Delay in thyroid cancer surgery because of A1C levels

Hi busterb110,
I had always heard that thyroid cancer can’t really be diagnosed until surgery, however a large nodule could definitely be interfering in your ability to swallow. I don’t know anything about sugar levels preventing surgery, however if your throat feels like it is closing, you are losing weight, and your doctor wants to delay surgery until next year; I tend to think you should go for a second opinion. You might consider going to a doctor who specializes in Radiofrequency Ablation ( RFA) to see if they can shrink the nodule so it doesn’t interfere with swallowing.
Waiting until next year seems like an odd thing when you have trouble swallowing….Definitely go for a second opinion.
Good luck!

Hi @busterb110, I wanted to check in with you. I agree with @koh that it sounds like you have symptoms that need to be addressed. It must be scary to unintentionally be losing weight and to have a hard time swallowing.
What has been suggested to reduce your A1C levels? How are you doing?

I need to lower a1c. I go see my pcp at the end of November of this year. The ENT doctor is completely booked for the next several months. I may have surgery maybe next summer. I don’t know. But I want and need to get this thyroid out quicker than sometime next summer

I also gave been told by both doctor offices that there’s nothing they can do to help me in the meantime. I may as well give up

I don’t think it’s time to give up….. unless you are referring to giving up on your doctors. Maybe a second opinion at a cancer hospital would give you some options. It sounds a little like the doctors are just putting you off; maybe a second opinion would give you some options that help sooner.
Good luck!

Hi yes I was also diagnosed with thyroid cancer officially in June but presumed in April and I have diabetes with aic of 11. My tumor was first overlooked in 2019 at 4cm but then in Feb when it had grown to 7+ cm they suggested more that diet and exercise and so I opted for Trulicity. Aic went down to 8 in about 60 days which I wouldn’t say was the reason my surgery was delayed it was more coordination of all my care. I had an abnormal ekg and abnormal mammogram and they also wanted to biopsy to decide if to do partial or total thyroidectomy. That whole process of getting cleared by cardiology after multiple tests and then 3 separate pathology referrals because the particular carcinoma suspected (Hurthle/Oncocytic) was so rare that they didn’t want to miss it again so while it wasn’t an official diagnosis it was more of a determination of probability (turned out to be 60% probability) to decide the direction surgically because the other complications were underlying autoimmune liver disease and allergies to the gluten and lactose in the standard synthroid ( had to ensure availability of Levothyroxine gel tab). Long story short surgical removal and testing in the entire thyroid including the tumor and other tissue. Went on the thyroid meds in June and 6 weeks later withdrew meds to have RAI and total body scan to check for metastasis and there is some uptake seen in lungs so I’m being followed now for 3 months to see if I develop leukemia secondary to the RAI and at about 6 month mark from last RAI will repeat again every 6 months till I’m clear. Next dose will be higher. My only fear is I do have remaining thyroid tissue where the parathyroid was attached and I’ve read some articles about people with regrowth of thyroid after 10-20 years. I also experienced a lot of symptoms as the tumor grew to include difficulty breathing and swallowing, vertigo and numbness in left arm. Vertigo resolved post surgery but everything else remains. However the difficulty breathing and swallowing is due to my vocal chords being knicked during surgery which they said was common and would resolve but here we are in Sept and they still persist to include lost/deep voice. Best of luck to you!

Sorry to hear you are going through so much. I also had (have) vocal cord paralysis. I received an injection to plumb to the vocal cord so it reached the midline and allow the functioning thyroid to meet it allowing me to talk. I am about 10 weeks post surgery. I just went to the ENT and it doesn’t show any signs of healing so I may continue the injections every 9-12 months or get an implant in my vocal cord for a more permanent fix. Has your dr presented you with any of those options?

Since my a1c is high for surgery, both my pcp and ent doctor told me there’s nothing they can do until my sugar goes down

Sorry…that should say “allow the functioning vocal cord” not thyroid.

@busterb110, have you been given guidance on how to lower your suger levels? Have you been referred to diabetes classes or coaching with a diabetes counselor?