After a long week of waiting another day of bad news.  The fine needle aspiration came back as “suspicious for papillary carcinoma.”  I was really bummed out.  How could I have cancer?...

This news was devastating.  The doctor visits were not over.  Actually, things get much more complicated now.  With a suspicious nodule the endocrinologist advised surgery to remove half of my thyroid.  Being a 32 year old male with relatively minimal health problems the reality of this extensive surgery and taking thyroid hormone medication for the rest of my life was disturbing.  At the time the endocrinologist told me the bad news, I was speechless.  I was so confident that my nodule was in the 95% group of being benign.  Though, at this point the endocrinologist said with a suspicious nodule report there is a 30-40% chance that the nodule will be cancer.  I still had hope.  Not for long though.

The endocrinologist recommended a doctor at Medical College of Georgia that has a new surgical technique called minimally invasive thyroid surgery.  At that time I really did not know much about the surgery but it sounded much better than my first surgeons traditional technique.  I figure I would have plenty of time to do my research before my next appointment.  I left this appointment with lots to think about.  I scheduled a surgical consult with the otolaryngologist.

Next Chapter -->  Chapter 2 - My Thyroid Surgery