Hello

Just jumping on as I saw your post and I know how awful it is to be waiting and wondering. Our minds are so powerful, they can create such real feelings just from thoughts alone, that they physically affect our bodies. Equally though, you can convince your body that all is OK in these moments of panic. Until you know what is what, try your hardest to stay away from the bad thoughts. Take long, purposeful breaths. Breathe in and count for 6, hold for maybe 3, then slowly release your breath for 7 or 8 counts. Repeat 5 times. It will calm your body down and you won't feel so panicked. 

I went through biopsies/tests and then diagnosis back in January. I understand how worrying this part is. You cannot control the outcome of anything, but you CAN control how you react to it.

Sending positive vibes your way and a virtual hug.

X

Sorry to hear you are feeling so worried. 

I know this is easier said than done, but I'd believe what you were told. If they are saying microcalfications do not necessarily mean malignancy, then I would believe that. They should know better than you or I whether it was a U4 or a U5, so if they said it was U4, it probably was. I know how hard it is not to second-guess this stuff though and we have access to so much information now, some of which may not be entirely applicable to our personal situations.

And like I said, I went through thyroid cancer. I had a 6.7cm tumor on my thryoid and they found cancer in 8 lymph nodes. They removed my thyroid and I was pretty much back to my normal life within a couple of weeks. Even if you do have thyroid cancer, it's not necessarily going to be life-changing (at least not apart from the annoyance of having medical appointments and stuff). Two years on, I take my thyroid medication each morning, have a bit of tingling in my neck occasionally and two or three medical appointments a year and that is it.

My other piece of advice would be that for me at least, the best thing I did was keep on with my normal life. I went to the appointment to get my results straight from work - we have a half-day on Wednesdays - and went back in to work the next morning after getting the results. I went to our staff Christmas party the night before my pre-operation appointment. While I was off work after my operation, our principal sent around an e-mail about an online course, which I did - it was only a 2 or 3 hour thing, but it made me feel like I was still part of things. I was only off for 4-5 weeks anyway.

Thank you Vicki! You're so right. I just need to breathe and get though it. My mind is making me imagine so many horrible situations and I hate it. Thank you for taking the time to respond <3

As always, thank you. Very true about things that may not apply to me - I've been reading so many medical journals to try to feel more in control of what they'll say to me, but it's only convincing me of the worst.

I have thyroid antibodies too, so I worry that will have an impact on my future monitoring for reoccurance. Feels like every checkup is going to induce this huge amount of anxiety and I just can't live like this with two children! 
 

Really appreciate you sharing your perspective again. I need to hear these positive stories - the internet is littered with people looking for support, which obviously skews the overall experience. 

I did the same and some of them are quite reassuring, but some are outdated or done on high-risk groups or stuff like that.

And I don't think every check up with induce this much anxiety. And that's even assuming you have thyroid cancer, which you still don't know for sure. You might get the all-clear. But I am nowhere near as worried now as I was when I was first diagnosed. I have an ultrasound each year to check for reccurance and it's really only when I go in for the ultrasound that I get worried. Yes, last year, when it was my first ultrasound, I was really nervous the week or so afterwards, checking my phone repeatedly, to see if there were any messages (this was made worse, ridiculous as it is, by the fact that the ultrasound took place in late November. It was late November the previous year that I was diagnosed and the year before that, my dad died at the end of November, so awaiting news of an ultrasound then felt like a bad omen). This year, I was nervous while they were doing the ultrasound, that was about it.

Plus, if you do have cancer, once you've had the operation, you'll have a better idea what the treatment is like and, while nobody wants to face reccurrance, it's not as terrifying as heading into the unknown is. And talking of medical journals, one literally stated that reccurrance of thyroid cancer in the lymph nodes is "just a nuisance."

Best of luck today. Hope you get good news.