My rheumatologist says I have a nodule on my thyroid...

[JanBad]

Hi, I have been reading the posts on here for some time and became convinced I should ask my consultant to check my thyroid.

I am in the UK and have been diagnosed with Lupus and Anti Phospholipid Syndrome (APS) for more than ten years.

He told me at my follow up appointment this week that the scan he ordered at my insistence, has shown a nodule on my thyroid. He is now going to refer me to a thyroid doctor at the same hospital for further investigations.

I have now scared myself by googling and reading various medical sites. I can see that 90% are benign and that there are many treatment options, but it does appear that there are a lot of doctors out there who are not very good at managing thyroid issues.

Can anybody give me any advice about what I can do for myself whilst I wait for my appointment, what sort of information the doctor will need and what I should expect from them?

Many thanks

Jan

[Clutter]

Janbad, nodules (lumps) are very common. Multi nodular goiters are almost always benign but a single nodule has a slightly higher risk of cancer although it is very rare. If you have a single nodule your endocrinolgist will probably arrange for a fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNA) to remove cells from the nodule to check for cancer. The procedure is not painful as local anaesthetic is given but is a little uncomfortable as you have lie with your throat thrust up and there will be soreness and bruising for a few days.

There's nothing you can do prior to your consultation other than prepare a bullet point list of any symptoms with dates, if you can recall them, and a list of medication and supplements you are taking.

[sgoodman33]

Jan, I had that same scare about two months ago - my new endo did an ultrasound on my thyroid (I'm hypothyroid) and found a 2 cm nodule. Said that if it's cancerous, that they would have to remove the thyroid and give radioactive iodine. I said, no way! I did a bunch of research after that and found out that there are a lot of people with thyroid cancer (certain kinds, I think there's about 4 of them with one being very serious but that's like only 1% of the nodules) that did NOT have their thyroid removed. They just monitor the status of it and treat holistically and with diet. Also, my endo that just retired said to STAY AWAY from radioactive iodine because it doesn't kill all of the thyroid cells and it kills other iodine using cells like breast cells. Anyway, there's a really good chance it will come back benign like mine did a month ago. Stay positive!

Shelley

[Clutter in reply to sgoodman33]

Shelley, Recent research suggests very small papillary cancer tumours <1mm/2mm may be left in situ and monitored. This isn't yet general practice. Thyroid cancers are removed by thyroidectomy and if found during histopathology following hemilobectomy, completion thyroidectomy usually follows within 3 months. If the papillary tumour is <2cm and the patient is <45 years of age the risk of recurrence is not very high and radioactive iodine ablatement (RAI) may not be necessary. In other circumstances RAI is recommended so that thyroid cells left in the thyroid bed or freed during surgery will uptake RAI and be destroyed.

Thyroid cancer is not treated holistically or with diet.