Nodule on thyroid gland

[mandiclearwat79]

I had my first thyroid u/s in Dec. They found a small nodule on my thyroid gland.
6 months later I went for a follow up u/s and it has grown.. I don't know the measurements or details I was referred to an ENT doc for him to evaluate the situation.  

I am a little concerned by this.. What questions should I have for the ENT doc Friday?
I have been on Synthroid for 9 months now on the lowest dose.  

Anyone else ever have something similar?

Thanks.
Mandi

[mandiclearwat79]

my FNA on my nodule came back indeterminate. , it does have blood flow and not a smooth shape.

So my ent wants me to see an Endocrinologist to see what his opinion would be.
My ent said he didn't like the looks of it but definately wanted another opinion from the endocrinologist.  my ent said he would def remove it now even though its small...

I will get it removed once the appt with the endo doc is over. im still nervous.

Do you guys know if he removes the nodule, do they have to remove the entire lobe?
What are the stipulations for doing a thyroidectomy?

What questions should I be asking my docs.. Im new to this... thanks for all your input.

[mandiclearwat79]

Good luck with your surgery... my doc said if the biospy comes back inconclusive he will remove it and the enlarged thyroid gland.  Im super nervous about this whole thing.. I think I would feel better about it if it weren't solid :-( Oh well out of my hands now!

Thanks again and best of luck to you.

[RALFINA]

I have a hypoechoic nodule too.  Mine is now 3.9 cm (VERY large).  It does have bloodflow and is solid.  I am having a complete thyroidectomy tomorrow.  ***** and I am scared but at this point, I want the damn thing out of my neck.  It does push on my trachea and makes swallowing feel like a tight pressure and sometimes my vitamin or food/liquid get held up in there.  I had a FNA and it showed follicular neoplasm which is why I am having the surgery.  They can only tell if it's cancer by removing it.  I think my Dr. said even with all the "bad signs" the chance of it being cancer is still only 25 to 30 percent in this particular situation.  So, I guess we'll see.  I hope you get a good solid answer from your FNA and don't need anything else.  It's hard for us not to worry but I am just ready to be done with it and do what I need to.  Good luck with your FNA tomorrow, it's not that bad.  :)

[mandiclearwat79]

The ENT scheduled a FNA Biopsy for Wednesday of this upcoming week.  

[MANmom]

A hypoechoic nodule is more often cancerous, BUT ONLY 5-15% chance...Your nodule is not that big, but if they want to biopsy it, let them.  Otherwise watch it and wait until it gets to 1 cm or more.  Luckily, if it is cancer, thyroid cancer grows very slowly, so you do not have to race to take it out or biopsy it.  Do the biopsy, they might or might not get a diagnosis, but keep an eye on it.

[mandiclearwat79]

I got the radiology report back.
the new size of the nodule is:
7x5x6 mm hypoechoic nodule and the echotexture of the gland is heterogeneous, the impression from the radiologist was it was a small indeterminate hypoechoic nodule measuring 7mm in the midpole rt lobe. Recommended biospy for a definitive biopsy.

I have no idea what this means! I don't know if it's round or smooth or if it has blow, assuming it does not but I don't know!
                

[MANmom]

If it is bigger than 1 cm, you will probably be scheduled to have an FNA biopsy, they insert a needle under ultrasound guidance and retreive a cell sample to check for suspicious cells.  After that they will either recommend removal or "watch and wait" where you keep an eye on the nodule to check for changes.  Did it have vascularity (blood flow)?  Is is smooth and round or jagged?  Smooth and round is usually good, jagged is not, vascularity is more likely to be cancerous.