THYROID DISEASE

Read and learn more about follicular thyroid cancer. For more, visit the Thyroid Disease website ThyroidDiseaseWiki.com.

Q: Is follicular thyroid cancer hereditary?
My grandma has it, and not only am I worried about her, but I am wondering if I have a higher risk of getting it, or if my mom has a higher risk. I understand that cancer is a mutation, but I also know that some cancers can be hereditary especially if they are autosomal dominant. Is follicular thyroid cancer hereditary or not?

A: Follicular thyroid cancer is not hereditary, Medullary thyroid cancer is. There is a small possibility (5%) that one could get a HNMTC (hereditary non-medullary thyroid cancer) and if 3 or more first degree relatives have it, your chance of getting it is 94%. You would have to get screened to rule out everything. Hope this helps, good luck.

Q: I am going through follicular thyroid cancer. Is it possible for me to get medicaid or financial assistance?
i work full time but i am single and no kids. i need help with these high medical bills. I live in Mississippi.

A: You can qualify for Medicaid if you don’t have kids. Look into food stamps as well. There could be some other programs to help you pay your recent medical bills, especially hospital bills. Virginia has a program called “State and Local Hospitalization” that helps people who have hospital bills. I didn’t have insurance at the time, so I don’t know if that was a requirement. Social Services will be able to help you.

Q: What happens if a person decides not to have surgery for a “possible” follicular thyroid cancer?

A: Follicular thyroid cancer has a tendency to be pretty aggressive and blood vasculature found around the tumor is more extensive as well. Complete removal is often the best route of treatment from what I have seen. It cuts the risk of the cancer metastasizing to other areas such as lung, bladder or bone. Many times, this type of cancer can be cured if complete removal is performed and the cancer is localized to the thyroid.

Q: Question about Follicular Thyroid Cancer?
I just found out my mom has had this cancer, and can someone please explain to me exactly what this means:

“Pathology is key in predicting survival. Tumors with microscopic capsular or venous capsular invasion have cure rates in the 99% range. Cancers that can be recognized by the surgeon have a 10 year cure rate in the 40% range.”

Does this mean that if it is recognized by the surgeon, the chances of healing completely are 40%?

A: Please, Please Please go to www.thyca.org and also join the yahoo health group thyca@yahoogroups.com. the first is the national site for thyroid cancer and they will give you so much great and accurate info. the second is a discussion board where you can learn more about optimising your mom’s treatments and helping her. Follicular thyroid cancer is the second most common. Papillary is the first. and they can be combined too. it all depends on how far things have moved along, and with any cancer, the earlier it is found the better. it is slow growing and can usually be treated by surgery first and then (following a low iodine diet for two weeks before hand) swallowing a radiation pill which kills thyroid cancer. I had a thyroidectomy (known as a TT) and it was a very easy recovery. if it has spread farther, some people have to have alot of lymph nodes removed too. then we stay on suppressive doses of synthroid (never a generic) and get tested yearly. some people even say it is the best cancer to get…(I say if it is so great than they can have it!) but there is really great info out there, and also some bogus stuff…and some doctors are great at explaining things and some not. she needs an experienced surgeon in thyroidectomies and she needs an endo for afterwards who does know his arse from his elbow in thryoid cancer too. it has been since may 07 when I had my surgery, and I feel really great now, and my 1 year scan was clear. Please go to those sites and learn all you can (her too, since she will be the one going to the doctors) and feel free to join the yahoo group…it is great, and I will see you on there! (also, the mayo clinic has a good site)

Q: I have been diagnosed with follicular thyroid cancer, how successful are current treatments?

A: Not as successful as the treatments listed at the site below.

Q: I had follicullar thyroid cancer?
I had follicular thyroid cancer they removed my whole thyroid thyroidectomy and they removed some lymph nodes in my neck in 1995 now I have to take synthetic horromes for the rest of my life now when i get hungery or little hungery i get dizzy and heart palputations i eat so much to stop the dizzness and heart palputatuions twice in 1996 i was back in the hospital for dizzness and heart palputations the horrmones i take regulate my heart and metabulism that my thyroid use too the follicular thyroid cancer was in my follicules and lymph nodes with no metabulism now i eat and eat if the heart palputations and dizzness feels like a heart attack i goto the hospital tell me why the heart palputations and dizzness

A: Might be due to having your uterus removed and wanting a transplant?

Q: can you donate your eggs if you have had thyroid cancer?
i had follicular cancer two years ago, i did not have chemotherapy but i did have radioactive iodine.
i no longer have a thyroid and i am on synthroid. from what i was told thyroid cancer is not hereditary so will this not allow me to donate eggs?

A: I’m not sure what criteria they look at for past medical history, but having I-131 and being on Synthroid shouldn’t effect your eggs. I also have to wonder, would these perspective parents want to use your eggs…I’m not so sure!

Q: Thyroid Cancer Survivor now losing my hair?
It’s been over a year since I have been 100% cancer free, but lately I’ve been losing my hair!

Well I have been losing my hair since I was first diagnosed with Papillary and Follicular thyroid cancer, but I thought it was part of the radiation or thyroid medication..

