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Occult Papillary Thyroid Cancer with Lateral II Lymph Node Metastasis
Thyroid Cancer | Last Active: May 13, 2023 | Replies (4)Comment receiving replies
Thanks for the questions! I will try to answer them as well as I can without being an expert.
1. Once you are "suspicious for PTC," the doctors seem to all recommend a thyroidectomy. I suspect the reason is that having your thyroid out and being on synthetic thyroid hormones is better for you in the long run than having the cancer spread to other parts of your body.
2. The lump is no longer there. The lump was surgically removed in July of 2022, along with some 26 other lymph nodes. (I have a 4 or 5 inch scar on the side of my neck to prove it!) The chemical analysis of 4 lymph nodes revealed markers consistent with being suspicious for PTC.
3. Before having the lymph nodes removed, I had another biopsy done in June of 2022. I also had my slides sent to another institution to have them analyzed. While different tests were done, the results seemed consistent for being suspicious for PTC. (I uploaded a document in my first post for anyone to see)
4. Now, the reason for all the studies has to do with what all the doctors (2 different ones) told me. Even though they can't see any cancer on my thyroid, it is most likely there, and they will find it after they take my thyroid out. Doctors have told me that my cancer will spread and metathesize into another part of my body, if I don't have it taken out. I have even been told by my doctors that I will kill myself if I don't have my thyroid taken out. The reason I keep having tests done is in response to these doctors, namely, to make sure I am not doing something that will kill me by keeping my thyroid in my body. It is my version of "active surveillance."
This is why I am looking around for answers. I don't want to be reckless with my health, and maybe even find someone who can help me understand my situation better.
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It sounds like you have been through a lot! I am not sure I understand the situation based on what my understanding is of how thyroid cancer grows.
I was told that the only way to definitely diagnose thyroid cancer was by surgery but since it is a slow growing cancer you can wait to see if something grows….if it doesn’t, then it would be less likely that it is cancer.
I just don’t think a doctor can state that something that has not shown up on any scans so far, will metastasize into another part of your body….this does not make sense to me (however it might be something I never heard of before.) Blood tests, ultra sounds and Ct scans seem to be good ways to monitor, but unless they have something specific, I don’t understand why anyone would consider surgery to remove their thyroid.
A lot of doctors seem to recommend second opinions from people in their practice or friends they work with so it might not be neutral. Surgery will give the doctor the ability to know if you have thyroid cancer, however from what I understand it is usually a self contained cancer that doesn’t spread outside the thyroid. If your tests have shown a “normal thyroid,” I don’t understand why you would need to have surgery.