Hi Jakimal and thank you for your post.

I'm sorry to read about your situation. This must be an incredibly difficult time for you.

I am sorry that you are facing this dilemma with your care, but unfortunately, as I am not part of your team I cannot comment on which option you should take. I wonder if you have a specialist nurse who you can talk to about your concerns.

Monitoring otherwise known as active surveillance involves monitoring your thyroid cancer with regular scans, rather than treating it straight away.  The scans aim to find any changes that suggest that the cancer may grow and cause symptoms.

You don’t mention which type of thyroid cancer you have. Active surveillance is common if you have a very small, papillary thyroid cancer;  your doctor might call this low-risk cancer.

Active surveillance is considered a form of treatment. You may want to visit our webpages on thyroid cancer treatment.

Some people are not comfortable with the notion of active surveillance and would prefer to have surgery to remove the tumour. It is what you feel comfortable with.

You have to consider the urgency of your spinal operation. If you have low-grade thyroid cancer, it may be possible to postpone treatment until after your spinal operation.

It would be helpful if your thyroid specialist and spinal specialist could collaborate. Your spinal specialist might not be aware that active surveillance is a valid treatment option.

I really hope you know more soon and that everything will be okay for you.

Please get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Kind regards,

Tina