I'm a 33-year-old, Mom of 6. I'd only noticed that my weight would fluctuate from one doctor's visit to another. The only thing that was actually alarming was when my weight jumped from 140 to 206 in about nine months! My doctor then decided to test for thyroid disorder but unbeknownst to me, I had a goiter in my throat on the left side. He sent me to a specialist immediately to have further testing and that doctor's only diagnosis was removal. After removal, I was called by my doctor and he confirmed that I was in stage 2 papillary thyroid cancer. I just had the right side removed five days ago and I'm recovering well.

I didn't really have many symptoms. My levels were normal, but I had a small painful lump on my neck. Before I could get to my doctor, the lump had gotten bigger and made it difficult to swallow. It turned out that the lump was an inflamed lymph node and my two cancerous nodules were nowhere near the location of the lump. So, 1 ER visit (CT scan), primary care visit (painful lump was gone by then), and an ultrasound/fine needle aspiration biopsy later, I was diagnosed with papillary thyroid carcinoma. Two months later I had a total thyroidectomy. Two months after that, I had I-131 ablation therapy.