Awaiting CT scan on Thyroid - abnormal cells on FNA

Hi there.

The GP randomly noticed a lump on my thyroid a few weeks ago. He took my thyroid bloods and they came back normal, so there is no concern over thyroid function. 

I was referred for an ultrasound scan which I had a couple of weeks later. The sonographer was a bit cagey and said that I needed to phone my GP if they had not contacted me within a week. That evening the GP called to say they had found a nodule and I needed referring to thyroid and parathyroid ENT.

I saw my consultant a week ago who said I needed another ultrasound and an FNA.

I had the FNA and scan this Monday gone. The consultant who conducted the FNA said that from the scan, she thought that the lump was probably okay, however there were a couple of areas she was unsure about. So she couldn’t be fully sure. She said something about the shape of the nodule - it was possibly taller than it was wide, and that it looked like it could have a certain sort of halo. She marked it as a U2/U3. She also said that one of my nearby lymph nodes had drawn their attention (she didn’t say why), and that they won’t worry about the lymph node if the lump is benign, but they would if the lump is showing signs of being malignant.

****Update******

I saw the consultant this Monday and was expecting to be told that all is fine and lump is benign. He instead told me that although some of the cells were normal and fine, there were a handful that he “didn’t like” and were causing him concern. He said they were abnormal. He also said that there were a couple of things causing him concern, along with the fact that I’m female and of a certain age (38). I suspect that one of the concerns may have been the dodgy looking lymph node found at the last ultrasound.

He said that it is highly likely that they will remove the lump within a month. He wants to do a CT scan with a week. He and his team will then discuss me at a meeting and decide the next course of action.

The consultant said that if the lump is cancerous, they may get away with just removing it, however I might have to have treatment also, depending on the state of things.

 

We then had to go into another room with a nurse who gave me her mobile number.

 

The consultant did emphasise that if cancer this is really, really treatable and I must try not to worry.

 

I have gone from expecting a benign lump and not worrying, to being quite worried.

 

I have no idea what to expect from here on, and would be so grateful to hear from anybody who has been through similar and could offer some insight. Thanks so much.

  • Hi there,  I thought I'd reply because the start of your post sounds similar to what I'm going through at the moment. I discovered a lump on my thyroid 3 weeks ago. My bloods came back 'satisfactory' and I am now waiting for my ultrasound which is next week. From reading your post and looking at other posts on here diagnosing thyroid lumps and problems seem to be a long process, there seems to be so many things that can go wrong with your thyroid! Thankfully most lumps seem to be benign and treatable. Glad that you're feeling positive and I hope everything goes well for you. 

  • Hi there,

    thanks so much for your reply. Have you now had your ultrasound? I do hope that all went okay. 

  • Hi. Yes I had my scan on Wednesday. The sonographer said that from what he could see the lump didn’t appear to be anything suspicious and said he thinks it’s just a nodule. I was quite surprised that I was told anything at the time because I know that isn’t routine. I’d like to think that if he had any doubts he wouldn’t have said anything at all! I’m still waiting for the official results so hopefully he’s right! 

    Sorry to read about your scan, you had a very different experience to me. From posts I’ve read on this forum, it seems to be quite difficult to diagnose what the lumps are until they’ve been taken out. I’d like to think I’ll get a definitive answer to what’s going off in there! I hope you get good news. I was preparing myself for the worst outcome (still am really due to my anxiety) but from what I’ve seen, and as your consultant has confirmed, even the worse case scenario is very treatable. Take care and let me know how you get on x