Molly b.'s Ultrasound Page

Index Page

Section one

Goiter and Hyperthyroid - my personal experience story

Ultrasound Comparison - results
before and after thyroid treatment

Misc. bits of thyroid information

Frequently Asked Thyroid Questions

Section two

Answer my Thyroid Poll

Miscellaneous information about this website

Section three

Links

Molly b.'s Ultrasound Page One

   An ultrasound is also known as ultrasonography, sonography or sonogram.
   Ultrasound is not as thorough as a thyroid scan or a Technetium99 ( TC99 ) but it does provide basic information.
   While ultrasound will show some abnormalities, it can't test that the thyroid is working properly. It can't show hot and cold spots.

      Molly b.
      September 1999

In June 1997, about a month after a doctor diagnosed my hyperthyroidism, I was sent for an ultrasound, while I waited to see the specialist in October. In October 1997 the specialist ordered a TC99, before we discussed treatment options at my second appointment. There were more nodules than appeared in the ultrasound. The TC99 showed these in greater detail, confirming the ultrasound suggestion of multinodular goiter and a thyroid cyst, and revealed that there were no cold areas. I had radioactive iodine treatment in early December 1997.

The specialist told me, at my last appointment, in March 1998, 'We'll have to keep an eye on the cyst".

In August 1998 I asked my family doctor if he'd order another ultrasound. The specialist didn't need to see me as long as my TSH every month is within normal range. I hadn't heard anything as to how we were supposed to 'keep an eye on the cyst'. I'd learned that my sister had a thyroid cyst surgically removed because she had trouble breathing, although her thyroid blood tests were normal. I still had a lot of tightness and lumpy sensations on the right side of my neck. Sometimes I worried that the cyst was silently, ominously growing. So what if my TSH every month was normal? Apparently my sister's had been fine too. A second ultrasound would alleviate my mind at the very least. After all, it had been 14 months since that first one.

| 1 | 2 | 3 |

Copyright Š1998 - 2007 molly b. All Rights Reserved