An Accidental Lifesaver

Hyperthyroidism Slideshow

A true story of how a patient's bike accident led to the discovery of thyroid cancer

By Laura Lee Bloor
MedicineNet.com

Reviewed by William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

When Ken Brown* broke his left clavicle in a dirt-bike accident, he never imagined it might help save his life.

In November of 2006, Ken went to Jawbone Desert, Calif., with a group of friends to ride dirt bikes. The getaway weekend took a turn for the worse when Ken wrecked his bike, going about 60 mph. Ken was lucky that his only injury was the broken collarbone (clavicle).

The emergency room doctor prescribed hydrocodone/acetaminophen (Vicodin) to manage Ken's pain until he could be seen by a surgeon who specialized in shoulders. Within a week of the accident, Ken had surgery to repair his clavicle, using a plate and screws.

The surgery went smoothly, or so Ken thought, until he started experiencing numbness in his pinky finger afterward. Over the next couple of weeks, the numbness traveled up his elbow and caused painful muscle spasms in his arm and back.

Brown went to his doctor who determined that he did not have carpal tunnel syndrome but couldn't find an explanation for the numbness. He referred Ken to a neurologist.

Within the next few days, Ken visited the neurologist who ordered a spinal MRI scan of his neck. When the neurologist contacted Ken about his MRI results, he asked if Ken was aware of a lump in his thyroid area. "No," Ken said. The neurologist was concerned about the lump, known as a nodule, especially with its large size of 3 cm.

He took the neurologist's report to his doctor who referred Ken to an endocrinologist within a week. By now, it was March of 2007.

First, the endocrinologist interviewed Ken about his medical history. When Ken discussed his weight gain and lack of energy, he had attributed them to stress stemming from the misery of a divorce. He was surprised to learn that these were actually common symptoms of a thyroid disorder.

"Everything just kind of fell into place," Ken said.

He was prescribed levothyroxine sodium (Synthroid), which is supposed to suppress the nodule's growth and prevent new ones. It also is supposed to normalize the hormones. The trick is finding each individual's balance. Ken started a monthly check-in with the endocrinologist to monitor his hormone levels and adjust his Synthroid as necessary.

"The endocrinologist generally starts people off with small doses and slowly increases," Ken said. He found this especially difficult because whenever the doctor increased his Synthroid dosage, he'd feel great. However, within days his body would adjust to the new levels, and he would slip down again, feeling lethargic.

"So, it was kind of a roller-coaster ride," Ken said.

In April of 2007, the endocrinologist performed an aspiration biopsy of the nodule.

During a fine-needle aspiration biopsy, an endocrinologist uses an ultrasound to visualize the structures of the neck while using a giant needle to collect samples from the nodule. The samples are then tested in a laboratory to see whether they are cancerous. Unfortunately, the procedure is not highly accurate, Ken said.

The aspiration biopsy revealed that the thyroid nodule was benign. Ken was told to come back for another ultrasound in six months.

While his family was relieved at the results and thought all was well, Ken was still concerned. They dismissed Ken's doubts.

"I'm always the one thinking positive, but for whatever reason, my gut feeling was that it wasn't good," Ken said.

Ken's next ultrasound checkup revealed the nodule had grown, which was not a good sign. Even though the statistics were low that it could be cancerous based on his lack of risk factors, such as age and gender, Ken was worried.

Upon knowing that his thyroid nodule grew when it should have shrunk, Ken discussed surgery as the next option with his doctor. Surgery was the only 100% way to verify if the nodule was cancerous. After mutual agreement, the doctor arranged a surgical procedure to remove a portion of the thyroid (partial thyroidectomy).

During the surgery, the half of the thyroid where the nodule resides is removed, and a pathologist is on standby to confirm or deny if it is thyroid cancer. If it is, then the other half of the thyroid is removed. If not, the other half of the thyroid stays.