Hi LivingLilith,
I'm so sorry you're going through this and the doctors aren't finding any solutions. Do you have the full ultrasound results? Just a small nodule on its own might not interfere with swallowing, but I believe this can vary from person to person and depends on where the nodule is located, if the thyroid is enlarged, etc.
If your voice has changed it sounds like something is pressing against the vocal cords. This could be a thyroid nodule, could also be something larynx related like vocal cord nodules, or something else like swollen lymph nodes. Usually when they do an ultrasound they will note if any swollen lymph nodes were detected. The popping noise is probably something rubbing against the cartilage in the front of your neck behind the thyroid - it could be thyroid nodule or goiter related, but there are other possibilities too. When you say you can feel the lump "manually" do you mean with your hand, on the front of your thyroid? Or you feel it move in your throat?
I think a visit to an ENT would definitely be helpful. Unless your colloid nodule is at a position where it's rubbing up and down and irritating your voice box, there could be another cause, which might require a trained ENT to diagnose. You don't want to have your thyroid removed and then find out it was actually something else, that's probably why the GS is being hesitant in making a diagnosis. My ENT used a scope down through my nostril to look at my larynx before my hemithyroidectomy, and is going to do the same thing soon to make sure there was no damage from my surgery.
You said there are other thyroid related issues - do you mean hypo or hyperthyroidism? Hashimoto's or Graves' Disease? Both of these can cause a goiter, which could result in pressing down on your larynx. Your ultrasound may give the dimensions of your thyroid lobes which would tell us whether it is enlarged or not.
As for personal experience, I discovered in March this year I had large thyroid nodules that I could see in the mirror, found out I had multinodular goiter (enlarged thyroid with lots of nodules kind of growing in to each other), April found out that one of my nodules was suspicious for neoplasm, and that I have Hashimoto's (I have had hypo symptoms for many years but did not know they were symptoms), and found out I needed a thyroid lobectomy because there is no way to tell if my suspicious nodule was cancer or not, and just last week (June) had my right thyroid lobe removed, still do not know yet if it is/was cancer. I had a 1.9cm nodule on the front of my right thyroid lobe, a 1.3 cm (the suspicious one!) on the back of my right thyroid lobe, and the thyroid itself was enlarged. Very occasionally I would get a lump in the throat feeling when I was eating, but no pain unless sometimes I was lying in an odd position putting pressure on that area. I think the position of the nodule has a lot to do with whether there is pain or not though.
I hope you get some answers soon - for me the worst part is waiting for a diagnosis. I would keep pushing for a diagnosis - if you are in pain and hearing odd noises, you know something is wrong. Go see an ENT, tell them you're open to the possibility that it's not your thyroid, but if it isn't the thyroid then you need to figure out what is causing the problem. (Again, I wouldn't rule out thyroid as a cause yet).