breast cancer and thyroid

lizzie17
lizzie17 Member Posts: 548
Does anyone think that it is weird that I am a breast cancer patient, and an ultrasound of my thyroid showed 2 nodules, and then one more on the next test? And no biopsy? Just repeat ultrasound in 6 months?

Comments

  • LBlackman
    LBlackman Member Posts: 113
    nodule
    I find it a little strange that you had cancer and now have a lump elsewhere and wouldn't want to at least do a fine needle aspiration biopsy. Is this the same physician that treated you for breast cancer or a family physician?
  • lizzie17
    lizzie17 Member Posts: 548
    LBlackman said:

    nodule
    I find it a little strange that you had cancer and now have a lump elsewhere and wouldn't want to at least do a fine needle aspiration biopsy. Is this the same physician that treated you for breast cancer or a family physician?

    everyone
    knows about the nodules, even my oncologist, but I think they rely on the endocrinologist who seems to make the decisions about my thyroid. i am also diabetic.
  • sunnyaz
    sunnyaz Member Posts: 582
    lizzie17 said:

    everyone
    knows about the nodules, even my oncologist, but I think they rely on the endocrinologist who seems to make the decisions about my thyroid. i am also diabetic.

    Insist on a Fine Needle Aspiration
    I would insist on a Fine Needle Aspiration. Do you have symptoms such as sudden and extreme fatigue, exhaustion, unexplained weight gain or loss, difficulty controlling your body temperature, vision changes, nausea or heart palpitations? Do you often feel depressed or angry for no reason? If you have any of these symptoms, don't take no for an answer. Also, blood tests (TSH including free T3 and free T4) are NOT an indication of cancer. Mine were all normal before I was diagnosed which is why I had to press the issue with my doctor before he did anything about it.

    Good luck and keep us informed.

    Blessings,
    Julie-SunnyAZ
  • LBlackman
    LBlackman Member Posts: 113
    sunnyaz said:

    Insist on a Fine Needle Aspiration
    I would insist on a Fine Needle Aspiration. Do you have symptoms such as sudden and extreme fatigue, exhaustion, unexplained weight gain or loss, difficulty controlling your body temperature, vision changes, nausea or heart palpitations? Do you often feel depressed or angry for no reason? If you have any of these symptoms, don't take no for an answer. Also, blood tests (TSH including free T3 and free T4) are NOT an indication of cancer. Mine were all normal before I was diagnosed which is why I had to press the issue with my doctor before he did anything about it.

    Good luck and keep us informed.

    Blessings,
    Julie-SunnyAZ

    FNA
    I completely agree with Julie and if I haven't learned anything else lately, I have learned that you have to be your own advocate for YOU healthwise because there are some Dr.'s out there that care, but they see so many different people with all differnt types of cancer. This discussion board has been so informative and comforting to me lately I am so glad I found it.
    Please keep us informed and wish you positive results,
    Lynne
  • lizzie17
    lizzie17 Member Posts: 548
    sunnyaz said:

    Insist on a Fine Needle Aspiration
    I would insist on a Fine Needle Aspiration. Do you have symptoms such as sudden and extreme fatigue, exhaustion, unexplained weight gain or loss, difficulty controlling your body temperature, vision changes, nausea or heart palpitations? Do you often feel depressed or angry for no reason? If you have any of these symptoms, don't take no for an answer. Also, blood tests (TSH including free T3 and free T4) are NOT an indication of cancer. Mine were all normal before I was diagnosed which is why I had to press the issue with my doctor before he did anything about it.

    Good luck and keep us informed.

