Hi!... I am NEW

[Guest guest]

Dear , et al.,

I, too, am fairly new to this group, and my story is much like yours....

I had a " nodule " 20 years ago and with partial thyroidectomy, on frozen section

was diagnosed as benign. However, microscopic examination revealed it to be

papillary carcinoma with mets to 6 cervical nodes. I was treated conservatively

with thyroid suppression.

In October of this year, I discovered a mass and underwent what I thought was

going to be total thyroidectomy. However, again frozen section diagnosed the

mass as an " adenoma " so the surgeon simply removed the mass. Then AGAIN

the microscopic exam showed papillary carcinoma with follicular variants. So 13

days later I was back in surgery, this time for total thyroidectomy. (I was

about to

request a zipper!)

I have been referred by my endo to Stanford University Nuclear Med for ablation,

which is scheduled for Jan 8. I am now just entering my second week off meds.

So far, so good. Christmas could be a snooze, however. And I start LID the day

after Christmas.

My Nuc Med Dr. says that the first two weeks off meds should be good, then I

may feel some changes....I'll only be off for four weeks, with no Cytomel

parachute.

I think what bothers me the most is that my treatment is somewhat different from

what I read about on this list. Only off drugs 4 weeks, CAT scan with contrast

in

October does not worry my Dr, no monitoring of TSH in prep for RAI, etc.

However, my endo (who I trust implicitly) says that this Dr. is the " best

thyroid

guy in the US " and after all, it is Stanford University Med Center, so I gotta

have

faith.

I will most probably have RAI as an outpatient--depends on the dose of I-131.

So I have really come to appreciate the support and information provided by this

group.

Welcome, .

C

Hi all,

I just found out about your support group. I was diagnosed almost 3 weeks

ago, and have been trying to find out as much information I can. You can't

imagine how happy I was to learn there is a support group out there. As

you can also imagine, it's been difficult to grasp the concept that I have

cancer. It's difficult to hear and difficult to say. It's been a

challenge telling friends and family about the challenges that lay before

me. I am trying to be as optimistic as possible! I had my first surgery

on Nov 5th to remove a nodule on my left lobe, the surgeon said that

everything looked fine so I went about healing and getting on with my

life, then almost 4 wks later on Nov 30th, I got the dreaded phone call!

so much for not giving anyone bad news over the phone! on a friday night

no less! My husband and I have been married just over 1 year and were

going to start our family when our gp suggested i have the surgery to

'just get it out of the way'. (the nodule was actual found about 3 years

ago and thru vast tests and needle biopsies/ultrasounds and blood work

they could not find out if it were bad or not, and all parties 'assured'

me that it was likely nothing) So i had the surgery to " get it out of the

way " and WHAM found out that it wasn't 'nothing'... it was something and

it was something I should have had looked after 3 years ago!!! So i was a

little disappointed that there was no urg in urgency when i was first

pronounced with a problem. They just kept telling me that i was a healthy

young female (i guess i didn't fall into any 'categories' of concern!)

well, now i am out of my small town specialists and at Princess Margaret

Hospital in Toronto. I have a second surgery booked for a TT (remove the

right side) and to check for any lymph node damage on January 28th. I

have been told by my surgeon (cuz i am going to believe him when he had me

believing for 4 wks that everything was fine!?!?!) that i have a mild case

of papillary cancer. I have also been booked for the RAI on March 4th. I

have been reading all kind of horror stories about this treatment and if

anyone has any not so terrifying experiences with this please please let

me know! I hope that I will be 'okay' after all of this and go on to have

a happy healthy family. I am usually a very optimistic HAPPY person and I

have definately rec'd my " Challenge " to test my outlook. I have good days

and bad days as i am sure everyone does. I try to pick a time and a place

(usually my poor husband) to have my breakdowns. If anyone would like to

share their personal experiences I would be forever grateful!! you can

email at 'rachelnsean@...'. Thanks a bunch to the networks

supporting this wonderful tool! and too all of you out there who have the

courage to share your pain.

For more information regarding thyroid cancer visit www.thyca.org. If you

do not wish to belong to this group, you may UNSUBSCRIBE by sending a

blank email to thyca-unsubscribe

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I just found out about your support group. I was diagnosed almost 3

weeks ago, and have been trying to find out as much information I

can. You can't imagine how happy I was to learn there is a support

group out there. As you can also imagine, it's been difficult to

grasp the concept that I have cancer. It's difficult to hear and

difficult to say. It's been a challenge telling friends and family

about the challenges that lay before me. I am trying to be as

optimistic as possible! I had my first surgery on Nov 5th to remove

a nodule on my left lobe, the surgeon said that everything looked

fine so I went about healing and getting on with my life, then almost

4 wks later on Nov 30th, I got the dreaded phone call! so much for

not giving anyone bad news over the phone! on a friday night no less!

My husband and I have been married just over 1 year and were going to

start our family when our gp suggested i have the surgery to 'just

get it out of the way'. (the nodule was actual found about 3 years

ago and thru vast tests and needle biopsies/ultrasounds and blood

work they could not find out if it were bad or not, and all

parties 'assured' me that it was likely nothing) So i had the

surgery to " get it out of the way " and WHAM found out that it

wasn't 'nothing'... it was something and it was something I should

have had looked after 3 years ago!!! So i was a little disappointed

that there was no urg in urgency when i was first pronounced with a

problem. They just kept telling me that i was a healthy young female

(i guess i didn't fall into any 'categories' of concern!) well, now

i am out of my small town specialists and at Princess Margaret

Hospital in Toronto.

I have a second surgery booked for a TT (remove the right side) and

to check for any lymph node damage on January 28th. I have been told

by my surgeon (cuz i am going to believe him when he had me believing

for 4 wks that everything was fine!?!?!) that i have a mild case of

papillary cancer. I have also been booked for the RAI on March 4th.

I have been reading all kind of horror stories about this treatment

and if anyone has any not so terrifying experiences with this please

please let me know! I hope that I will be 'okay' after all of this

and go on to have a happy healthy family. I am usually a very

optimistic HAPPY person and I have definately rec'd my " Challenge " to

test my outlook. I have good days and bad days as i am sure everyone

does. I try to pick a time and a place (usually my poor husband) to

have my breakdowns.

If anyone would like to share their personal experiences I would be

forever grateful!! you can email at 'rachelnsean@...'.

Thanks a bunch to the networks supporting this wonderful tool! and

too all of you out there who have the courage to share your pain.