My friend is worried that the lumps they are checking on her thyroid may be cancerous, but when I had thyroid cancer 20 years ago, and had 1/2 my thyroid out, they told me that thyroid cancer is rarely dangerouos. Is this still true ?
I had thyroid cancer, and I have found a great site for you to share with your friend...two in fact. one is www.thyca.org, the national thyroid cancer site, and it has great references to endos and surgeons (even if it is not cancer, you want a great doctor). and the second is the yahoo health group for thyroid, and the one for thyroid cancer (thyca)
there are 4 kinds of thyroid cancer, and two are very rare and extremely dangerous. one was the kind that killed the supreme court judge afew years back...the other two kinds are treatable. But not always easy, and yes, survival rates for those two is about 95%. As you know, it is still the big C.
and as for you, are you still getting follow ups? protocals for thyroid cancer have changed over the years, and now, they would have probably taken out the whole thyroid, and if your cancer was over 1 cm they would suggest radiation to kill off the rest of the thyroid tissue so you could be monitored by TG blood tests. I hope that you are still following up on your health...just because it has not reoccured yet, does not mean that at some point it will not. we have had two ladies, one 20 years out and one 11 who just had it pop back up again.
I wish your friend and you good luck. please visit these sites.
I had thyroid cancer 11 years ago. Yes, it's true - it's seldom terminal. My great Aunt also had thyroid cancer 80 years ago was completely cured of it. It's one of the least aggressive cancers the most easily treatable. But - some people still die from it, but rarely.
Do you live in the States? I ask, because I'm in Britain my cancer care seems a little different to yours. After taking out 1/2 my thyroid gland, finding it was cancerous, they had to do another operation to remove the other half, as they didn't know how far the cancer has spread. Then I had radioactive iodine because it showed lots of uptake, they did it again to make sure there was no thyroid gland left.
My friend in Florida was only given radioactive iodine once. i guess because she had no medical insurance they gave her the bare minimum (in Britain, all healthcare is free). 5 years later, her cancer had returned. She was treated again I hope she's ok now.
My biggest problem with thyroid cancer wasn't the cancer - it's that the operation knocked out my parathyroid glands. So I have to take thyroxine alphacalicidol daily they've never been able to get it right for me.
Also, one of the biggest risks in a thyroidectemy is that it can bruise or destroy the nerves to your vocal chords. It can leave you voiceless! My nerves were bruised. I could only whisper for 3 months, couldn't read stories to my kids for 6 years had to give up singing teaching. My voice is normal again after 10 years!
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