Hi, hope you're doing well.

I've just read through the thread and thought I would add my experience.

I'm a 21-year-old male and have just been diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer.

I noticed a lump on the right side of my neck around the start of June and made an appointment with my GP. The GP said it was probably nothing but said he would refer me to an ENT specialist at the local hospital as it wouldn't let him book an ultrasound because of the COVID situation. After seeing the ENT doctor he again didn't find anything concerning but sent me for an ultrasound and FNA to rule out cancer.

1 week later I had my ultrasound and the doctor said the lump I went for was nothing of concern and was just the natural structure of my neck. But during the ultrasound, he said he found some very small nodes and one 11mm in size on the left side of my thyroid which looked highly suspicious.

On the 29th June, I had my results with a consultant who informed me that the results of the biopsy came back as inconclusive and to find out for sure what the nodule was I would have to have a left thyroid lobectomy. I was given the date 23rd July for my surgery however it was delayed by a week due to an emergency the consultant had with another patient on the morning of my surgery. I had the surgery on the 30th July and must say it went so much better than I anticipated. I had neck stiffness and slight pain but it was totally manageable. My voice was hoarse for around 2 days but now seems almost exactly what it was before.

I had the results for the side of the thyroid they took out on the 11th August and was told I had lots of little nodes which were all little cancers and I would need to have further surgery in September to remove the rest of my thyroid pending a meeting with the MDT next week.

If you have any questions about the surgery or anything you'd like to ask me feel free!!

Hi Paul,

Thank you for sharing your story. I'm so sorry about your diagnosis but it sounds like they'll have you all fixed up soon. I hope you're feeling okay? 
 

You mentioned that your ultrasound came back as highly suspicious. Did they say what they'd found, specifically, that concerned them? Your nodules are slightly smaller than mine. I'm still reading into this myself and having already been told I had cancer (by mistake), I want to be prepared if they tell me again. It's so hard when you're trying to stay positive (I'd rather think the worst and have a nice surprise )

I hope you're recovering well. 
 

Take care,

Sophie 
 

Hi,

I'm not feeling too bad thank you better than I thought id be.

At the time of my results, I wasn't told about the classifications such as thy3 so I was under the impression I would be told if it was benign or malignant. When the consultant told me the results were inconclusive I asked what that meant and he just said the cells were 'abnormal' but the FNA didn't confirm they were cancerous and that's why I needed a lobectomy. At this time there was only one nodule that concerned the consultant he said the other smaller nodules looked fine it wasn't until I got my results this week that I found out the little nodes were cancer too.

I had a feeling it was going to be cancer because the doctor said nodules were more concerning in younger men especially, so I had prepared myself to hear the C-word.

Wishing you the best for tomorrow and a speedy recovery!

Paul

Hi,

I'm not feeling too bad thank you better than I thought id be.

At the time of my results, I wasn't told about the classifications such as thy3 so I was under the impression I would be told if it was benign or malignant. When the consultant told me the results were inconclusive I asked what that meant and he just said the cells were 'abnormal' but the FNA didn't confirm they were cancerous and that's why I needed a lobectomy. At this time there was only one nodule that concerned the consultant he said the other smaller nodules looked fine it wasn't until I got my results this week that I found out the little nodes were cancer too.

I had a feeling it was going to be cancer because the doctor said nodules were more concerning in younger men especially, so I had prepared myself to hear the C-word.

Wishing you the best for tomorrow and a speedy recovery!

Paul