how to find the best surgeon and treatment team

sorry you're having to go through this
First, do you know what kind of thyroid cancer was noted in your FNA biopsy? there are different kinds. One thing I'd recommend as you begin this journey is to get copies of all of your labs, reports, etc. Write down questions before appointments and, if you can, bring a family member or friend along to appointments. They can ask questions you may not think of and can also clarify or remind you of things that docs told you - it's stressful so it's easy to forget all of the details.

if your FNA came back with papillary carcinoma (the most common type of Thyroid Cancer) it is not uncommon to have a wait as you are experiencing. It is typically slow growing (though not always - but note that aggressive forms are very rare).

Surgery will involve removal of the thyroid and some surround lymph nodes. Spread to lymph nodes is not uncommon so don't panic if that comes to be true in your case. After surgery, most patients go through a treatment of radioactive iodine (RAI). This involves first starving your body of iodine, through diet, then ingesting a pill containing a pre-determined dosage of radioactive iodine. Thyroid cells are the only cells in the body that absorb iodine so this treatment basically targets remaining thyroid cells with radiation. You can read more about this process at a great site full of fantastic info called thyca.org (thyroid cancer survivor's group). Affected lymph nodes need to be removed surgically (some can be treated with an alcohol injection) but RAI typically does not reach thyca in the lymph nodes.

As for a surgeon, I can't give you specific names but here are my recommendations:
Make sure it is a surgeon who specializes in thyroidectomies (TT) and has done many. While removing the thyroid they are working in a small area with many important things such as your vocal nerves and parathyroids. There are four parathyroids in and around the thyroid. Parathyroids regulate the body's processing of calcium and are extremely important so make sure they know what they are doing in locating and saving as many as possible. The parathyroids can become stunned in surgery but nearly always come back to normal. My surgery was done as an outpatient surgery but it included an overnight. This is mainly to allow time to ensure that the parathyroids are working correctly

Many say you should go to an ENT surgeon and that is fine, but mine happened to be a general surgeon with an incredible amount of experience and skill performing TTs. He was recommended by my endocrinologist and ENT. Teaching hospitals can be a good place to start your search, though once again, not necessary. (Mine was in private practice). There is also a yahoogroup for thyca with folks from all over the country so you might have some luck asking there for specific names - if you don't get input here that is. I do know that the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is known for its thyroid specialists and thyroid cancer research. Unfortunately, I do not know the names of surgeons there.

I'm sure to have missed things here but I hope it's a helpful start. I know it's very difficult to deal with such a diagnosis. Try to take one day at a time if you can.
Best to you Peggy.
eileen

a couple recommendations in Philly area
If you live near Philadelphia, UPenn's Endocrine Surgery department has a surgeon, Douglas Fraker, who was recommended to me (http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/surgery/faculty/dlf.html). There is also the Penn Thyroid center (http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/endocrin/patientcare/ptc.html). I have no experience with either one.

I live right outside Philadelphia, but I did not go to UPenn for my thyroidectomy (I had papillary cancer on both sides). If you are having a pretty typical thyroidectomy, then I think the most important thing is to get recommendations for an excellent ENT who has done a lot of thyroidectomies and who does them frequently.

I was super freaked out about having neck surgery and about choosing the right surgeon. I talked with my PCP about my concerns. My PCP was really helpful, and I chose to stay in the Philly suburbs with a local ENT (Kennith Briskin) who my PCP highly recommended. I'm very glad that I did. I had an enlarged thyroid that was wrapped around my trachea, so my surgery was a bit trickier than usual. It went really well, and Dr. Briskin was able to save all my parathyroid glands, which makes recovery easier. I would definitely recommend Dr. Briskin based on my experience with him. UPenn, obviously, has expert thyroid surgeons, and likely ones who are more specialized in thyroid cancer surgery than you would find outside University hospitals. However, it is possible that some of these surgeons are most interested in very unusual cases and may not be the actual surgeon who performs your surgery if your case is more typical (I don't know if this is true or not). Ultimately, the decision is yours and should be one that makes you feel most comfortable. For me, just talking with my PCP about all my concerns, hearing his recommendation, and getting his reassurance that this was the right choice for me really helped me feel a lot less stressed out about the surgery. Since you can't see the ENT until April 2nd, maybe talking with your PCP soon about your concerns and about finding the right surgeon would help with some of the stress you are feeling.

Good luck.

Pennsylvania
I can highly recommend HUP. (Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania). Thyroid cancer was my second cancer in less than one year and I ended up at HUP for both of them. The most important thing that I can stress to you is to get a second opinion.