visiting your GP
Your GP will examine you and usually arrange some tests, such as blood tests. Once your GP has the results of your tests, an appointment will be made with a specialist at the hospital.
at the hospital
You’ll probably be seen by lots of doctors at the hospital. There will usually be a team of specialists who’ll be involved in your care, although you may only meet some of them. In this team there may be a doctor who specialises in thyroid problems (endocrinologist), a cancer specialist (oncologist), a surgeon who specialises in thyroid surgery, and a pathologist who looks at blood and tissue samples to diagnose diseases.
Your specialist will examine you and arrange for more detailed tests, which may include an ultrasound scan of your neck. You may also have a biopsy. This involves removing a small piece of the tumour so it can be looked at under a microscope and tested for cancer.
Before doing a biopsy, your doctor uses a local anaesthetic to numb the area. They then put a fine needle into the tumour and suck (aspirate) some cells from it into a syringe. This is called a fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). Some people have their biopsy taken under a general anaesthetic and so are asleep when it’s done. There’s more information about having an anaesthetic in the surgery section.
If the biopsy shows that you have cancer then other tests may be done, such as:
- a nasendoscopy (sometimes called a laryngoscopy), where a fine tube with a tiny camera on the end is put up your nose and down the back of your mouth so that the doctor can look at your vocal cords
- a chest x-ray to check your lungs
- a CT, MRI or PET scan.
Don't worry...
You won’t necessarily need all of these tests. It’ll depend on the results of the first ones. Waiting for tests and results can be a scary time. But finding out more about them can help you cope.
