Biopsy

[Pray4health]

Did anybody have fine needle aspiration biopsy?If so what was the reason?

[PurpleNails Administrator]

I had the swelling on one side of thyroid, it was noticeable & so was sent for thyroid ultrasound. The team suggested the FNA completed there & then as the size was 5cm & was potentially growing fast.

FNA procedure itself very straightforward. I had local anaesthetic & was asked to lightly bite end of tongue, this just prevents unintentional movement. Then several samples were taken guided by ultrasound. I left with a small plaster on neck. No bruising or pain & went to work afterwards.

Unexpected turned out to be good as I had no unnecessary worrying about having it done before hand.

The nodule was benign but I had high thyroid levels & that was overlooked at the time.

[Beads]

I had a calcified cyst in my thyroid picked up on a CT scan for kidney cancer. Right on the edge of the scan, so only incidental. Obviously the urology team aren’t bothered with the thyroid, so I wasn’t told about it. When I got a copy of all my notes it had been notes.

Went to the doc, they ordered a routine ultrasound of the thyroid, which then got upgraded to a 2 week referral for possible thyroid cancer, one large calcified nodule dodgy looking, one largish non calcified nodule equivocal, several smaller okay nodules. Blood test, barium swallow and repeat ultrasound with FNA followed. The doc couldn’t get the needle into this calcified nodule to get any cells, so I was referred to St George’s, them being a bigger hospital.

Had a repeat ultrasound there, along with several attempts to get cells. They got through into the nodule but didn’t get any cells. I was told not to worry, they think it’s just an involuted cyst (I still can’t fathom out what that means in layman’s terms), and my choices were to take out the whole thing (I don’t have a problem with that as the bloody gland doesn’t work), or adopt a wait and see. We’re doing wait and see as I didn’t want another operation in under a year.

Follow up ultrasound showed no changes over 6 months, so they didn’t attempt another FNA. I have a further one booked in for December this year.

It went the same way as Purple, given a local (straight away at the local hosp, was asked if I wanted one at St George’s, yes because of the brute force they needed to get through this cyst!). They tried several times to get the needle in, guided with the fuzzy grey blurs on the screen, they know what they’re doing even if I can’t figure out what they’re looking at. Samples given to the lady sitting at the microscope to see if they had cells, they didn’t. They said one last go, and stuck to that.

I left, grabbed some lunch, figured out a nice walk through the park to a tram stop, came home.

Easy peasy, nothing to worry about regarding the procedure.

[nightingale-56]

I had a fine needle aspiration done about 15 years ago, because a small lump had shown up on an ultrasound scan. It was found to be scar tissue, because the sub-total thyroidectomy I had done when 14 weeks pregnant was called 'a smash and grab' operation because of the pregnancy. My daughter was born fine apart from being three weeks early.

[serenfach]

I have had two - apparently "something" showed on a scan. The first went fine, but I dont think they believed the results, so I had another. It was snowing when I arrived at the hospital, 30 miles away from home and a drive over some high hills, so I was more worried about getting home than the FNA. Nothing found, no pain, no after effects. I was not clued up back then, I would ask more questions now!

[milkgoat]

I had one due to lump on thyroid in 1998. The results were inconclusive, so sent to a surgeon. I was only 27 so Dr didn't want to take any chances.Long story short, half of my thyroid was removed due to being severely damaged and torn. I remembered afterwards that I had been in a horse riding accident when the horse spooked and I was caught by a thick wire in my neck area as a young girl.The lump was actually a blood clot that had been forming.

If I would have known then about how a thyroid works I would never have allowed the partial removal of my thyroid.

Thankfully, after all these years, I am finally taking g T3.

It has helped tremendously as to having more energy.

May all be well with you!!