In 1999 when my husband was 43 a nodule was found on his thyroid and an ultrasound and FNA was done with benign results. The nodule was recorded to be 2.1 x 2.6 x 1.9 CM.
He had follow up appointments with his primary care physician from that time until 2005 when he began seeing another doctor. That doctor referred him to an endocrinologist that repeated the ultrasound and FNA with again benign results. The nodule size was recorded as 3.2 x 2.5 x 2.5 CM and his thyroid levels were recorded as normal. The doctor recommended no treatment. In 2006 he was again referred to the endocrinologist with no testing done and no recommendation for treatment.The size of the nodule was recorded as 4 x 2.5 CM In 2007 my husband told his PCP he would like to have the nodule removed. An ultrasound was ordered and surgery was scheduled. After the surgery the surgeon told my husband the nodule was a minimally invasive follicular carcinoma and recommended no further treatment. My husband saw another endocrinologist after the surgery who looked at the pathology report and told him he would need the other half of his thyroid removed and radio iodine treatment. The surgery was completed in May of 2008 and the RI body scan following surgery showed the cancer had metastasized to two places in the bone. One in his spine and one in his lower trocanter.
Can you tell me why surgery was not recommended earlier when the nodule was growing?
I went to PubMed online and to WebMD and found articles that indicate surgery is recommended if the nodule is growing , solitary, and in a male. Shouldn't the endocrinologist he saw in 2005 and 2006 have known that?
My husband has now had two RI treatments with numerous PT, PET-CT, MRI and CAT scans including a technetium bone scan with more to follow if his thyroglobulin levels increase. He has another blood draw scheduled to check the levels next month July 2009.