If you had asked me a few months ago about my thyroid, I would have said “I think it’s fine.”
I didn’t have obvious symptoms. No dramatic warning signs. Just subtle shifts that mirrored a mom of 2…constant fatigue, burnout, brain fog.
The only reason I found any of this was through routine bloodwork through Function Health. I was one year postpartum, just finished nursing, and was 4 weeks out from an endometriosis surgery with an appendectomy. I wanted to get a baseline of what my body was doing so I could appropriately heal and recover with nutrient and supplement support through my diet and lifestyle.
What My Bloodwork Showed: High TPO Antibodies and Positive ANA
Function tests for over 120 biomarkers; it’s incredibly comprehensive. My initial labs showed a few big red flags:
- Elevated TPO antibodies (thyroid peroxidase antibodies)
- A positive ANA (antinuclear antibody)
At the time, it felt like something to explore more, but not something incredibly serious. It suggested a possible autoimmune disease of Hashimoto’s, which, of course, was concerning, but the rest of my thyroid markers were in range. My thyroid was still functioning, but compared to bloodwork 6 months earlier, my TPO was almost double, which is a big jump.
It was enough to dig a little deeper, so I went to my PCP, and we reviewed the results together. He asked if I had any swelling in my neck, and while I really didn’t think I did, sometimes it felt “full”, like I had swallowed a pill wrong. That was enough for him to order an ultrasound. And that’s when I first started to worry.
An Incidental Thyroid Nodule: 5.5 cm Mass Found
During imaging, they found a 5.5 cm thyroid nodule. It had round edges, which is good, but was hypoechoic and abnormal, which is not good.
Five and a half centimeters is the size of a small lemon…and I had no idea it was there. We later discovered that it was very visible when I swallowed, but who is paying attention to that?!
From there, everything moved quickly…endocrinologist appointments, biopsies, testing, and meeting with an ENT surgeon.
Inconclusive Biopsy and ThyroSeq Molecular Testing
The first step was a fine needle aspiration biopsy, which came back inconclusive. So the next step was ThyroSeq molecular testing, which analyzes genetic markers in thyroid nodules. This testing takes up to two weeks to get back. That was a really long two weeks. While we waited, we continued to have labs and met with a surgeon. I was officially diagnosed with Hashimoto’s as my thyroid function continued to decline.
The result came back from the molecular testing:
~70% risk of malignancy.
W.T.F.
Deciding on a Total Thyroidectomy
With a large nodule and a high malignancy risk, my surgeon highly recommended a total thyroidectomy. I really liked my surgeon and trusted his expertise and opinion. Also, cancer isn’t something I would ever roll the dice on. My mom had stage 4 lung cancer that metastasized to her brain… I wasn’t going to risk leaving half my thyroid and risk having future problems.
So at the end of April, I had my full thyroid removed.
The surgery was successful, and honestly, recovery was way easier than any abdominal surgery I’ve had in the past. Of course, I was sore and in pain, but I was able to eat and drink pretty much immediately, and had no issues with my voice. I struggled with calcium the first few days, which is normal, but after a few days, I truly felt 90% back to normal.
I know adjusting to my medication will be a long road ahead, which I’ll deal with as it comes.
Final Diagnosis: NIFTP (Non-Invasive Follicular Thyroid Neoplasm)
After surgery, we finally got the full pathology report:
NIFTP (Non-invasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features)
This diagnosis sits in a gray area, but the key takeaway:
- It is not considered aggressive thyroid cancer
- It has an excellent prognosis, and no further treatment for me is needed
- It typically does not behave like invasive cancer
After months of uncertainty, this was a huge sense of relief. Being on medication forever is not ideal and comes with its own side effects and challenges. But knowing that I’m in the clear, I don’t need to be monitored for future thyroid masses, and I don’t have a future risk for thyroid cancer, is so reassuring.
If this has opened my eyes to anything, it’s that life is too short, health is all we have, and to always, always advocate for yourself!
More to come as I continue this thyroidless journey
Steadily Unbalanced 