Hello PhilM1980, 

A warm welcome to Cancer Chat. I can understand why you are feeling worried at the moment about this hole in your skull. As you are getting a little worried about the fact you haven't heard anything back from your GP, it may be worth getting in touch with your doctor to ask whether they could update you on the situation. 

I am not sure whether these two issues could be connected but it's good they are going to remove the nodule on your thyroid in the next few weeks. Perhaps you could ask the endocrine consultant whether they think the two issues could be connected? Or when you call your GP, you could also mention your worries about this. So I think given how anxious you are feeling about it at the moment, it's important you have this conversation with your GP and bring up all your concerns and ask any question that pops to your mind. 

I hope that you will meet others who have had a similar experience and that they will be along soon to share their story with you. 

Fingers crossed you get some clarity soon on all this! 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

I don't know anything about the hole in your skull or whether the two things could be related (I do know thyroid cancer can spread to the bone, but...I think it is very uncommon, like well under 1% of cases and I don't think I have ever heard of somebody having problems with their bones before being diagnosed with thyroid cancer).

Thyroid nodules are also very common, more so in women than men, but still and it is not at all unusual for a thyroid nodule to be found incidentally when having a scan, so whether the nodule is benign (as most are) or malignant, there is a very good chance it is unrelated and just found incidentally. (Like, I read one study thing online that was warning that scans were very likely to find thyroid nodules and most would be harmless but once they were found, they had to be investigated.)

Hi PhilM 1980,

I have a hole in my skull, roughly oval, about 3cms x 2cms.

To reassure you, your brain cannot be felt through the hole - what can be felt are the meninges, or the outer one, to be more specific.

My hole is due to multiple myeloma. You said you had a raised level on a blood test - do you know what level was raised?

Best Regards

Taff

Thanks for this. The raised level was IgM. Not really sure what that is but believe it's a sign of some kind of body defence. I guess it could be related to my thyroid???

I know the brain scans have been clear. They did say I had some "pointy" bits of bone in my skull (but they said hard to say what's caused them).

thanks for the info on the meninges. Can I ask how/if they solved this for you. Also, what your symtoms were/are?

That's great. Thank you. It certainly does put my mind at easy. Do you know anything about how long the options are for thyroid removal and how big the scars are?

Hi Phil,

IgM is one of the antibodies your plasma cells make, so part of your immune system. My Myeloma is IgG.

The hole in my head started as a slight dip, that grew into a lump, which then collapsed after chemo, leaving the hole. Once a bone is damaged it doesn't heal, though there can sometimes be scar tissue which can fill gaps. There is no fixing of the hole in my head, it'll stay as it is, or get bigger.

Symptoms would take too long a post and depend on what stage you're at but bone pain is a main one for most patients.

Rather than try and go too in depth, can I direct you to the main Myeloma site. It should answer most of your questions. If you then feel myeloma might apply to you, you can ask your GP to test for it.

If after looking at the site you'd still like a history of my experience with myeloma, I'd gladly do so.

Regards

Taff

I'm not sure what you mean about "the options." 

How big the scar is will depend on whether they are removing half your thyroid or the entire thing. I had my whole thyroid and all the lymph nodes on one side of my neck removed and...by the time I had my radioiodine treatment less than five months later, a junior doctor could not find the scar. 

Hi I have a nodule on my thyroid, I had a thyroid ultrasound in 2019 just after having a premature baby. At the consultant appointment I'd spent all day in the waiting room with a crying newborn, sleep deprived and I don't think I listened much but they said it was a 3cm nodule and I said I didn't know it was there it wasn't causing me issues do I need to do anything? They said no and I might be recalled in a few years. Fast forward to March 2023 I had a bicycle accident abroad and they found the thyroid nodule and a 5cm lytic lesion / hole in my C5 vertebral body on a CT. I've come home and had an MRI on Tuesday through the NHS after 3 weeks wait, just waiting for the results.... Interested to hear how you get on.