Just diagnosed

Hi there,

Don't be too hard on yourself, it's always a shock to hear a cancer diagnosis. I myself only thought to ask what kind of thyroid cancer I had right at the end of the phonecall with the nurse who'd phoned to give me the diagnosis. It's strange that medical staff don't tell us the type of thyroid cancer automatically, isn't it?  

You ask about whether or not you'll get a letter with your diagnosis details well, that didn't happen for me here in Wales. I'm registered with Patients Know Best though so I get email alerts and can then read letters sent from specialists, such as my Oncologist, to my GP and that's how I've learnt the full details about the tumour and treatment path.

Do you have a contact at the hospital you can phone about this? If not, just phone the Oncology Department and see if they can help you. 

Good luck, let us know how it all goes for you.

Hi Oggy6871, sorry to hear of your diagnosis but please don't feel that any question is silly. I was diagnosed in April 23 and I was trying to recall at what point I was told the type but it all happens in such a dreadful blur. I even had my daughter with me and we both struggle to remember any of it! It's as if your brain goes into shock and stops you taking anything in! So you're not alone. We always thought of questions after! So we got into the habit of writing them down before appointments, or putting them in my phone.

Probably not much help as sounds like it all happened in a different order to you but in my case after I was told at the initial ultrasound it was cancer, I then had biopsy and was told the type in an appointment with the consultant a few weeks after those results came back. I didn't even know there were that many different types! I mean let's face it I wasn't even really aware what my thyroid did! And then because it was Medullary I was referred to a specialist hospital for the surgery.

The letters seem to be slower and come along usually after I've been told the info either by phone or appointment.

I'm guessing you haven't been given the number of a clinical nurse yet, so yes agree with River71 to phone oncology or Macmillan helpline?