<p>I am reaching out to all the medically astute folks on CC for some advice. Several weeks ago, I went to my doctor for a very minor problem. Just as I was leaving the examination room, the doctor remarked that oh, by the way .it looks like you have a lump on your thyroid. He felt my neck and advised me to get an ultrasound to check out this nodule. I had the ultrasound and there are 5 nodules in my thyroid. The report recommended that I have 2 of them aspirated because of possible calicifications.</p>
<p>Needless to say, this has all come as a bit of a worrisome shock to me. I have never had any kind of thyroid problems, although my mother and sister have been on synthroid for years. I am scheduled to have the nodules aspirated on Friday. Apparently they will give me some sort of topical anesthetic to numb the site before they stick the needle in. I am very bad with any kind of medical procedure and Im starting to get myself in a tizzy over this. </p>
<p>Have any of you been through this? What kind of diagnosis am I possibly looking at? What exactly does the procedure entail?</p>
<p>Did your doctor run a blood test to see if your thyroid is functioning properly? I had a similar situation to yours and had the MRI and was then referred to an endocrinologist who determined after looking at the MRI results that the nodules were benign and started me on synthroid. Two years later all is well. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>The same thing happened to me. Please insist on a full thyroid panel if they haven’t already scheduled it. I have hasimotos’s syndrome, which is a cause of underactive thyroid. The thyroid works so hard to produce what it can’t that it pushes out nodules.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry (or I would try not to worry), but I would continue to seek care. It is my understanding that it is rare for a cluster of nodules to be cancerous. At least that is what my surgeon told me. Take care and keep us posted!</p>
<p>I have had more thryoid problems than you can shake a stick at - it doesn’t make me an expert but it does mean I have spent a whole lot of time worrying over nothing!</p>
<p>Multiple nodules are usually “better” than a single nodule. Elevated antibody levels COULD mean you have some kind of autoimmune disorder of the thyroid, which sounds bad, but it probably means that it’s not cancer (which to me was always the scariest). Could, might, probably - lots of qualifiers, but the bottom line is that thyroid nodules are very common (especially in women) and it’s probably nothing.</p>
<p>I have Hashimoto’s disease too, plus an assymetric goiter (sounds like something out of a third world country, I know, but it’s not really noticeable… or so I tell myself!) I’ve had my thryoid aspirated numerous times. Honestly, it didn’t hurt (and I’m a big wuss). The worst part was the bruising - I bruise easliy, and every time I have an aspiration I wind up with this hideous bruise on my neck for days (looks like some one tried to strangle me.) Try not to worry (ha!) and let us know how it goes.</p>
<p>Yes, the doctor did mention something about goiter. So…I shouldn’t freak out too much about a needle being stuck in my neck several times??? I apologize for acting like a child about this (especially since there are far more invasive and painful medical procedures). Thanks for your support.</p>
<p>I think it would be more peculiar if you weren’t a little worried about having needles stuck in your neck, and that’s before you even get to the the “and what does it all mean” stuff which adds a whole other layer. </p>
<p>I had a multinodular goiter in one hemisphere of my thyroid. It was aspirated but within a week or so, the fluid came back and the lump in my neck was the same size as before. I ended up having to have a hemithyroidectomy, a four hour surgery to remove one lobe of my thyroid. Other than a slight scar on my neck, I am now fine. The other lobe produces enough hormone that there is no need for thyroid replacement medication. The most significant risk from the surgery is that the nerve running to the vocal cords will be damaged so that your speaking and singing voice could be raspy or diminished in strength. I was fine and was still able to shout upstairs to the kids to get out of bed and get ready for school just as before!</p>
<p>I just had surgery for hyperPARAthyroidism, removal of one parathyroid (there are 4) which are behind the thyroid. During all of the diagnosis phase, an ultrasound detemined I had some nodules etc. on my thyroid. The surgeon (who is chief of endocrinology surgery at a major university) said that was perfectly normal for a woman my age (56). My thyroid blood panel is normal.</p>
