Hello Thelma67, 

It's completely understandable with having a parent with incurable cancer that you are feeling very low and anticipating the worst but try if you can not to draw any conclusions until you get your diagnosis. Keep away from the temptation to look anything up online as this will only make you feel more anxious and will never give you accurate or reliable answers. You did very well to go and see your GP when you noticed that lump in the front left of your neck and it's good that you have already had your ultrasound. Don't be alarmed though by the fact that the technician couldn't tell you more about it and didn't say much - this is because this may be beyond their level of expertise and only the consultant can review it and tell you what it might be. So it's all now a waiting game and hopefully it won't be long now until your GP receives the report and gets in touch with you. If you haven't heard anything after a week or two, make sure you ring your surgery to chase your results. 

I thought I would share with you these useful tips to help you cope while waiting for important news. It mentions that our greatest weapon against waiting-time anxiety is distraction. So try and take your mind off it by doing things you enjoy, spending time with your children or reading a book. It's easier said than done though but it will help you deal with the stress of the next few days. 

Other members of our community may have been in a similar situation before and I hope that they will be along shortly to share their story with you.

I hope that it all turns out to be fine and that you get your results very soon. 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Thank you Lucie, you’re right, Googling definitely doesn’t help. I spent most of Friday searching for positive stories, but ultimately it doesn’t matter what I read because it’s never going to say ‘Thelma67 you have nothing to worry about’ and quite a lot of stuff has scared me more. 
I’ve taken your advice and tried to stay distracted since, and have an appointment with my GP today as I saw online that my report is available (although hidden from me which I’m trying not to read in to).

The odds are it's not cancer. Only about 5% of nodules are and I don't think the doctor can tell anything just by looking at it. She's probably not saying anything much because there isn't anything to say beyond the fact that you've a nodule, as a large percentage of people do (I think it's around 20% to 40%).

And even in the off chance it is thyroid cancer, thyroid cancer isn't like many other forms of cancer. It is very rarely life-threatening. It is really just a matter of removing your thyroid. And I know that isn't exactly a "just". Nobody wants any form of cancer. But as a worst case scenario, it's really not as terrifying as it sounds.

Thank you. My GP gave me the impression that the radiographer would tell me more than she did. It just felt off in the appointment, she was really chatty and asking lots of questions and then suddenly went quiet and barely said anything after that. I am a terrible over thinker though, and possibly have made it seem much worse in my head.

I do know this. I’ve read everything you’ve said. I suffer a box with anxiety anyway and so my brain still goes to ‘yes but someone is in the unlucky % of people who do have cancer’ 

It also doesn’t help that I have a friend who’s husband died of thyroid cancer in his 40s.

Yeah, having that happen to your friend's husband is bound to worry you.

If it's any consolation, I had thyroid cancer four years ago and well, the worst parts of the ordeal were the anaesthetic and the worry. All I told most people, including some of my best friends was that I had my thyroid removed, because that is really what it amounted to. And my nodule was 10.5cm and 6.7cm of that was cancerous.

Sorry to hear you got an indeterminate result with some concerning features.

Thank you. I hate all this waiting. I wish I could just go and get my biopsy today. 
I'm not really sure how I will get through up to two weeks and then further waiting for results and decisions 

 MargaretMary  or anyone else who’s had the same, do you kind me asking how long it was from the biopsy showing you needed surgery to the surgery actually happening? I‘m just wondering if it is likely to be a big sudden rush, or whether it’s more likely the op would happen a bit later on. I have a relative starting treatment for another cancer and I am lined up to help out with driving to appointments. I really don’t want to let them down, but obviously would have to if they say I need op ASAP. 

I had my biopsy around mid-November and got the resuts on the 20th of November and then had my operation on the 6th of January. The doctor did say it could wait longer but just that psychologically, it was better to get it done as soon as possible.

I was in hospital for 6 days, because I needed a number of lymph nodes removed as well as my thyroid, so if you do need surgery and it includes the lymph nodes, you should probably plan to be unavailable for a week or ten days. If it's just the thyroid, you will probably only be unavailable for a few days (if you do need surgery at all). I had my stitches removed about two weeks after the operation, and took a train to the city the hospital was in and then walked half an hour out to the hospital so by then, I was basically back to normal health.

Thank you, that’s really helpful. My US report says my lymph nodes look normal - I’m not sure if this means they definitely wouldn’t take them…. Unless biopsy shows malignancy I guess?

I’ve actually had an appointment through to see ENT tomorrow which is super quick, but I think that is just an appointment with a consultant, not a biopsy. So it could be towards end of December before I even get biopsy results. 

Do you know though, does the fact that it’s causing symptoms (constant tickly throat and fluttering feeling causing cough) mean they might just remove it without biopsy?