    Blessings,
    Julie-SunnyAZ

    yes
    That is interesting you mention sudden and extreme fatigue--YES. And it seems so unusual. I have been colder than usual and my daughter actually turns the AC down when she used to say it is Anarctica in my house. Lots of nausea. And yes, heart palpitations, mainly when I am trying to go to sleep. I have blamed ALL of it on my oral chemo pill. Thank you and I am seeing my primary care on Monday, so I will bring this up.
  • sunnyaz
    sunnyaz Member Posts: 582
    lizzie17 said:

    yes
    That is interesting you mention sudden and extreme fatigue--YES. And it seems so unusual. I have been colder than usual and my daughter actually turns the AC down when she used to say it is Anarctica in my house. Lots of nausea. And yes, heart palpitations, mainly when I am trying to go to sleep. I have blamed ALL of it on my oral chemo pill. Thank you and I am seeing my primary care on Monday, so I will bring this up.

    Glad to help
    It's good to hear you will be proactive. Remember, even if your blood results are normal get a Fine Needle biopsy on the node. They will tell you that 90% of nodes are non-cancerous, but there are 10% that are not. Catching this early, if it is cancer, is your best defense. I wish you the best and I hope it's not cancer, but if it is we will be here for you. Please keep us posted.
    Blessings,
    Julie-SunnyAZ
  • Survivor73
    Survivor73 Member Posts: 135
    sunnyaz said:

    Glad to help
    It's good to hear you will be proactive. Remember, even if your blood results are normal get a Fine Needle biopsy on the node. They will tell you that 90% of nodes are non-cancerous, but there are 10% that are not. Catching this early, if it is cancer, is your best defense. I wish you the best and I hope it's not cancer, but if it is we will be here for you. Please keep us posted.
    Blessings,
    Julie-SunnyAZ

    get the biopsy
    Hi There. I had thryoid cancer in 2009...may I ask the size of the nodules? I am currently going through treatment for breast cancer & also a reoccurance (maybe)of the thryoid cancer.

    My sister also had both breast & thyroid cancer...a link between them maybe???

    If you have nodules and they are less than 1cm, they have a hard time doing a biopsy, but they can still try to do this. Also, thyroid cancer grows very slowly, so Dr's aren't in a rush to look into it. But, I have a nephew who they didn't do things very quickly and his had spread to most of his lymph nodes and has lots of issues from the surgery still.

    I would recommend asking for the biopsy, also if you are having symptoms of hypothyroidism they can do a very simply blood test to see your levels. The usual symptoms are weight gain, exhaustion, extreme temp changes (hot or cold) and there are lots more...

    I would push for further testing.

    By the way, you may also have hyperthyroid...this is where the thyroid is overworking...it can cause problems with your heart as it makes you feel like you are going a mile a minute, then you crash...this would cause weight loss, and the heart palpatations you mentioned...bottom line is a blood test can check this very quickly.

    Good luck.
  • nasher
    nasher Member Posts: 505

    get the biopsy
    Hi There. I had thryoid cancer in 2009...may I ask the size of the nodules? I am currently going through treatment for breast cancer & also a reoccurance (maybe)of the thryoid cancer.

    My sister also had both breast & thyroid cancer...a link between them maybe???

    If you have nodules and they are less than 1cm, they have a hard time doing a biopsy, but they can still try to do this. Also, thyroid cancer grows very slowly, so Dr's aren't in a rush to look into it. But, I have a nephew who they didn't do things very quickly and his had spread to most of his lymph nodes and has lots of issues from the surgery still.

    I would recommend asking for the biopsy, also if you are having symptoms of hypothyroidism they can do a very simply blood test to see your levels. The usual symptoms are weight gain, exhaustion, extreme temp changes (hot or cold) and there are lots more...

    I would push for further testing.

    By the way, you may also have hyperthyroid...this is where the thyroid is overworking...it can cause problems with your heart as it makes you feel like you are going a mile a minute, then you crash...this would cause weight loss, and the heart palpatations you mentioned...bottom line is a blood test can check this very quickly.

    Good luck.

    MOST thyroid cancer grows
    MOST thyroid cancer grows slowly... there are more agressive forms as well

    yes i would definatly ask for a FNA if they can do it.

    yes my T3 T4 and THS were all in the "normal" range even though i had 2 types of thyroid cancer. But they can tell you if you are haveing other thyroid issues.

    eithor way push for the FNA if posibale and start looking up hypo thyroidism (and hyper thyroidism) and see if you have lots of the symptoms.

