Biopsy on Friday, Phone call on Tuesday....

FormerMember over 5 years ago

1 reply
26 subscribers
1769 views

Good Afternoon from America,

I have been trying to find the root cause of my hypercalecemia for the past few months. One thing led to another which led to multiple nodules being discovered on one side (3 of them, 1 is 20mmx20mm, 1 is 22mmx20mm, and one is 8mmX6mm).. The other side has 1 4mm nodule (whew, that conversion from Imperial to Metric was tough :) ) .. I had a fine needle aspiration on Friday, and on Tuesday I got the phone call that one side was benign and one side was positive for PTC (Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma).

My Endocrinologist told me that I would have to have a total thyroidectomy, and possible RAI treatment.

I've read all the literature and I see that this is the 'best' cancer to have, but I also know that it is dependent upon the stage of the cancer. I was wondering if I could ask the members of this group when they found out what stage they were. I would imagine that would be after imaging and possibly after surgery??

I was also wondering if anybody has had any experience with biopsy's being incorrect. Saying I have cancer when I don't, or even worse than that, telling me I have Papillary when it's something much worse. Do Biopsy results usually come back so quickly??

I'm horrified about the thyroid surgery. I'm 47 years old and i've never even broken a bone, let alone have neck surgery for cancer. Any stories about your thyroid surgery that you'd like to share would be most appreciated.

Thank you for listening to a random guy from across the pond ramble.

Greg from America

Lass over 5 years ago

Hey Greg,

Welcome to the forum, though I'm sorry you find yourself here.

Regarding the staging, as you're 47 then you can only be stage 1 or 2 regardless of what it's done or where it might have spread to. To be honest, staging doesn't actually matter that much. Rather, it's more to do with how it reacts to treatment.

With your biopsy results coming back quickly, the answer is no in the UK and yes in the US. We have different systems and our NHS is overworked and underfunded. While in the US, insurance and the charges for everything are so extortionate that they can afford enough machines and staff to cope with the demand.

With FNA's, obviously mistakes do happen because no-one is infallible. But there are checks and processes in place to try and make sure they are few and far between. So I'd not worry about them saying its papillary but it being worse, because treatment is still the same. Whip it out. The whole thyroid is then sent to the lab, so if there's anything else there then it will be found.

You're a lucky guy to have made it to 47 with no major medical concerns, so I guess your body is making up for it by giving you cancer now! Lol. The surgery isn't too bad, and recovery takes a week or two. Def nothing to get too stressed over. There are plenty of stories here in the forum if you have a browse and a read through though. Hopefully they'll help!

Shout up anytime!

Lass

I have no medical training, everything I post is an opinion or educated guess. It is not medical advice.

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Biopsy on Friday, Phone call on Tuesday....