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Growth found on thyroid - been told to 'see if it grows'.

ProfessorBug
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Hi,

My wife had an ultrasound scan to find out why she's got sore neck, ears, and tinitus following Covid.   Following the scan, she was told to report to ENT.   They completely ignored the syptoms she had, but said that there's a 2 cm growth shown up on her thyroid which is a higher priority.   It's been described as a 'stage 3 growth', which we're told means they don't know if it's cancer or not.   

She was then told that they don't want to investigate it now, but want to leave it 3 months to see if it grows before they do a biopsy.

Does this sound right?   Leaving a growth on such a metabolically active gland doesn't sound like a great idea, and the worry this is causting is just adding to the pain and tinnitus which the Covid brought on.

Is it normal to leave something like this for 3 months before investigating further?

Thanks.

  • Offline

    I am not a medical professional, so obviously, I am just speaking from my own experience here and not with any authority - just wanted to be clear about that - but I had thyroid cancer and honestly, probably had it for at least 4 or 5 years before it was discovered. Looking back at photos, I can see the lump on my neck in photos taken three or four years before it was discovered. And when I was diagnosed, the doctor's comment was that it wasn't going to do anything in the near future, but they would schedule the operation fairly soon anyway, just because psychologically, it was better to get it done as soon as possible. 

    I don't know if it is normal to leave it, but as far as I know, a lot of thyroid cancers are slow growing, if that is any reassurance.

  • Offline in reply to MargaretMary

    MargaretMary,

    That's really helpful - thanks for the speedy reply.   We're going to call the GP tomorrrow and find out what's going on, but this is really encouraging in the meantime.

    Thanks for your help.

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