Most thyroid lumps are completely benign and do not ever become cancerous. The length of time it has been there is no indication of anything. 

As far as I know, the signs of a benign lump and those of a cancerous one, as far as you would be likely to see them, are not really any different. Only the ultrasound and of course, the biopsy can indicate whether it is benign or malignant (and even those sometimes come out as indeterminate), so try to avoid looking for indications. I know this is easier said than done; it's natural to want to find something that rules out cancer, but I really don't think you will.

I had thyroid cancer two and a half years ago and had no symptoms whatsoever. I went to the doctor for something completely unrelated and he said "has that cyst on your thyroid ever been checked out?" I hadn't even been aware it was there. He said he didn't think it was anything concerning but a lot of things could cause it, so we should probably find out what it was.

I was shocked when it turned out to be cancer as none of the doctors seemed to think there was any great chance. Something like 90% or 95% are benign. The odds of cancer are low.

Also, even if it is cancer (and the odds are very much against it), it isn't what you may be thinking when you hear the word "cancer". The most common forms of thyroid cancer are almost never life-threatening, rarely spread outside the neck (I think something like 1% to 4% have spread outside the neck and even then, the survival rate is up around 75%) and they very rarely use chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The only ongoing threatment is the medication that replaces your thyroid function after they remove it.

This is how my story went:

About three years ago, I had a minor health issue. I went to the doctor and he was unconcerned about the issue I was consulting him on but said there was a cyst on my thyroid that should be investigated. I had an ultrasound that showed nothing especially to worry about but didn't rule out cancer so I had an appointment with an endocrinologist who was similarly unconcerned but said he would do a biopsy.

A week later, I went to get the results, basically thinking "in a few hours I can stop worrying about this," and got the results: "we found malignancies. Ah, it's not the worst situation in the world."

The cyst was 10.5cm and the cancerous part was 6.7cm, so larger than you can even find reference to online if you google. They often talk about over 1cm and under 1cm. The most serious is over 4cm.

Anyway, I had my thyroid and all the lymph nodes on one side of my neck removed in early January and was in hospital for a week, but felt pretty much OK after about 3 days. They were just monitoring stuff. 

About two weeks later, I went to get the results. The consultant said they found spread to 8 lymph nodes.

I went back to work after a month and nothing really changed in my life except I now take two tablets each morning.

I was supposed to have radioiodine treatment to reduce the risk of reccurrance over the Easter holidays. This just means taking a tablet, really, but you are radioactive afterwards to have to avoid contact with people, especially children or pregnant women (it was fun to explain to my principal. "I'm getting radioiodine treatment over the Easter holidays. It's shouldn't affect things here, but I might have to take a day or two off after the holidays, because I have to restrict contact with people." "Oh, to avoid infection?" "No, just because I'll be radioactive and there are restrictions on my contact with children and I'm not sure if that includes our 1st years." - 1st years are normally 12/13 and some of what I read online said under 14s).

Covid interfered with that and it ended up being done the last week of May. To be honest, that was one thing covid made less of a hassle as I could pretty much go about my life as usual once I got out of hospital because everybody was social distancing anyway. OK, within the home, I had to do things like eat in the conservatory and so on, but outside, I could be fairly confident I wasn't going to get too close to people.

So the biggest issue you are likely to have if you do need radioiodine treatment (which is unlikely, as it's unlikely to be cancer in the first place and even if it is, the operation may well be enough on its own; the radioiodine treatment was because the size of my nodule and the spread to lymph nodes put me at higher than average risk of recurrance) is that you may have to spend a week or so away from your children.

Hi Bev, I can see a round lump just where the thyroid is, its not soft but also not rock hard?. It moves up and down when I drink.

Hi

This is mirror image to my story.

Went to GP 8/7 after noticing lump. Had bloods for thyroid all ok. Sent for ultrasoumd who found 3 nodules 1 suspicious and doc ref to consultant. He ordered another ultrasound, biopsies and CT scan. The waiting is the most difficult time. 3 weeks later found out it was cancer (papillion thyroid) and surgery was scheduled for the following week. This was done 8/9 so literally everything was a whirlwhind I didnt have time to process.

