Not been diagnosed

Hi there, sorry you are having so much stress.

I had an incidental finding enlarged lymph node and thyroid nodule in July   Had really high levels of anxiety as every scan, test and ultrasound came back inconclusive.

Eventually had selective neck dissection following pet scan, 7 weeks ago which confirmed papillary thyroid cancer.

had total thyroidectomy this morning. It sounds strange, but was a relief to get any result, just so I knew- had never considered myself a control freak until now!

PLEASE REMEMBER, thyroid cancer is VERy rare but it is perfectly natural to be so anxious. 
To be honest, I just really tried to keep busy tbdougj the day but even then, it was always on my mind, and I wasn’t sleeping, which never helps. Spoke to my gp who was very sympathetic especially as it took over 6 months of tests to diagnose. We have private health insurance, but NHS was faster, think as many people were paying for tests. Anyway, the night sedation and meds to settle my tummy, which was constantly churning, really helped immensely.

unfortunately, we are at least an hour from any McMillan/Maggie’s centres and due to vision problems, I can no longer drive. May be worth seeing if anything is near you? Also had phone call to McMillan which was very helpful.

Hope you get results in your favour, soon

Avril x

Thank you so much for replying. I already knew I was a control freak but this is another level! The not knowing is awful and all the waiting as well. Hope you are recovering well after your op. How old are you? I hope on Thursday I will know whether they have referred me for surgery and I really hope they do. It’s been 3 months since I found the lump which was 29mm. Not sure if it’s changed. It’s been about 7 weeks since they said it was first suspicious at US. Those 7 weeks have been so bad. My mind is in overdrive x

Hi Lou

i so completely sympathise. My lymph node was 28mm and also cystic. Thyroid nodule was 13mm- so good to be saying ‘was’!!

The waiting anxiety is indescribable- had a lot of ‘melt down’ along the way. I used to be a nurse and spent time as a student in ent( about 35 years ago!

I am 58 and live in Scottish Borders so my head and neck unit is in St John’s, Livingstone

Avril

I’m 38. It’s near impossible to get my mind off it all and think about anything else. My family are supportive but  I think they are finding it draining. Hope you are ok today. Roll on Thursday for more info. My lump is solid, thinks that’s why it was classed as suspicious. I also have thyroiditis x

My lumps were non palpable, just as well I had scan! 
it must be so difficult not to prod and poke it. 
Mcmillan have a lot of info on stress and relaxation but I was beyond help! 
sounds sad but my heart was racing over 90 all the time. I am pretty fit and active and it is usually in the 60’s and I was having bad/ strange dreams, wakening in a panic 
the sleeping tablets really helped. Wish I had got them earlier.

have you tried Reiki ?

No I haven’t. I go for lots of walks. I’m trying to avoid medication and trying to fight with my brain to be calm naturally. I just want to get to the end of this process so much! Hopefully I’m closer now. I only have the one lump. At the US they said my lymph nodes looked ok.

Hope all goes well tomorrow 

Feeling very tired today but analgesia working well

Ax

Thank you. Will let you know. Sending best wishes to you

I’ve been put on the list for surgery. He said up to 70% chance of benign. Up to a 3 month wait. Hope it’s not that long though