Clueless... almost

Ugh... Medical reports leave one more or less clueless; and quite lost with all that technical medical language. Well, me; at least.

After consulting my physician (end of April), it became clear I'd need to consult an endocrinologist as soon as possible. In Brussels, one usually doesn't wait for a consultation with a specialist for more than few weeks, if at all. Endocrinologist, specialized in thyroid pathologies, that's another story. I've got a RDV with one of apparently the best ones in September... Obviously, my fighter attitude stepped in. I started calling & emailing around. I had my first two endo-consultations on 3 May. Not the one I was hoping for, but one needs to start somewhere; at that point I didn't really care any longer whether a particular "endo" will be a thyroid specialist or not - I just wanted to know what's going on and what can/needs to be done.

1st endocrinologist (I've got his written report on 17 June; one page)

• you have a substrenal goiter ("goitre plongeant" in FR), a thyroid gland which grows into the chest,
and a huge thyroid nodule for which one can't be sure whether it's cancerous or not
• there's no treatment available, you need to undergo an operation to remove your thyroid (total thyroidectomy)      
• if you don't wish to be operated soon, I recommend a biopsy to determine what kind of nodule this really is

2nd endocrinologist

• he suggested operation &  removal of my thyroid gland
(not urgently (e.g. tomorrow) but as soon as possible as my thyroid nodule can transform into cancerous one)
• basically, there's no other option, even more as goiter is already compressing my trachea (breathing tube)...
• eventual hormonal therapy might stop thyroid and nodule's growth and shrink them,
but as nodule is already so huge, it will certainly not disappear  (where were you in 2008?)
• he prescribes me L-Thyroxine (50 g), if I really want to give it a try, and recommends 
lab test of TSH in 6 weeks, ultrasound in 3 months, and scintigraphy in 6 months (I've put hormones on hold)

Well... I  don't want to be operated!  

I DON'T WANT MY THYROID GLAND TO BE REMOVED! 

I don't want to be on drugs for the rest of my life!

PS regarding "where were you in 2008":
In early 2008, after all exams, my that time physician told me not to worry as blood results are OK,
as well as that there's no need to consult a specialist. I completely trusted him. Well, he's not my physician any longer!