Thyroid cyst- need biopsy

[Kim]

Patti,

I hate that you went through that unpleasant procedure and still have no answers.  Boy can I relate.  After my second biopsy we were nowhere either :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: :headbang: and are still trying to sort out the problem.  My gut is telling me that our problems  are more complicated than just thyroid and include the entire HPA axis, and we can probably thank Lyme disease for that. :doh:

Hang in there “lumpy, grumpy, and cystic frumpy”, cysta…….

Take care……kim

[chosen]

Patti,

I haven't had a chance to read all 10 pages yet, but am going to.I can relate my experience if it's of any help.Forgive me if I bring something up that has already been addressed. Five years ago I had a large walnut size lump on my neck. I went University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), they have an excellent reputaion for certain cancers. I'm not telling you by any means that I made the wisest decisions but did the best with what I knew at the time. I had a total of 9 needle biopsies, one by a med student! The problem with mine was they reviewed it with a number of Dr.s and said they hadn't seen anything quite like it. ( I wasn't surprised, I always seem to be a marvel to the medical community :roll-laugh:) Anyway they finally decided it was cancer so they removed one thyroid and left me under while they analyzed further, and said it was definitely cancer so they went ahead and removed the other. The rest is history. My voice was kind of raspy pryor but it was from my GERD. There is no telling what they did to me “for teaching purposes”  But all is ok. If you want to call me send me a PM and I can give you my phone number. I know it is so frustrating having “uncomfortable” tests and not knowing anything. But it sounds like you are much more on top of the situation than I was and you have the wonderful people here at the roadback. Hang in there!

[chosen]

One more thing, all my thyroid levels were always normal-

[Patti D]

Hey Cysta Kim,
This is incredible that we are on the same page. Biopsy results with no anwsers. In my search tonight i found an article somewhere about a newer procedure where they inject tetracycline into the thyroid nodule to get rid of it or at least shrink its size. Have you heard of this? They used ethanol as well . I would try the tetracycline if I keep having the problem of the cyst filling back up.
Geeze, tetracycline…….hum….. I wonder what else they use that for……..

What do you think? I have not starting shopping for an endo dr. yet but wonder if any of our thyroid cystas have had this as a treatment???

Loved your RB article. Maz is a great writer but so are you. What a great positive story. I want to see your garden. You know this year I didn't hire anyone to help me with the garden at the lake but had to at the work house. Proud to say, I did my own fall clean up at two houses. It took me a while but I did get it done .

I am thinking my raspy sore throat is because I worked non-stop for the last three days and even worked a double shift yesterday and spent all day teaching plus I was traveling overnight and didnt sleep a bit in the noisy hotel. I also think the cold hasn't helped.

Why can't we live somewhere where it is warm. Boy I sure hate this cold weather.

Chosen-

So glad you are chiming in here. 9 biopsies….. Oh my. I will quit complaining. I am curious. From the time you had your walnut sized nodule to the time it was diagnosed as thyroid cancer took how long? They didn't do 9 biopsies in a year did they? The literature I read said repeat ultra sounds if inconclusive every 6 months and monitoring by a doctor. I think your thyroid blood tests being normal is also interesting. So glad your thyroid problem is over and you are cancer free for 5 plus years Love to hear that.

Sending well wishes your way!

Patti

[chosen]

They always did ultra sounds, I can't remember an excact time frame. The biopsies were done in three sets of 3. I'll ask my husband but it seems like it all happened very quick-as I remember within a few months at the most from the time I noticed the nodule until a determination. Again remember I didn't have all the info that you do so I'm not certain that I made all the right decisions. In Arkansas it is a year or 2 waiting list to get in with any endicronologist and I was only able to get with this Dr. quickly thru my husbands friend. I'm just sharing what my experience was and I'm fine now except for other unrelated stuff. afterwards I did the iodine free diet for 2 weeks and then took a radioactive iodine pill. It's all over now and I rarely think about it. Other stuff to tackle now. Have a great evening- Lynn

[Kim]

Patti,

I haven't heard of injecting tetras in the cysts.  You might want to talk to Trudi about her Lyme doc because I believe she said he is also a thyroid specialist and would be in your neck of the woods, and would be aware of the connection and use of abx.

