NC woman diagnosed with cancer after doctor notices lump while watching her on HGTV

Doctor Erich Voigt is an ear, nose and throat specialist in New York. He saw Nicole McGuinness on an episode of the HGTV show, "Beachfront Bargain Hunt," and noticed a small bump on the side of her throat.

Voigt used Facebook and a clip of the show to track her down and advised her to go to the doctor. McGuinness says she learned she has thyroid cancer.

"My mother's friend found the post that he posted on Facebook and immediately sent it to us," McGinness said. "We had it checked out immediately. I saw my primary care doctor that exact day and had a biopsy last week. On Friday, the results came back, and I do have papillary thyroid cancer. But, I'm just so grateful for Dr. Voigt for catching that, for being vigilant and for reaching out to me."

McGuinness is scheduled to meet with doctors at Duke late this week to discuss the next step in her treatment process.

She previously battled brain cancer, but she says Dr. Voigt told her this round of treatment will not be as tough.

In 2013, a viewer spotted a similar lump on HGTV's "Flip or Flop” co-host Tarek El Moussa. He said he may never have found out in time that he had thyroid cancer if it weren’t for a viewer who emailed him.