really hard decision to even bother getting a 2nd opinion. I simply can't afford it. I can't even really afford the 1st opinion or the surgery. The fact that this is gonna cause me to have to put off transferring even longer, is already tearing me up. I just want to get past this and get on with my life ASAP.

Oh ouch, what a horrid decision. I'm always minimalist re surgery. beest was mid 30s. He turns 40 this year.

I've been reading up on my mom's condition which was Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2B (aka Type 3). They thyroid cancer and parathyroid issues were just 2 parts of the issue, the 3rd was a tumor on her pituitary gland. According to WebMD:
All MEN 2 subtypes are inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. Offspring of affected individuals have a 50% chance of inheriting the gene mutation.

Oh joy.

Sorry mtp.

To top it off, the boyfriend decided to have a guy's night with a friend tonight. Normally not a big deal to me, but I am really really depressed right now. I told him I would be lonely, and asked to come along. His answer? "I don't think Ryan meant for you to come along." WTF? He doesn't even bother to ask said friend, and supposedly all they are doing is playing xbox at friend's house. I can't tell him not to go, that makes me a bitch. Boyfriend didn't even give me decent warning, he came home and was all over me. I hinted that we could do that later since we REALLY needed to go to the grocery store and if we got distracted we wouldn't make it. Then at the grocery store he tells me he's not even going to stay home this evening. Why would someone do that? Why make overtures when you're not even planning on following up? What a jerk.