Hi Mel,

I don’t think it’s standard procedure but it happens. I had a “suspicious” Thyroglossal Duct Cyst removed in late April. Following removal it was sent to pathology who in mid May returned a benign result. Got the results from my ENT surgeon. So far so good.

Then out of the blue in early June my surgeon phones me and tells me he’s had the pathology sent for a 2nd opinion at another hospital as something wasn’t “sitting quite right” for him with the results.

Following the 2nd pathology team’s analysis and review in MDT they’ve now decided that it’s a very low grade papillary thyroid cancer as opposed to benign and I’m having surgery in early July to remove my thyroid.

From what my ENT explained, pathology is a complex science - basically what they look for is the presence or lack of certain patterns and features in the cells. Sometimes the cells don’t quite contain all the features of cancer or contain some that suggest a benign nature so it takes more analysis by teams with more or different experience including things like immunochemistry staining etc. to reach a final diagnosis.

All the best to you and I hope your results come back negative!

Mike

Many thanks for this Mike, really appreciate it. Waiting is the worst!

all the best to you

Hi Mel,

I too had the right side of my thyroid removed just over three weeks ago due to inconclusive nodule biopsy and am still waiting to hear something. At the hospital I was told there would be a Teleconference in 10 days but nothing has happened. I understand how you feel because everyday you worry about the result and the longer you wait the more you worry. Hope it all goes well for you.