My ultrasounds are repeated every six months.  I've also noticed that when I get overly tired my neck feels tight and my voice more raspy.  Gets old doesn't it?  Hope your schedule thins out a bit and you can keep from running yourself into the ground.

Take care…….kim

 

[linda]

Hi Lumpy, Grumpy and Cystic Frumpy,

I had a math instructor who had a phrase for doing a problem the long way when there was a sort cut to the solution. She called it, 'Going all the way around the block just to go next door'. I think it applies well here too. I don't blame you for the way you feel, it's amazing that we can all maintain our sunny, pleasant dispositions most of the time.:dude:
Excuse me while I go look for my rose-colored glasses. Srsly, tho, I'm glad that nothing really bad was found, as much as they poked around I would hope if there were cancerous cells they would have picked them up.

I'm off to spread sunshine and rainbows thruout the world with my Care Bears. Or maybe I'll just drag myself and my pets to the vet for vaccines.

Mean as ever, Linda

[chosen]

Hey guys!  Having trouble posting a reply- oops! Anyway I talked to my husband and he said they DID wait 6 months after the first ultra sound. Don't remember much about the time line after that! You will both be fine! Lynn

[Trudi]

[user=40]Kim[/user] wrote:

You might want to talk to Trudi about her Lyme doc because I believe she said he is also a thyroid specialist and would be in your neck of the woods, and would be aware of the connection and use of abx.

Hi Patti–

I was thinking the same thing as I was reading through the posts.  Somewhere along my treatment this past year my thyroid shrunk back to normal.  When I asked Dr. M if I should have the ultrasound test done in October, he said to hold off.  I'm good with this (I'm not a fan of a lot of tests) and as I see him about every 2 months he can keep an eye on things.

Good luck!

Trudi

Lyme/RA; AP 4/2008 off and on to 3/2010; past use of quinolones may be the cause of my current problems, (including wheelchair use); all supplements (which can aggravate the condition) were discontinued on 10/14/2012. Am now treating for the homozygous MTHFR 1298 mutation. Off of all pain meds since Spring '14 (was on them for years--doctor is amazed--me too). Back on pain med 1/2017. Reinfected? Frozen shoulder?

[Maz]

[user=287]Patti D[/user] wrote:

In my search tonight i found an article somewhere about a newer procedure where they inject tetracycline into the thyroid nodule to get rid of it or at least shrink its size. Have you heard of this? They used ethanol as well . I would try the tetracycline if I keep having the problem of the cyst filling back up.
Geeze, tetracycline…….hum….. I wonder what else they use that for……..

What do you think? I have not starting shopping for an endo dr. yet but wonder if any of our thyroid cystas have had this as a treatment???

Hi Patti and Kim,

Connie7777 posted some studies about these two thyroid cyst/nodule procedures a few months ago…one on injecting ethanol and one injecting tetracycline. Here's the thread:

http://rbfbb.org/view_topic.php?id=2794&forum_id=1&highlight=ethanol+thyroid

Patti! So happy to hear your results were of the benign kind! YAY! Although I know the “inconclusive” wordings must have left you feeling, “What the heck does that mean??” But, all in all, the fact they didn't find anything suspicious or conclusive is a good thing…no news is good news! My nodules were diagnosed as being “cellular follicular lesions,” but a benign variety, so I don't think if this type of cell that is found necessarily means cancer either…just a small percentage of this type of finding. So no need to panic if you ever hear those words in your results. 🙂

Chosen, I really appreciate you kindly sharing your experience of thyroid cancer with us. I'd also been told that it was “the cadillac of cancers,” if one was to get it, by the guy who did my biopsies. No one wants to face the prospect of a cancer diagnosis, but he was a good guy, doing his best to be kind and it did help to put my mind at rest to hear that.

