10 October 2018

Benign and Boring


Last Monday we registered with the local GP practice in a nearby village.  I asked if I could make an appointment to discuss  a lump I had noticed in my neck with the doctor and they fitted me in that same day.  The GP said he didn’t think it was anything sinister, probably just a cyst on my thyroid gland, but referred me to Lincoln Hospital to get it checked.

Today, just over a week later, I was seen by the ENT Consultant at the local hospital.  I started to worry a bit when he put on some surgical gloves and the nurse passed me a tissue. 

“I don’t think I want...”  but before I could protest further he had put a camera tube down my nose and into my throat. 

“Right, I want you to have a scan and possibly a needle aspiration biopsy so we can be sure there is nothing to worry about.”
“When will that be?”
“Now, immediately!”

So Paul and I trotted down the stairs to the x-ray department and within a few minutes I was on my back in a dark room while the radiologist scanned my thyroid.  That was a painless procedure but then I saw her give a nod to the nurse and she was explaining to me that she was going to stick a needle into my neck to do the biopsy.  Just keep calm and think about Rick I told myself.

Actually it wasn’t too bad at all.  “Looks benign and boring to me,” said the radiologist. She sounded quite disappointed.

I saw the Consultant again before leaving the hospital.  He reassured me that there was probably nothing to worry about, just a thyroid nodule, but the biopsy results would confirm the diagnosis in due course. Benign and boring sounds good to me.

A lot of people criticise the NHS but the speed and efficiency that I have experienced over the past week have been exemplary.

24 comments:

  1. We all get lumps and bumps, and 99.9% of the time it's nothing to worry about. Yes, the NHS has never let me down either; not that I've spent much time in the UK over the past 45 years.

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    1. I tried to ignore it for a long time. The French health system is pretty good too in my experience.

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  2. Good to hear. Fingers crossed .
    Did you like the new GP?

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  3. I wish things were so quick and efficient if the biopsy were not benign & boring. I have a friend with a lump in the groin.
    Pleased that you are free from further worry.

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    1. It's a load off my mind. Lumps are always a worry.

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  4. You are so lucky to have local hospital, here is not the same, only few big hospitals in the whole country.

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  5. I had a similar experience in January/Feb. I was diagnosed as having GCA and the appointments for this, that and the other, came thick and fast at Luton and Dunstable Hospital. On the second day I got a phone call at 4.45 pm asking if I could be there for an eye appointment at 5.30 ! The only criticism of them is that it is very difficult to park, so I had to drag my husband along every time in case I had to jump out and leave him to get parked! Hope that your biopsy results confirm the diagnosis. x

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    1. I think the NHS delivers pretty well when it comes to the urgent stuff. Parking was good at Lincoln.

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  6. Never mind the NHS, I want to know how Paul managed to fit you in? Benign and boring sounds alright to me.

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    1. Haha! I always get top priority with Paul.

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  7. Wow, that's speedy! Glad to hear the procedures weren't too bad (always freaked out at the prospect of pain), and that you are more than likely in the clear!! -Jenn

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    1. I was amazed by the speed and prompt appointments.

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  8. Most people have very positive tales to tell about their experiences of the NHS. By the way, when a woman is lying on her back in a dark room she should think of England and not of her favourite dog!

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  9. Hope it's benign, I had half of my thyroid taken out a few years ago because my biopsy was inconclusive. It was benign.

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    1. I think thyroid nodules are quite common in women of a certain age. I'm hoping mine won't require surgery.

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  10. Lincoln County always was a good hospital, even in the days when I went there. I used to have a flat opposite there many moons ago - and my son was born in a branch of it too.

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    1. I was certainly impressed by it. I hope my next visit to Lincoln will be for pleasure.

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  11. Our new school principal had a similar lump on his thyroid. I think it proved to be benign because I haven't heard anything else about it. Good luck!

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