The waiting is like torture!

[Wavinghello]

I'm waiting for results of my fna and the waiting it's torture. I'm so worried it's going to be bad news. My neck is aching and my ear is feeling blocked and not quite right. What if something nasty is growing and spreading?? How did you cope with all the waiting?

[Nanaedake]

Focus on the fact that the vast majority of nodules are benign and thyroid conditions are very treatable. No point in worrying about something that might not happen. Plan something nice to take your mind off your worry. Remember anything thyroid grows very, very slowly and most people have probably had their nodule/s for years before they become apparent. Most probably you've been living with it for a long time and not known because most thyroid growths are indolent. I shouldn't think a few more weeks would make a spec of difference in the scheme of things.

When our thyroid hormones are out of balance it can make us prone to worry and we might not realise its making us more worried than we would normally be. I'm not saying this is the case with you as you may well be euthyroid (normal hormone levels) but it's just something to be aware of.

I had 3 FNA and a surgical biopsy before a diagnosis so you've got to chill or you'll get frazzled. I coped by reminding myself most nodules turn out to be benign or treatable.

[Hidden]

I waited over a year in the UK after my FNA which they said was fine in the end. My trachea had moved and I found it hard to breathe.

I then moved to France and within 3 months and after an ultrasound was told that I needed my thyroid removed. When it was done the 4.2cm lump was tested and found to have 1.5th papillary cancer. No more treatment needed.

I worry that if I was OK in the UK how long would I have to have waited for my treatment.

[SilverAvocado]

I had follicular cancer, and went through a year of treatment with it, including being called back because it wasn't gone after the first round.

The way I coped with it all was two main things. 1 was that I'd had a friend have a lump just like mine years before. It had turned out to be nothing, but she became a shadow of herself for maybe 6 months or more. At the time I'd believed there was something terrribly wrong, because of how tired and withdrawn she became, and how ill she looked. But now I understand the process I realise it was just a few simple tests that came back fine. It was her own thoughts that had put her through this terrible ordeal that was in many ways actually worse than what happened to me from having cancer.

When I first realised I was going through those same tests I was just very determined not to let that happen to me, and that I definitely wasn't going to let my own mind make this worse than it had to be.

The second thing that helped was a similar decision - I decided at the very start of the testing process that even if it came back with very bad news, it wasn't going to destroy my life, it was just going to be a very different life than I'd planned. At the time I didn't actually know how bad thyroid cancer might be - which for most people is just a few weeks off work and then back to a normal life. I prepared myself for something much worse, and was determined to find a way to love my life and enjoy myself and be proud of myself whatever happened.

When people ask me how I coped so well with my illness, I tell them about these things. And I think it was the fact I prepared myself so well before I even got any test results that really carried me through the whole treatment, and the four years of disability I've had as a result. I didn't have to actually make any decision about how to cope emotionally with it once I knew the result (actually if you have cancer there's no one point where you know, a lot of the truth of it comes out over many months), when there was a lot of other stuff to think about, because I'd already made my decisions about how I was going to take it before I find out any of that.

Most people who have thyroid cancer don't have to go through what I've gone through. But being ill for me hasn't actually been the worst part of my life. Don't get me wrong, it's really shit losing so much of my life, my career, hobbies, exercise, relationships, etc. But I've been happy because I decided that's what I would be, and I've built a life around me that makes me happy, and is enjoyable for me. And I'm still optimistic I will get a lot better in the future.

[Wavinghello]

Thank you so much for all the replies.

If my results come back with bad news I'm going to hold my head high and just deal with it all and if the news is good, I will have learnt a lesson, no point worrying until there is something to worry about.

I've got an 8 year old son, Christmas is round the corner and I'm focusing an that!

Good luck to you all x

[DJR1]

How long have you been waiting? How will you be notified of your result? It is hard waiting and not knowing I understand your worries

[Marie0606]

I am like you. I can't dealt with waiting so I know how you feel but I try to get my head clear and think with logic; so I wonder: the fact that I am worried is going to help the outcome? No, it is not, so there is no point on being worried plus, what if at the end is good news? I waste my time worrying about somethi g that never came, and at the end if it is bad news, dont you think it is better to start worrying based on facts not on thoughts? Hugs!

[Wavinghello in reply to Marie0606]

Thanks for the hugs!

It's been a week since the fna and to be honest I'm not really sure how I will hear. I've spoken to the consultant's secretary and she said she would ring me but may not be able to give me the results . . . time will tell!