Well its been over a year, and I’m still losing my hair! Its been thinning out, and I seem to lose about 300-500 hairs a day!

I don’t have a history of hair loss in my family “my father and grandparents have full thick heads of hair”

Am I getting the right level of medication? I don’t have a thyroid glad, and am taking 100 mcg of Levothyroxin “The cheapest one I think”; I find myself yawning all the time, and my hair is pretty thin now.. Should I talk to another doctor? I’m willing to try a more expensive substitute if it means saving my hair..

Thank you and please help!

A: Yay for over a year of being cancer free!! Okay, usually a couple months after surgery, you can start to lose hair, but it should stop. Did you have Radioactive Iodine? If so, did you go hypo or did you get Thyrogen injections? If you were off meds to get hypo, that can cause slow hair growth/ hair loss. On the other hand, once you start Levothyroxine, it can cause temporary hair loss, but it should get better within a few months.

I would tell your doctor about these symptoms, especially if they are new. When’s the last time your TSH was checked? You’re on a pretty low dose.

Since you had thyroid cancer, you need to have a suppressed TSH to prevent any cancer from coming back, so your medicine needs to work correctly. It is NOT recommended to take the cheapest (generic) Levothyroxine because it has a narrow therapeutic range, meaning that a tiny change can cause significant effects. You are not guaranteed to get the same generic Levothyroxine pill each month, your pharmacy might be switching between a couple manufacturers and that can be harmful to you. It’s best to get a brand name Levothyroxine like Synthroid or Levoxyl, just for the main reason that they are guaranteed to be consistent.

watch this for proof why generics are bad: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8924782

Talk to your doctor, switch to brand name, and hopefully that will solve the problem! Good luck with everything!

Q: Why would a thyroid tumor have both papillary and follicular cells?
My friend was just dx’d w/ thyroid cancer. She had surgery to remove the 1.2 centimeter tumor in the middle of her thyroid. 3 of the 6 lymph nodes that were taken were found to also have cancer. Why would her tumor be both papillary AND follicular? What does that mean for her?

A: Thyroid cancer is not rare. It’s the easiest to cure. I am surprised they did not take all the thyroid. All this means is the thyroid cancer went into the nodes. I had thyroid cancer the same kind with lymph nodes also cancer seeded with thyroid. I was given after surgery, radio-active iodine in large doses to get rid of all thyroid cancer several times. And yes you are radio-active to others. You stay away from children, women who are prego. It’s not as bad as you think I am still here and trust my doctor to do his best for me. I sure will be praying for your friend. Now smile people do care.

Q: So, I have follicular lesions of the thyroid…potentially cancer…having surgery…what now?
So, I’m having surgery to remove my thyroid on june 4th. my endocrinologist says that I’m not hypo but I have every single symptom so I kinda disagree with him. I’m at least on the very low side of normal. I upped how much I worked out this semester to 4 days a week for two to three hours and I actually gained a pound. Has anyone been moderately overweight but very active and healthy and then had a thyroidectomy and in turn gained more weight? It would be bad for my health to gain more…how do I go about asking the endocrinologist to try and put me at the high side of normal without seeming bossy? How crappy will I feel after surgery? Has anyone lost weight after such a surgery?
I’ve already had a fine needle aspiration of my thyroid(basically they jammed a big old needle into my thyroid and sucked out some of the lesion cells) and this just told them the cells are abnormal and potentially cancerous. I have to have surgery or I could die. Follicular cancers often metastisize and then spread through the blood. I have three lesions. I know the diff between hypo and hyper. My bloodwork is all normal but I feel very hypo. Perhaps the “abnormal cells” have exacerbated the slightly hypo problem. All I know is I feel the emotional roller coaster of doom and surgery scares the crap out of me. I’m 21, how can I be this sick when I’ve tried so hard all my life to get well? ( oh, I’m also eplieptic and have panic attacks…sound fun, don’t I?)

A: My daughter was dx w/papillary thyroid cancer w/follicular variant last year at the age of 14. Her FNA was abnormal, so they scheduled a thyroidectomy. During surgery, the pathologist did a frozen section analysis of the tumor (once removed of course) and did not find any indication of cancer. So, w/ only half her thyroid removed, they closed her back up and sent her home the next morning. HOWEVER, they sent the sample to a lab in CA (we’re in OH) and she in fact did have cancer. So, 7 days after her first surgery we were back in the hospital for another surgery where they removed the remainder of her thyroid as well as some lymph nodes. To reassure you, she BREEZED through surgery. She said that was the simplest part of the whole thing. The most difficult was the preparation for the radioactive iodine tx. BUT, I would encourage you to have your thyroid removed. I realize the operation is frightening, but the consequences are even more so. The surgery truly is not as bad as one may think, especially when you are young like yourself and my daughter. I must tell you though that my daughter has gained 8 pounds in 10 months since her surgery. She is VERY active playing volleyball, track and jogging. So, yes, it is true that people often gain weight, but it can be controlled to the best of your ability. Your life is much more important ). Best of luck to you!

