TikTok users helped saved a man’s life after they pointed out a potential thyroid cancer symptom – and they were correct.
TikToker @SeattleTechBro regularly shares clips to his TikTok page about tech, finances, and career progression. It wasn’t until fellow users started commenting on his videos to recommend he got his swollen thyroid checked that he discovered he had thyroid cancer.
One warned, “Your thyroid looks a bit swollen. You might want to get that checked.”
Others flocked to his private messages to prompt the TikToker to go to see a doctor. “Sorry if this is overstepping. Your thyroid looks a bit swollen, please get it checked. Usually, it’s just an enlarged thyroid but sometimes it’s thyroid cancer”, one read.
In a follow-up video, which has since racked just under a million views, the TikToker said, “TikTok told me I had cancer. And it seems like they were right.
“So for those of you who don’t know my first couple of TikTok videos were just me talking about my budget and people commented or DMed me saying my thyroid looked a little enlarged and that I should get it checked out as it might be cancerous.
TikTok users pointed out his swollen thyroid and prompted him to get it checked out
(@SeattleTechBro/TikTok)“And so out of an abundance of caution and just because I get anxious about these sorts of things, I went ahead and got it checked out.
“And long story short, after several rounds of tests and ultrasounds and such we found out that there’s a 95 per cent chance that that nodule I had was cancerous.
“I had two options. I could either take out my entire thyroid, or I could just take out the cancerous bit.
“I chose to just take out the cancerous bit in the middle.
“I will probably make less videos during recovery. It is quite hard to talk. It kind of drains me to talk so much.”
The NHS define thyroid cancer as ‘a rare type of cancer that affects the thyroid gland, a small gland at the base of the neck that produces hormones.’
‘Thyroid cancer is usually treatable and in many cases can be cured completely, although it can sometimes come back after treatment,’ they said.
The NHS advises that you see a GP if you have any of the following symptoms:
- swollen glands in the neck
- unexplained hoarseness that does not get better after a few weeks
- a sore throat that does not get better
- difficulty swallowing