    I am male so i dont know and havent reserched if there is a link between breast and thyroid cancer, but I would assume anytime they give you radiation and or chemo that there is a chance that a cancer of another type can occour.

    please keep us informed and updated

    good luck
    Craig
  • sunnyaz
    sunnyaz Member Posts: 582
    nasher said:

    MOST thyroid cancer grows
    MOST thyroid cancer grows slowly... there are more agressive forms as well

    yes i would definatly ask for a FNA if they can do it.

    yes my T3 T4 and THS were all in the "normal" range even though i had 2 types of thyroid cancer. But they can tell you if you are haveing other thyroid issues.

    eithor way push for the FNA if posibale and start looking up hypo thyroidism (and hyper thyroidism) and see if you have lots of the symptoms.

    I am male so i dont know and havent reserched if there is a link between breast and thyroid cancer, but I would assume anytime they give you radiation and or chemo that there is a chance that a cancer of another type can occour.

    please keep us informed and updated

    good luck
    Craig

    Blood Tests
    Yes, Nasher is right again, you can't rely on blood tests. Only three hours ago one of my Endocrinologists told me that it is typical to have normal TSH, T3 and T4 even when cancer is present. She told me this as I was having another Ultrasound of the neck. Round four "ding", here we go again. This will be my fourth surgery if the FNA comes back positive again. Just had RAI five weeks ago and again I have palpable nodes on my neck. Gotta stay on top of this cancer. They weren't there five weeks ago. They popped up over night. Although Papillary, my cancer is not slow growing because I have the B-RAF mutation gene.
    Julie-SunnyAZ
  • Indiana girl
    Indiana girl Member Posts: 1
    Breast Cancer & thyriod
    I am very confused. I had stage 3a breast cancer/triple neg almost 3 years ago(MAY 1st) been clean I thought, but now I have (2) 3cm nodules on my thyroid. I failed the thyroid labs sent for ultrasound then receieved a call from Doctor office telling me I need another test Thyroid Scan/uptake. So I then ask why do I need more test? Thats when they told me that they had seen the nodules prior to now but then they were small and they have grown fast since a CT done in January. So could someone please help me I feel like I'm in the dark and it is all starting over again-

    My grandmother died from thyroid cancer in 1990...
  • warriormum
    warriormum Member Posts: 20

    Breast Cancer & thyriod
    I am very confused. I had stage 3a breast cancer/triple neg almost 3 years ago(MAY 1st) been clean I thought, but now I have (2) 3cm nodules on my thyroid. I failed the thyroid labs sent for ultrasound then receieved a call from Doctor office telling me I need another test Thyroid Scan/uptake. So I then ask why do I need more test? Thats when they told me that they had seen the nodules prior to now but then they were small and they have grown fast since a CT done in January. So could someone please help me I feel like I'm in the dark and it is all starting over again-

    My grandmother died from thyroid cancer in 1990...

    of track but..
    Lizzie your cat could be my cats twin!!

    I totally agree with the others I'd be insisting on an FNA they are simple and quick to do and not invasive, why take the risk?
  • nasher
    nasher Member Posts: 505

    Breast Cancer & thyriod
    I am very confused. I had stage 3a breast cancer/triple neg almost 3 years ago(MAY 1st) been clean I thought, but now I have (2) 3cm nodules on my thyroid. I failed the thyroid labs sent for ultrasound then receieved a call from Doctor office telling me I need another test Thyroid Scan/uptake. So I then ask why do I need more test? Thats when they told me that they had seen the nodules prior to now but then they were small and they have grown fast since a CT done in January. So could someone please help me I feel like I'm in the dark and it is all starting over again-

    My grandmother died from thyroid cancer in 1990...

    @ indiana girl
    thyroid scan / uptake.

    In case you didnt know they are talking about small dose of Radioactive Iodine here so your thyroid tissue will so up much better on the CT scan and they can serch the body for other placed that thyroid tissue may be growing.

    look at the other posts especially the ones about the Low Iodine diet.