Q: THYROID CANCER; Please Read?
Can a 19 year old have stage 3, or 4 thyroid cancer? Just wondering because I found this online:

Note: All the stage III and IV patients with follicular or papillary thyroid cancer are, by definition, over 45 years old.

A: Technically, yes you can have stage III or IV thyroid cancer at 19, but it would be only for Medullary or Anaplastic. You can have Stage 0-IV Medullary thyroid cancer at any age, but it’s a rarer cancer since it’s mainly hereditary. Anaplastic is always Stage IV, but there are sub-stages IVA, IVB, IVC.

No one under 45 can have Stage III or IV Papillary or Follicular thyroid cancer.

Q: If I have follicular neoplasm is there a test to chk if it is cancer ? Dr wants to remove thyroid. I don’t.
If I have follicular neoplasm is there a test to check if it is cancer ? Dr wants to remove thyroid. I don’t unless it is cancer and he says the only way is to remove your thyroid and than check it. There’s got to be some sort of blood test or something to tell if it is cancerous or not ..I do not want a cut on my neck if it is not necessery. It does not bother me at all. Thanks in advance.

A: If you have a nodule on your thyroid then a FNA or Fine Needle Bio spy is done. There is no blood work per SE that can be done. With my thyroid cancer all blood was normal range. The needle biopsy can sample the area in question to see what it contains. Sometimes the FNA biopsy can come back inconclusive as mine did I have had three surgeries because my GP waited a year, my thyroid nodule was ruptured, this caused the disease to spread, so I try to help those who need answers by telling you what not to do, if they don’t want to do the FNA and they just want to do surgery then it would be in your better interest. Tell the surgeon ahead of time if they find cancer to remove the entire thyroid. I have talked with so many people who only had half removed only to have surgery again to remove the other half

Q: thyroid cancer?
I was diagnosed with pappillary thyroid cancer with a follicular varient in November 2006. They removed 1/2 of the thyroid for the biopsy then the remainder after they determined it was cancer. They then did I-131 my doctor is wanting me to become hyperthyroid. He want’s my TSH .003, They have increased my Synthroid steadily over the last few months. I am now on 150 mcg. I am now starting to gain weight and am extremely tired. I called my doctor today and he told me there isn’t anything he can do until I have been on the synthyroid for 4 weeks. He said this could be due to another condition, that I would need to contact my pcp for this. I think this has to do with my thyroid. Has anyone had this happen? I gained about 10lbs in the last 2 weeks.

A: I had my thyroid removed after papillary thyroid cancer that spread to a lymph node. My doctors want me slightly hyperthyroid, but with a TSH only around 0.1 – 0.3.

They started me at 100 mcg of synthroid and I did not begin to feel good until my dose was at 200 mcg. I am not sure you are at your proper dose yet, until I was, my mind was cloudy and I was extremely tired. I didn’t gain weight, but I lost my appetite while I was under medicated. I lost 10 lbs once I was at the right level but I regained that later.

I have never returned to 100%, but I am able to work, more tired than normal, and more on edge, but my mind is back.

It may take a while before you get to your proper dose, but I am skeptical about how you will feel with a TSH that low.

Q: Am I a Cancer Survivor?
I have been fighting a variant of Papillary and Follicular Thyroid Cancer for over 8 months, and its finally over… I think?

Well my Doctor said he treated it, but I will have to return cause there is still thyroid activity. But other than that he said it was treated.

Now that the hustle and bustle is done, and the battle is said and won, does this make me a survivor?

I also feeling less sleepy, there were some days I’m wake up… and two days would go by. But now my sleep scheduale is almost normal and my joints are no longer hurting

I hope it doesn’t return ^__^
Thank you all so much!

I hope the best for everyone as well, and if I learned anything from this, no matter how much I didn’t show it, I help a lot in when I needed someone most. <3 If someone you know has cancer, be there for them no matter how strong they "seem". :)

Happy Holidays
I did get my entire thyroid removed. And now I’m having stomatch pains =O

But thank you All for your Help! And I will move out of America, why is it that everyone seems to get sick a lot here?

A: You are a survivor from the moment you are diagnosed! You are living and surviving through your treatment, dealing with the emotional roller coaster ride and managing various physical symptoms and side effects. All in all you are surviving and a survivor. Even if you are living with cancer that is being managed or you have gone into remission, you are a survivor!

You do NOT need to wait for your doctor to tell you that you are now a survivor, as it is not their place to do so and you will always be a survivor until the day you die!

Enjoy the life you have and congratulations on the positive outcome of your treatment.

Q: Whatever happened with Erin and the vascular growth on her thyroid from last year?
I am asking because now one of the growths on my thyroid has turned vascular and I cannot find any information that talks about vascular growths. All I can find are articles that talk about vascular growths in terms of follicular cancer. Are all vascular growths cancerous or not?

A: If the growth (nodule) has peripheral vascularity, it still can be benign “50 % of benign nodules have peripheral vascularity”.
If the nodule has increased blood flow in the core of nodule, it elevates the CHANCE for malignancy.