I have 2 children 13 and 17 which I put off telling until after surgery. Single parent didnt want to worry them.

I am now waiting for review to discuss outcome and if need more treatment.

Unfortunately 1 grow was bigger than expected and my trachea was nicked so my stay in hosp was a litter longer than anticipated.

I have jst spent another 3 day in due to breathing difficulties which they thought was a clot due to high blood markers but thankfully after many scans it wasnt and maybe due to trauma after surgery.

My story is my own and a rushed one. I went into it trying not to overthink, not look at Google and went with the flow. I say dnt worry about things beyond your control as you will drive yourself crazy.

I did confide in a few friends who kept me occupied and who I could lean on in times of stress.

Apparantyl I thought i had caught it early but consultant stated it had been there some time. Size isnt an inducator of how good/bad things could be. My largest was 4cm deep.

Try not to worry. If it does turn out to be cancer it is a better 1 to have (I even feel a fraud saying I have had cancer) as a total thyroidectomy gets rid of it. And radioiodine treatment if necessary gets rid of anything which may be left.

Take 1 step at a time and cross each bridge when you need too.

Take care

Hi Margaret, thank you so much for sharing your story with me. You sound so brave and the way you have explained it sounds not as bad if it is anything bag going on. I hope you're feeling well now?.

I have had all the usual Thyroid symptoms for under active but I guess it does'nt really matter when it comes to lumps? It just needs to be looked at in hospital. Mine would have been slow growing for years, I had all the sympmtoms of it but TSH was normal so not sure why. I got hope that It is not the "c" and it is taken out. My appointment is a few more days, not sure if it is just US.

I actually did not realise how common this is, Ive had a few friends say yes I have under or over thyroid. A couple of them have had the lumps removed by surgery.. I never knew this, they said they only had it removed because it was too big.

Thank you so much for replying.

Hi DeeDee, I am so sorry to hear what you're going through. You are right about staying off google. I stupidly did and now have convinced my self I have something bad. I def wont be telling my kids either if I have to have an operation. I hope you are feeling okay now? .

I will let you know how I get on. I am very scared and not being very positive. Thankyou so much for sharing your story with me. I guess I have to prepare for the worse...

Take care.

Hope all goes well let us know.. I'm  going myself to have a similar one looked at ... Best wishes 

Yes, thank you, I am absolutely fine now.

Yeah, you could have an underactive thyroid without thyroid cancer or thyroid cancer without any problems in thyroid activity. Mine was not over or underactive and my TSH was perfectly normal.

When I had my surgery, I just told most people I had to have my thyroid removed. If they asked for more detail, I said there was a cyst on it that could cause problems down the road if it started pressing on my vocal cords or my trachea or something. All perfectly true, but I only told the cancer part to close family and people who needed to know. People do need cysts removed because they are too large or because the doctors cannot tell if they are cancerous or not, so it was a perfectly reasonable explanation and you could probably tell your kids something similar. "I have a lump on my throat that needs to be removed."

I will also say, I probably had it for at least 4 or 5 years before it was diagnosed. You can see the lump in my neck in pictures 3 or 4 years earlier, now that I know what I am looking for. And it still hadn't spread very far. The most common forms of thyroid cancer are quite slow-growing.

But it is far more likely that you simply have a benign nodule.

Thank you, good luck Bev. A friend who works at my local hospital said they see hundreds of lumps, I did not realise how common it is. I just hope ours is bengin.

I think I will do the same too, I am quite a private person I do not like the spot light on me lol. I am so glad you feel better, did it use to restrict your breathing? Thats what I first started to notice, My breathing has not got worse but the cyst/goiter or what ever it is has grown so now it is visible. I think mine started around that time too, my daughter is 8 I started to notice symptoms when she was 3. I had alot of stress too at that time.