I’ve decided that before I jump into my experience with thyroid cancer, I should give a little bit of context on my medical history.

I have faced several cancer scares before.

The first one was the summer before my junior year of college when I discovered a lump in my breast.

I rushed to a specialist and was biopsied and scanned until they determined it benign. Regardless, due to the size of the mass, it was recommended that I go ahead and get surgery to remove it.

Next up was about six months later, when I was having a sharp pain in my side. It persisted for about a week before I went to get it looked at. It turned out to be an ovarian cyst.

Most ovarian cysts, as most breast cysts, and thyroid cysts, etc., are not cancerous. But still, for whatever reason, it had come. And I was met with more fear and anxiety over what was going on in my body.

It was just a year later that my gynecologist would point out the lump in my throat. He assured me that it was most likely nothing, but he would still like me to see a specialist.

To hear that I had a THIRD mysterious cyst did not seem coincidental.

Something in my body was off to be giving me these little red flags in the form of lumps throughout my internal organs.

I went into that appointment terrified. The same flood of emotions that had hit me each time I’d been told that I had a “potentially (but highly unlikely!!!) malignant cyst” came rushing back.

That whole appointment, the crescendo of my spiraling thoughts, lasted a total of maybe five-minutes.

The doctor barely looked me in the eye. He told me he didn’t see anything too concerning, therefore he didn’t think I needed to get a biopsy unless it would give me “peace of mind”.

I sat there, stumped. He brushed it off so easily, so shouldn’t I?

And I did.

I chose to wait and re-examine it again in a year to check for growth.

Which leads me to September 2020, letting my doctor know that I needed another ultrasound.

This time, I was not brushed off.