A new member recently diagnosed

Hey there Kit,

Welcome to the forum though I'm sorry you have to be here! 

Yes, I'm afraid there will likely be a wait of a few weeks for your results. However, every hospital is different and even the time of year can affect it. So if you're in Scotland, your results may take longer to come through at the moment as it's the middle of the summer holidays up there. While they've not yet started in England. 

One thing you'll find about papillary thyroid cancer, it's generally the sloth of the cancer world. And because of that, there's almost never a rush to get results done. So everything else will get done first and jump ahead in the queue.

There have been a few people popping in with voice issues after surgery, if you search through the group then you should find their threads and stories. The good thing is, people pop in here and stay while they're being treated, but then they move on with their lives once things are all sorted. Sometimes they come back to say hi or if there's a new issue that's popped up. There's just a few of us who stick around permanently. 

Fingers crossed your voice problems are temporary, but might be worth speaking to your GP about a referral to a speech therapist. They'll be able to help you with exercises to help strengthen and rebuild your voice, and possibly work out why it's not working as it once did. Don't Google exercises however, if you do the wrong ones it can make it worse. 

Lass

Xx

PS I had the same thing once. Xray on Thursday, results came back on the Saturday. Nothing was found, they were just quiet that day and got through everything. 

Hi Lass,

Thanks so much for welcoming me and responding to my post so quickly.

There was another question I forgot to ask. Is it routine for a CT Scan of neck and thorax to be done following surgery and a diagnosis of thyroid cancer, in everybody's case, as far as you know? 

I will look through posts as you suggest, to see if others are experiencing voice problems. As I will be seeing my surgeon on Friday, no doubt he'll look down at my vocal cord again to see if there's improvement and I can ask him about possible referral to a speech therapist then.

Thank you again for taking time to reply. I do appreciate it.

Kit xx

Not a problem at all, it's what we're here for. 

The answer to your CT question is no, not everyone gets one. It varies from hospital to hospital, as they all have different procedures to follow. And sadly, different budgets too. There's definitely a postcode lottery that goes on, with more funds per person in some places than in others.

So if you're getting one, or you're not getting one, it's nothing to worry about. That's just what's standard in your area.

Good luck for Friday too, I hope it'll be a good and productive appointment! You know where we are now too, so shout up anytime! 

Lass

Xx

Hi Kit

I don’t have a lot of knowledge but the one thing I have learnt from this forum and my own experience is every health board seems to operate slightly differently. I have been fortunate that the 2 doctors I have seen have been highly experienced and I trust them. Other people mention having a cancer nurse I haven’t met one yet.

I had a CAT scan approximately 3 weeks after surgery. If you haven’t had one before when they inject a small about of die into you, you can experience a sensation peeing yourself!

Good Luck

Hi. Thank you for responding. I do feel lucky to have been assigned a nurse so quickly. I guess it all depends on hospital funding. For example, I've had epilepsy for about thirty years now and for the majority of them it's been a bleak and isolating experience. But my hospital has recently appointed one and it's so much better. So I do feel lucky. I have a number of other medical problems and years of hospital experience, but cancer is a new one for me and a bit scary.

Thank you for telling me your experience with CT Scan. I had one on Saturday, five weeks after surgery. I've had many before but unfortunately this time my vein tissued and hand swelled enormously. They had to repeat the scan and cold compress my hand. It's almost down to normal now so drama is over! It's never happened to me before so I don't mean to scare anyone! My veins have become brittle with age. And I know about that peeing sensation! The first time I had one I was absolutely convinced I had lol.

Thank you again for responding and your good luck wish

Kit x

Hi Lass,

Reading back through this thread I realise I didn't thank you for your reply. Sorry about that.

Thank you for easing my mind and your good luck wishes. I get my results this afternoon so I will at least know what comes next.

Kit xx

The results of my CT scan were clear which was a great relief today! My specialist told me that the next step would ideally be a completion thyroidectomy but not in my case, at the moment. My left vocal cord is still paralysed after the hemiythyroidectomy which means surgery at this stage holds a significant risk to my airway. I hadn't realised the importance of vocal cords and the talk of a potential tracheostomy was alarming! May I add that vocal cord paralysis is a very rare side effect and usually only temporary anyway, so I don’t mean to worry anyone  

So he will check how things are  in a few weeks and go from there.

Kit xx

.

Hello all

I hope everyone is as well as can be expected. 

Since my last appointment I've been feeling in limbo and a bit down about things. I understand why a completion thyroidectomy can't be done while I have a paralysed vocal cord. However as the small multifocal carcinomas were incidental findings when I had the hemi - the nodule they were concerned about turned out to be benign- my surgeon told me there's a significant possibility more will be found in the right lobe where I have nodules as well. So, though it's wonderful that my CT scan showed no spread, it wasn't great to hear that the same sort of cancer in my remaining lobe is still a possibility but that can only be diagnosed in the path lab. He did say things would be monitored closely, including the v cord. 

It's been 18 months of 5 US scans and 4 FNAs, being told one thing by one doctor and another by another, many conflicting. Similar to how it seems for many here who share experiences and offer support. In the middle of everything I had very painful shoulder surgery in March so having the Hemi three months later has been a strain and I haven't been able to finish the physiotherapy treatment within the correct therapeutic time, and my shoulder hasn't completely recovered. 

Do others find that the reaction of others to Thyroid Cancer can be flippant at times? They've heard or read somewhere that it's one of the good ones but seem to overlook that to be cured means going through surgery, treatment, drugs etc etc etc. I often come away from appointments feeling confused and frustrated so I can't blame others who ask me how things went or what's going to happen in the future, to be even more confused than I am! 

Also, noone had mentioned anything to me about having my thyroid levels checked to see if the lobe has taken up the slack since surgery. As it's 8 weeks since my op I decided to ring the hospital and ask and was told that I can arrange a blood test with my GP if I want to. It seems so lax as I would have thought checking levels was a must. Anyway, I will have a test tomorrow and learn from this experience, and many others, that I  just must learn to be proactive! 

Sorry to go on and on

Best wishes

Kit xx

Heya Kit, 

Yes, that's part of why I mention to anyone I see who has had a hemi about getting checked after 8 weeks to make sure nothing has started to decline, and also to keep a note of how you're feeling. That way, if you start to notice feelings of sluggishness, drying skin, drying or losing hair, etc then you know to go and get your levels checked. Because often they forget to tell people that, or don't tell them on purpose so as not to worry the worriers who will find symptoms that just aren't there. 

And yes, if you don't have chemo, then it's not a 'real' cancer, seems to be the subconscious thinking of most. It really annoys me when I see people out and about, and they comment on how well I am. They mean it in a nice way, but I just think about how much effort and preparation it's taken to get out and pretend to look well.

But a lot of it comes down to us being more sensitive than normal. So good intentions often miss the mark and end up making us feel worse in my experience. 

Lass

Xx