    WWW.thyca.org has great info as well.

    Definatly ask questions get copies of your lab results.

    Did they do ultrasounds of your thyroid tissue? what are the results? can i get a copy of them?
    How about Fine Needle Asperation of your thyroid tissue?
    what do you need to do to prepair yourself for Thyroid scan/uptake?
    Can I get a second opinion?
    How small were the nodes in January?


    I am curious what you mean by the comment "I failed the thyroid labs"
  • qultmkr
    qultmkr Member Posts: 2
    nasher said:

    @ indiana girl
    thyroid scan / uptake.

    In case you didnt know they are talking about small dose of Radioactive Iodine here so your thyroid tissue will so up much better on the CT scan and they can serch the body for other placed that thyroid tissue may be growing.

    look at the other posts especially the ones about the Low Iodine diet.

    WWW.thyca.org has great info as well.

    Definatly ask questions get copies of your lab results.

    Did they do ultrasounds of your thyroid tissue? what are the results? can i get a copy of them?
    How about Fine Needle Asperation of your thyroid tissue?
    what do you need to do to prepair yourself for Thyroid scan/uptake?
    Can I get a second opinion?
    How small were the nodes in January?


    I am curious what you mean by the comment "I failed the thyroid labs"

    thyroid cancer/breast cancer
    A year ago I had a mammogram and they found 4 areas that they didn't like. Both myself and my PA (whom I dearly love) did some research prior to surgery. It seems that they have found a link between thyroid cancer and breast cancer. They even have some fancy name for it, tho I don't remember the name right now. It typically appears about ten years after being diagnosed with the thyroid cancer and after the treatment with the radiation..it's kind of like ahhh duh! We've just zapped our bodies with this poison and expect it not to react...hello? Haven't heard of it going the other way though with breast cancer first followed by the thyroid cancer.

    I was fortunate, it was not breast cancer but had to have a partial mastectomy to find that out. My biopsy was inconclusive so ..chop chop to find out. Right now I have a biopsy scheduled for next week as it seems there is a lymph node concern with the thyroid. If it isn't one organ, it's another. Terri
  • kame
    kame Member Posts: 2
    Link Between Breast Cancer and Thyroid Cancer
    I definitely think there is a link between breast cancer and thyroid cancer as I was diagnosed with both of them at the same time, 5 years ago. A PET scan was done after the breast cancer diagnosis which showed nodules in the thyroid that turned out to be papillary thyroid cancer. So I would defintely get this checked out.
  • lexyloohoo
    lexyloohoo Member Posts: 4
    kame said:

    Link Between Breast Cancer and Thyroid Cancer
    I definitely think there is a link between breast cancer and thyroid cancer as I was diagnosed with both of them at the same time, 5 years ago. A PET scan was done after the breast cancer diagnosis which showed nodules in the thyroid that turned out to be papillary thyroid cancer. So I would defintely get this checked out.

    Breast/thyroid cancer
    New to the site hello. Def have to get everything checked. As the last post, diagnosed with BC and thyroid cancer at the same time. Thyroid nodule found on PET scan for chemo for BC. Finishing up BC rads next week and just had thyroid ablation last weekend. Hopefully the full body scan comes up negative. Stay on top of your Drs regarding the thryoid issues. Have great Drs so very proactive, luckly my rad oncologist treating my bc is treating for the thyroid so we were able to get both treatments done at the same tine, but have a friend that has not been so lucky with her Drs being in any rush since thyroid cancer does grow so slowly.
    Regarding link between the 2 there is a syndrome, Cowden's syndrome, that shows a link between the 2 with an increased chance of BC and thyroid cancer. Only about 1 in 200,000 carry gene mutation. So if you have or had both something to look into. Being tested for it since It also shows itself through certain dermatitis and my daughter has the dermatitis signs. Great site glad I found it.
  • durnhamd
    durnhamd Member Posts: 3
    You are your own advocate
    You are your own advocate and this is your life. I would TELL your oncologist and or your endocinologist that you want a fine needle aspiration.