Yeah, the ultrasound cannot diagnose cancer. I think it can rule it out in some cases, but pretty rarely. Most people with lumps on the thyroid require a biopsy. The vast majority - I think 90-95% - are not cancer. While I was waiting for my results, I kept chanting to myself, "thyroid nodules are common, thyorid cancer is rare."

Lots of people have been in the same position as you. Probably 90% of those with thyroid nodules would have had your experience. It's the norm. Unfortunately, it can happen that the biopsy doesn't give a clear answer either and you have to either have another biopsy or have half your thyroid removed so they can test it more closely. But hopefully, that won't be the case for you.

The fact that he isn't even sure if you need a biopsy is a really good sign. That sounds like they think cancer is very unlikely and are debating whether it's worth even checking. This is reason to be reassured, not to worry more. As I've said, most people require a biopsy; the fact that they aren't sure in your case indicates cancer is even less likely than it is in most cases.

I will add that even if you do have thyroid cancer (and that sounds pretty unlikely from what you've written), it isn't what you may be thinking when you hear the word "cancer." For a start, the two most common forms have a near 100% survival rate among "younger" patients, which means those under about 50 and the survival rate isn't much lower among older people. They also rarely use chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

So even in the case that you did have thyroid cancer, it would probably just be a matter of removing your thyroid. I had thyroid cancer 2 and a half years ago and was back at work a month after my operation and the only ongoing issue I have is that my neck gets a bit tingly at time where the scar is. It wasn't really a bigger deal than I'd imagine having something like your appendix or your gallbladder removed would be. And I will add that my nodule was 10.5cm and the cancerous part 6.7cm (over 4cm is the largest category) and there was spread to about 8 lymph nodes. So this was on the more serious side of papillary thyroid cancer.

Thank you so much for your reply, at the start the doctor said it was 3cm so that is a good sign too, I'm sorry you had to go through that, I know how I'm feeling now so god knows how you must have felt. I really appreciate your comment it has settled my mind a bit

thank you