Misdiagnosed thyroid cancer! Instead he sent me out with a prescription for Prozac after insisting I was perfectly healthy. He wouldn't take my symptoms seriously. By the time I had an endocrinologist ultrasound and then a needle biopsy my thyroid cancer was aggressive, metastatic, and apparently I'd had it for years. At this point, I've had a thyroid removed, a total of 53 lymph nodes, and twice the usual nuclear medicine. I've even met a doctor who said the hospital is "studying my case".
I came in with a multitude of symptoms, all of which I now know correlate with thyroid disorder. I let Dr Lalonde know that I had a previous history of thyroid tumor and partial thyroid removal (as a child).And let him know that in recent years two thyroid nodules had been discovered, which were to be monitored. He proceeded with a general physical (including the usual blood tests} and added a thyroid hormone blood panel. All tests came back within normal range. When I mentioned that previous doctors had included a thyroid ultrasound in the monitoring process, he kept referring back to the blood test results and insisted that I was healthy. At one point he locked eyes with me, gave me a strong look, and with a firm voice said "You're healthy aren't you?!".
At that point I relinquished any hope of getting further testing. He then proceeded to tell me that my symptoms were stress related. I took the Prozac. All the symptoms remained...just felt like a zombie with a bad case of the blues...so I stopped. It was only by coincidence {or possibly divine grace} that while I was at work, I was conversing with a customer when suddenly he stopped mid sentence, pointed straight to my neck and said "You need to have that checked out, your thyroid is bulging out!" It turned out that my customer was an oncologist {cancer doctor} by profession.
This time I went to an endocrinologist, who ordered the ultrasound which lead to needle biopsy and a diagnosis of Metastatic Papillary Thyroid Cancer. All of my doctors agree that I'd had this cancer for years. Because this cancer had not been detected in a timely manor, it spread. As for the thyroid panel being within normal range: My doctors tell me that has nothing to do with determining cancer. Only ultrasound and needle biopsy can do that. Though a thyroglobulin test (which determines thyroid antibodies, may have given Lalonde a hint that something was wrong, if he'd ordered one, which he didn't. The normal range is under one, mine was in the eighties.
Just a follow up, I was hoping that Dr Lalonde would have taken note after what happened to me, with my cancer being misdiagnosed. But it seems another patient had the same experience with him. Apparently, he refused to test her, though she told him her family had a history of Thyroid Cancer. Rather he just insisted she needed to loose weight and go to the gym. It really saddens me to hear that another patient had to go through this with Dr Lalonde misdiagnosing her Thyroid Cancer.
I wish all doctors would inform themselves on Thyroid Cancer, after all it is currently the most common form of cancer here in California. I have been asked to give talks at my local hospital, after I expressed gratitude for the outstanding care I've received. So grateful for the truly great doctors I've had since this experience.
see thyca.org for more info on thyroid cancer read more
