1.  I've Found A Lump - Real Stories


You'll find many people have already walked your path.  These quotes are from real people who provide real information and real comfort.  Follow the stories of Anne, Grace, Annabell and Sonya and you will see there's light at the end of the tunnel.  The stories will give you practical ideas to better manage your situation.


Sonya
I had a lump for a long time and just thought it was an enlarged gland or cyst or something.  I happened to change doctors and my new doctor thought I should get it checked out.  I didn't really think it was worth doing anything about, it was a genuine lack of concern.  I look back and think that was just so silly.

I was just so grateful to my doctor for making me go for the test, I just felt blessed.  I did feel a bit stupid that I'd had it for so long.  I did feel a bit embarrassed.

I didn't do any Googling but my husband did and he found out all about the grizzly thyroid cancers which he didn't communicate with me because I told him I didn't want to know.  I think him looking on the internet made things a lot worse as he was really worried about what it could be rather than focussing on what it was likely to be.  I never Googled it.  I still haven't.  I still want to put my head in the sand!



Anne
I was sitting at the dinner table when my daughter said, "What’s that lump in your neck, Mum?"  I thought, "What’s she talking about?"  So I go and have look in the mirror and have a feel around and there was a bit of a lump there.  I’d intentionally lost some weight before then and so perhaps that’s why it had become more obvious.  If I hadn’t gone on a diet it might not have been found when it was.

I just thought it would be nothing, and my daughter was about to get married 3 months later so I just put it to one side until the wedding was over.  I’m good at pushing things to one side and not confronting them.

I had tried Googling it.  I went on to one site that lead me on to another site and another and they turned out to be contradictory.  Or the cases were really severe, ending in death.  You’ve no idea of the quality of the stuff that’s online!  Some of the more personal sites rung true whereas the professional ones I found pretty unhelpful.  I didn’t know what information applied to me but you can relate to people's feelings.  I wanted to know more about it, get more information, but I just couldn’t find the information I was looking for, at least not at the level that suited me.


Annabell
I immediately did lots of Googling.  I knew that the basic idea was that cancer kills you pretty soon.  I did do some Internet searching – what is thyroid cancer?  What sort of stage cancer am I going to have?  It was totally new to me.

The information came from different websites, from different countries.  It was really hard for me to understand the different terminologies, which were all new to me.  The personal stories were much easier to understand than the technical/medical information.




These stories and a simple, medical explanation of the thyroid cancer journey are packed into Dr Tom's book, Thyroid Cancer: Overcoming Fear & Finding Fulfillment.  The book covers essential information and practical and emotional tips to get through thyroid cancer.