Unexpected Discovery

By rbertell • May 19, 2017

I'm a teacher and have 2 beautiful children who are grown up and self dependent. I had my thyroid removed a few weeks ago because it was found to be cancerous, and I discovered it in an unconventional way. I was in the doctor's office for something else, and the doctor pointed out that I had a visible nodule on my neck. After talking to other doctors, I was recommended to either take out half the thyroid or all of it. Dr. Yeh came highly recommended to me and has an extremely good reputation, so I decided to make an appointment with him.

Now coming in for a post op checkup, I feel well and other than a slightly raspy voice, I feel like I can complete my daily routines and go to work. The overall process with UCLA Health was very smooth - they told me I would be out by 8 am the next morning and everything followed as planned. When I first found out about my diagnosis, I was very scared because of the experiences of previous family members with cancer. Hearing the word "cancer" has an effect on you, and I felt uncertain about what was going to happen; however, the UCLA Health team made sure I felt comfortable the entire way. My advice for other patients would be to come see Dr. Yeh and have a good support group through the process (as for any medical diagnoses).

Tags: Cancer, Dr. Micheal Yeh, Endocrine, Endocrine Surgery, Endocrinology, nodule, nodules, patient stories, support group, Surgery, thyroid, thyroid cancer, thyroid nodules, Uncategorized