THY3 and hemithyroidectomy

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Hi,

This my first post here, I have been a long time lurker. I was hoping I could get some thoughts on my current situation; here is the background:

I had an ultrasound for a neck lump, which turned out to be a U3 nodule; I then had an ultrasound guided FNA biopsy, which came back as THY3F, with the recommendation to have a diagnostic partial thyroidectomy (remove the half of the thyroid with the nodule), as they cannot say whether the nodule is cancerous or benign, based on cytology alone - the surgery is needed to distinguish between the two. I am scheduled to have this next week.

However, I am now having second thoughts...I keep wondering what if the biopsy isn't representative of the entire nodule? I don't know, my mind is a bit frazzled. I'm worried that I'll have the surgery and then regret it afterwards, by thinking I didn't do everything in my power to avoid surgery. I find myself in a tough predicament, and thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank you so much for listening to me unload! 

Best wishes to you all.

  • The only way to find out if a thyroid lump is follicular thyroid cancer is to take the whole lump out and analyse is under a microscope. You can poke and test a thousand times and still not get a result that's conclusively positive or negative. 

    I know it's hard in these days of hyper-advanced medical science to actually believe that we can't magic up a diagnosis without going under the knife. Sadly, it's absolutely the case.

    Most of us will tell you that the surgery isn't that awful. The hemithyroidectomy in particular is just one overnight stay, stitches out after a week, back to driving and doing your stuff after that for many of us. For those who have low pain thresholds or heal slowly, it can take a bit longer.

    I've not had kids, but I'm told a hemithyroidectomy is a walk in the park compared to childbirth and people - mostly women - do that every day.
    The doctors wouldn't be recommending surgery if it wasn't the best course of action. 

    Best wishes

    Barbara

    “Scars are tattoos with better stories.” – Anonymous