Seconded. The actual biopsy wasn’t bad, because I was anesthetized. The stitches were excruciating. I could barely sleep or eat. They were supposed to dissolve, but I ended up cutting them, because besides hurting my tongue, they were badly scratching my gum. As soon as I took the stitches out, 80% of the pain went away.
I promised I’d let y’all know how it went, so here it is:
Got a call from the doctor today, and the results are “suspicious” (he had explained the difference between “suspicious”, “inconclusive” and “cancer” on Monday before he did the biopsy). The biopsy revealed atypical cells that indicate papillary thyroid cancer. The plus side to this is, because it’s “suspicious”, they may not need to take out the whole thyroid. Doctor said what’s likely to happen is that they’ll remove the right lobe, check it while I’m still in the OR, and then either remove or leave in the rest depending on the results.
A friend had something similar. A family friend who doesn’t see her very often noticed that she had a lump on her neck. She checked it out and had one side (lobe?) removed. When biopsied they discovered the cells were cancerous so she went back in and they took out the rest. Shame she had to have 2 surgeries but it doesn’t matter now. She’s past the 5-year cancer free point and it’s probably even a couple of more years by now. 
Whatever you have to go through will be fine if you have the same results.
I’ve seen this scenario occur many times as a pathologist working with surgeons. If it was me I’d at a minimum make sure that the cytology specimen that led to the “suspicious” diagnosis had been reviewed by at least one other pathologist at the same institution (in the event of internal disagreement I’d get the case shipped out to an expert in the field of cytopathology).
It may well be that the “suspicious” diagnosis is justified, and intraoperative evaluation (through frozen section) is a good way to confirm a diagnosis of papillary carcinoma. The disadvantage is that if the lesion turns out benign, you’ve had a significant surgical procedure and half your thyroid removed.
Again, I wish you the best.
Jackmannii, M.D.