Peace, Maz

[chosen]

I was also told that in the “old days ” they often didn't find it or couldn't treat it, that it was such a slow growing cancer that people usually out lived it. That's not to say I would ignore it= Lynn

[Patti D]

Thanks Maz & Trudi

Trudi – glad to hear yours has shrunk. There is hope for all of us.
Maz,
How is your isthmus these days??? Giving you any trouble? I am thinking a watch and see is just fine now for me. Today I have no horseness so it must of been all of the training I did this week. Lots of chattering students I had to talk over. They gave my isthmus a run for the money!!

I guess the fact that there were no follicular cells is good news but the test itself was of no use as the were not able to get any cells because of the amount of blood.

Well thyroid issues with inflammatory cells of a degenerative nature is interesting as well.Could that be because of my age? Thanks for the help here.

Merry Merry Isthmus Cystas!
Patti

[Maz]

[user=287]Patti D[/user] wrote:

Well thyroid issues with inflammatory cells of a degenerative nature is interesting as well.Could that be because of my age? Thanks for the help here.

Merry Merry Isthmus Cystas!

 

:roll-laugh: Patti, you have been just waiting to say, Merry Isthmus Cystas for soooo long, haven't you?? :roll-laugh: You're too funny, girl…I re-read some of those old posts, too, and they were pretty hysterical. Not sure others would find them as funny as us…I guess you'd have to have an isthmus with cysts to appreciate the (dark) humor side of that.

I would check this with your doc, but the term, “Inflammatory cells of a degenerative nature,” sounds to me like it probably just means that there is inflammation present in your thyroid and causing cell apoptosis (cell death), much as would happen in any AI thyroid disease, like Hashimotos, which is a degenerative disease. Bascially, you get these hyperfunctioning nodules which crop up and eventually burn out, causing the thyroid to ultimately become hypothyroid. Some folk can just have hypothyroidism, too, without an AI disease and this is just a degenerative part of normal aging. I think your doc should be able to interpret the lingo for you, though…the medical lingo all sounds so daunting, but it's probably as simple as something like that. Were you recently tested for thyroid auto-antibodies as well as TSH and free and total T3 and T4?

I'm long overdue for another ultrasound and biopsy and, like Kim, my neck gets a tight feeling every now and again….more so lately, so I know I have to go and get this dealt with as my nodules are feeling bigger now. I intend to get it done in Jan sometime after the Christmas rush, but back to square one and need to find a decent endo. The last one I went to spent half my appt telling me that antibiotic therapy for my RA was dangerous :X….so I fired him.

Peace, Maz

 

 

[Patti D]

Hi Maz,

I too thought it seems like my thyroid is burning out right now which is indicative of the inflammatory cells. Maybe this nodule will disappear in the next 6 months and based on what I read, that is not unusual. a girl can hope right!!!!!
I am still waiting on my TSH and t3 & t4 results. They may be holding them up because on the order was a 2 hour pp glucose test which I couldn't take as I did not eat breakfast which was required.
My bloodsugar was 104 . a little high so he is rechecking. Never had any issues with blood sugar until I took that stinkin prednisone.

Still don't know if this thyroid is AI related, lyme related or post menopausal related but I suppose, what is the difference. I hope your ultrasound comes out good too>

Thanks cysta for all of your help. I am grateful!

Patti

[Trudi]

[user=287]Patti D[/user] wrote:

My bloodsugar was 104 . a little high so he is rechecking. Never had any issues with blood sugar until I took that stinkin prednisone.

Hi Patti–

My glucose levels have been as low as 74 and as high as 110.  Dr. M did a Hemoglobin A1c test which is a measure of blood sugar control over the past 2 to 3 months.

Just an FYI–good luck with your outcome–

Take care,

Trudi

Lyme/RA; AP 4/2008 off and on to 3/2010; past use of quinolones may be the cause of my current problems, (including wheelchair use); all supplements (which can aggravate the condition) were discontinued on 10/14/2012. Am now treating for the homozygous MTHFR 1298 mutation. Off of all pain meds since Spring '14 (was on them for years--doctor is amazed--me too). Back on pain med 1/2017. Reinfected? Frozen shoulder?

[Author]

Posts