Dr. Richard Guttler’s Patient Thyroid Radiofrequency Ablation Blog Post
This is a blog dedicated to helping patients with the anxiety causing problem of determining if they need
surgery for their thyroid solid or cystic benign nodule, thyroid cancer or parathyroid adenoma. The day you find out you have
a thyroid nodule, and it might be cancer leads to fear, anxiety, and worry you might not see your kids
grow up.
This is made worse when they tell you to have a biopsy. The pain from the biopsy is nothing like the
worry about the cancer possibility. The next worsening of your emotions and fear occur when they tell
you need surgery because the biopsy was suspicious. Your referral to the surgeon doesn’t help. They
insist surgery is the only answer without discussing alternatives.
The consult with the surgeon is anxiety causing when they describe all the complications that can occur,
but insist it is safe.
My patient’s blog will give you methods to control your own destiny. The complete discussion on
alternatives to surgery and a road map on how to be sure you need surgery in the first place.
Patient’s panic when they hear the word cancer, and many just want to get it out fast. They need to
know that thyroid cancer surgery is not an emergency but there is time to search for alternative
opinions.
The first thing is to get outside opinions on the actual diagnosis on the needle biopsy. A Benign Class II
result should not be a reason for surgery. A class III-IV suspicious should also not be a reason for surgery.
There are Molecular marker tests needed to be done, that can assure you the nodule is low risk.
Even if the biopsy is thyroid cancer for sure you still have opinions. There is a size limit <1.5 cm that can
be treated without surgery. The use of Active surveillance AS or RFA can replace surgery.
AS is an observation of the cancer with careful ultrasound follow up, and a rescue surgery if needed if it
grows over the next 40 years.
RFA is used to ablate the micro-cancer now! It has advantages over surgery as there is no hospital visit,
pain during recovery and loss of work and decreased quality of life due to surgery. The fee for RFA is similar to the co-pay for a thyroid surgery. The is no need for lifetime thyroid hormone replacement therapy. The complications from surgery are infections, hospital infection, voice changes, nerve damage, parathyroid injury, post-surgery recovery, and loss of work and rarely death.
My patient’s blog will have timely blogposts about every aspect of concern to you about your pending thyroid problem.
I will be with you every step of the way.
Call me at 1-310-393-8860 or email to thyroid.manager@thyroid.com.
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