stephmineo
05-04-17, 23:37
I sincerely hope everyone is doing as well as they can be.
I'm a 30 year old female who underwent a thyroidectomy last June for thyroid cancer. Did radioactive iodine treatment, and am currently awaiting a second surgery for nodes that either didn't respond to treatment or were missed the first go around.
The problem I'm facing now besides my incredible health anxiety, is that I seem to suddenly have swelling under my jaw. It very well could be the submandibular glands (a well known side effect of radioactive iodine treatment)but they aren't really painful which is what's making me nervous. I have been waking up with dry mouth every now again but I'm not sure if that's related.
Fast forward...Of COURSE I just couldn't keep my hands off my neck yesterday (I swear I literally never touched my neck even when I first got diagnosed with the 4 cm thyroid tumor!), and in all my poking and prodding I found a pretty significantly sized "lump". I'm pretty sure it's a lymph node, but it is very alarming, especially because I have confirmed recurrence on the same side of my neck, just lower and in the thyroid bed. It's on the left side of my wind pipe parallel to my "adams apple", about the size of an almond (but shaped more like a long, fat tic tac haha), taller than it is wide and semi "squishy" but also firm depending on how I move my neck. It moves a bit on three sides but seems to be fixed on one side, almost to a vein if that makes any sense. Again, I realize that nobody can make a diagnosis via the internet but I'm just beside myself as usual. I had an ultrasound at the end of January followed by the biopsy on the 1.5 cm node in the left thyroid bed which came back positive (hence the new surgery I will be facing). I've also had at least 3 separate docs do a clinical neck exam over the last 6 weeks and nobody mentioned this lump. It is easier to feel if I turn my head but still pretty noticeable if I'm looking straight forward. I just don't understand if they missed it, felt it and didn't think it was a big deal, or if one of those "suspicious" nodes that was originally identified on my follow up ultrasound all of a sudden doubled in size over the last few weeks, in which case I wouldn't be feeling too happy. My new surgeon ("fired" my old one due to horrific bed side manner and a generally dismissive attitude) swears up and down that this cancer is slow growing, but I can't help but think yet again something was either missed or just not brought to my attention. Man oh man I need to learn how to manage this fear, but sometimes it's oh so overwhelming. Sorry for the long winded freak out. Hope all of you are doing so so well!
Thanks so much in advance for any responses (especially on this new node I'm feeling "attached" to the vein)
I'm a 30 year old female who underwent a thyroidectomy last June for thyroid cancer. Did radioactive iodine treatment, and am currently awaiting a second surgery for nodes that either didn't respond to treatment or were missed the first go around.
The problem I'm facing now besides my incredible health anxiety, is that I seem to suddenly have swelling under my jaw. It very well could be the submandibular glands (a well known side effect of radioactive iodine treatment)but they aren't really painful which is what's making me nervous. I have been waking up with dry mouth every now again but I'm not sure if that's related.
Fast forward...Of COURSE I just couldn't keep my hands off my neck yesterday (I swear I literally never touched my neck even when I first got diagnosed with the 4 cm thyroid tumor!), and in all my poking and prodding I found a pretty significantly sized "lump". I'm pretty sure it's a lymph node, but it is very alarming, especially because I have confirmed recurrence on the same side of my neck, just lower and in the thyroid bed. It's on the left side of my wind pipe parallel to my "adams apple", about the size of an almond (but shaped more like a long, fat tic tac haha), taller than it is wide and semi "squishy" but also firm depending on how I move my neck. It moves a bit on three sides but seems to be fixed on one side, almost to a vein if that makes any sense. Again, I realize that nobody can make a diagnosis via the internet but I'm just beside myself as usual. I had an ultrasound at the end of January followed by the biopsy on the 1.5 cm node in the left thyroid bed which came back positive (hence the new surgery I will be facing). I've also had at least 3 separate docs do a clinical neck exam over the last 6 weeks and nobody mentioned this lump. It is easier to feel if I turn my head but still pretty noticeable if I'm looking straight forward. I just don't understand if they missed it, felt it and didn't think it was a big deal, or if one of those "suspicious" nodes that was originally identified on my follow up ultrasound all of a sudden doubled in size over the last few weeks, in which case I wouldn't be feeling too happy. My new surgeon ("fired" my old one due to horrific bed side manner and a generally dismissive attitude) swears up and down that this cancer is slow growing, but I can't help but think yet again something was either missed or just not brought to my attention. Man oh man I need to learn how to manage this fear, but sometimes it's oh so overwhelming. Sorry for the long winded freak out. Hope all of you are doing so so well!
Thanks so much in advance for any responses (especially on this new node I'm feeling "attached" to the vein)