Doctor watching TV spots lump on woman's throat that leads to cancer diagnosis

A hero doctor managed to spot a lump on a woman's throat on TV that lead to a serious cancer diagnosis.

Nicole McGuiness was featuring on an episode of HGTV's Beachfront Bargain Hunt alongside her husband to celebrate her recent recovery from brain cancer.

The couple were planning to purchase a holiday property in North Carolina to celebrate.

However, Dr. Erich Voigt, an ear, nose and throat surgeon in New York City, spotted a strange lump on her neck, which he suspected to be thyroid cancer.

His first instinct was to get in touch with Nicole to inform her of his observations.

"I noticed this subtle fullness in the region of her thyroid gland when she would swallow or position her head in a certain way," Dr. Voigt told CBC's As It Happens.

"As a otolaryngologist — a head and neck surgeon — it drew my attention right away that she had a problem there."

HGTV

Unfortunately, at the time of recording, the show didn't reveal Nicole's full name - so that meant that Dr. Voigt had to find a different way of contacting her.

Thinking on his feet, the doctor wrote a Facebook post to his friends asking what to do.

His post read: "I am watching a TV show and notice this woman has a left thyroid mass.

"She needs a sonogram and fine needle biopsy.

"I wonder if she knows and hope it's benign."

Inside Edition

Dr. Voight recalled: "Someone said to contact the broadcasting company and try to reach her through them.

"Another friend actually sent me the link to the broadcasting company, so I sent them an email."

Thankfully, the social media network was able to connect him to Nicole via a family member.

She was told by the NY doctor that she needed a sonogram and a biopsy.

Despite having recently finished treatment brain cancer, her routine doctors didn't notice the lump.

Inside Edition

Dr Voigt went on to praise the 'awesome power of Facebook and good people'.

"Dr. Voigt saw this, and brought it to my attention, and now I’ll be treated for it," cancer survivor Nicole told ABC News.

"It's just a miracle in my opinion that he happened to see this on TV.

"I can't express how grateful I am."

“I’m very grateful for still being here,” she told Duke Health in 2021.

“I read a statistic recently that less than 1 in 10 glioblastoma patients are alive after five years. I’m taking advantage of every day.”

Topics: Health

Anish Vij

Anish has an MA in Multimedia Journalism and is passionate about delivering sarcastic/mildly amusing content. After studying business at undergrad, Anish realised that he’d much prefer getting paid to rant about a topic, rather than to find a solution to it. Apart from that, he loves the ‘Four F’s’, as he calls it - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

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