<p>I had a thyroid nodule aspirated (like most, it turned out to be harmless). But I was taken by surprise by the pain involved in the brief procedure, not so much during, but after. I don’t know if this was typical or a side effect of a badly placed injection (the area was numbed for the aspiration), but I vividly recall driving back to work with pain shooting up my jaw and tears running down my face. It subsided gradually over the next few hours. I recommend you discuss this with your doctor, and just in case your experience is like mine, have a strong pain killer available to take immediately after the procedure and have someone drive you home. </p>
<p>I’ll add that in the days before the aspiration I of course went nuts with worry and did tons of research on the worst case scenario, thyroid cancer. It was comforting to me to learn that it is one of the most curable forms of cancer.</p>
<p>The doctor prescribed 2 ativans if I should need them. I hesitate to take them because I don’t want my H to have to leave work (about 40 minutes away) to drive me. Sounds like the eventual diagnosis will be (relatively) okay. I just need to talk myself through the procedure.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you for your advice and encouragement. I knew I’d get better feedback here on CC than through my usual random internet diagnosing.</p>
<p>Don’t be ridiculous. That’s what husbands are for. You don’t need to be brave, or a hero, or a martyr. You might need help getting home. Take it.</p>
<p>You just have to promise us that if you end up with an impressive bruise on your neck, you will make up a story much more livid than “nodule aspiration.”</p>
<p>I’ve had this done (or something similar) on 3 different occasions, and it never hurt afterwards. I did feel a bit woozy after one time, when I had to lie there at a weird angle with my head hanging back for about half an hour whilst a whole team (a whole team!) of doctor and nurses poked around. Had it done once with a single doc, and once in a endocrinologists office. All nodules okay. I don’t think they were aspirating the nodules (not sucking stuff out of them) but biopsying them, to see if any cells were cancerous… It’ll be okay, and should not hurt much. Mammograms are worse!</p>
<p>Have also been there, done that. Had aspiration biopsies done on two nodules at one visit. The worst part is the numbing injection.</p>
<p>I had someone (a friend) go with me just because I didn’t know how much I was going to freak out and didn’t want to be stuck so far away from home in a frenzied state and unable to drive. But I ended up being fine. I’d probably go by myself if I had to do it again. But I’m also the type that when I had a needle biopsy on my breast, I went alone with no problems. </p>
<p>As everyone has stated, thyroid nodules are relatively common, especially in women. Although all my thyroid levels were fine, they did put me on synthroid to see if giving my thyroid a rest would allow the inflammation to shrink and make the nodules decrease in size. It did not work, so eventually they removed that half of my thyroid, and all tests came back negative. Have been on synthroid since and have my levels checked every year and have had no more nodules.</p>
<p>I was also told that if it was the worst possible scenario, thyroid cancer is one of the most curable forms of cancer there is.</p>
<p>The needle biopsy was very quick (but not cheap) and didn’t hurt at all; the nurse just said it would look like I had a mosquito bite. You literally couldn’t see it the next day.
The partial thyroidectomy was a little more challenging; 7 weeks later I still have little bit (not a lot) of swelling just above the suture line. Except for a very hoarse voice for about a week, everything else was fine very quickly; and I went back to work (part day) 2 days later. The good news was that there was no malignancy, although I still have one tiny nodule left in the other half.</p>
<p>During an extremely stressful period of my life, I had enlarged nodules. I was scheduled to have the biopsy in my endocrinologist office. I am such a medical wimp that I look the other way when they draw the little bit of blood for a blood test. When I got to the office, the nodules had shrunk so small that they didn’t do the biopsy! Ten years later, I am fine just have to take synthroid and cytomel. Good luck.</p>
<p>Not to scare anyone but there are actually three types of thyroid cancer. One type is rare but can be deadly. (The kind Supreme Court Justice Rehnquist died of) The most common type has a very high success rate. I recently read that the beautiful Colombian actress from “Modern Family” had this type and she is cancer free. (not to confuse thyroid nodules with cancer) </p>
<p>But the aspiration is nothing. Don’t even spend a minute worrying about it.</p>
<p>I’m having this done at the hospital (interventional radiology), which probably adds to the freak out level. Somehow I’m okay with getting squeezed and flattened by a mammogram machine. On the other hand, blood draws - or worse - getting an IV inserted - absolutely terrify me. I really really wish I weren’t such a medical sissy. </p>
<p>Good thing its supposed to get colder in the next few days. Looks like I might need to wear a turtleneck to cover the bruises and stop people from accusing H of something awful. </p>