THYROID DISEASE

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

Q: what are the next steps in papillary thyroid cancer reoccurance?
i had papillary thyroid cancer 2 years ago. it was removed with a total thyroidectomy. i had radioactive iodine treatment after surgery and i’ve been tested here and there since. i just had a routine ultrasound where they found a suspicious lymph node. i’m scheduled for a FNA (fine needle) my question is, if the results come back positive for a reoccurance, what will ne my next step? more surgery? more RAI? chemo?

A: When I had a recurrence in my lymph nodes I did a low dose RAI followed by a body scan to see where it traveled to and since it was only in 4 of my lymph nodes they removed 11 and then I went off my meds for awhile did another small dose body scan followed by a high dose RAI and body scan but im sure every doctor does things different but that was my experience with it and now I am cancer free again.
I dont think chemo is the treatment of choice because the iodine is move effective on the thyroid and its safer i believe

Q: Which is the place to get treatment for papillary thyroid cancer in India?
Hello,

I am male, 30 years old. Which is the place to get treatment for papillary thyroid cancer in India and How much it cost?

Kindly Reply,
Cancer Fighter.

A: I don’t have an answer, but I do have a site with more info and maybe they can help. www.thyca.org (thyroid cancer survivors for america)

Q: I had papillary thyroid cancer, how long will I live?
I read it on the internet that the prognosis for a person over 50 years old that had papillary thyroid cancer the size of a golf ball (which I had) could only live for 10 years or less. I would really like to know because I want to get my house in order. I am not afraid. So would somebody please tell me.

A: Madam , 1st of all life and death is in the hands of god ,,, so no one can tell you ever how long will you live ,,, but what i can tell you is some statistical facts based on patients diagnosed with Papillary carcinoma of the Thyroid gland ,,

before this i want to bring you some good news i hope:

the treatment for this type of cancer is surgical resection and it is curative in most of the cases
even if the caner cells metastasized (usually to the cervical lymph nodes) they are very responsive for Radiotherapy with Iodine 131…

now the prognosis is EXCELLENT , 20 years survival = 90%
which means , after the time of diagnosis with 20 years you will find patients with this type of cancer are still alive and if they died it is probably due to another cause rather than the actual cancer ,,
so you are lucky to get this type of cancer , because other types like the anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid is very aggressive and rapidly fatal

Q: Best Hospital and Doctor to get treatment for papillary thyroid cancer in Seattle Area?
Hello,

I am 30 years old male diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. I am living in Bellevue. Could you please share info on best hospitals and Doctors to get treatment in Seattle Area?

Thanks,
Cancer Fighter

A: go to www.thyca.org and thyca@yahoogroups.com (the second one is a question answer forum for thryoid cancer folks) and post there.

Q: papillary thyroid cancer spread to lymph nodes question?
my girlfriend has just gotten diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer which has spread to her lymph nodes, has anyone gone through this experience or know of any one that has that can shed some light for me. she is in her mid 30’s. Please anyone that can enlighten me with their experience, i am very worried and terrified.

A: I was diagnosed with papillary thyroid carcinoma with lymph node spread when I was 26 and what they did for me was remove my thyroid and the lymph nodes that were effected and a few more just to make sure and then 6 months after surgery I did a round of radiation with is just a iodine pill that you take and a full body scan to make sure there was no uptake but in my case there was so they gave me a higher dose and now I do the RAI body scan every 6 months a so far all is perfect. From everything that my doctors told me and I went to Mayo Hospital is that if you had to choose a cancer to have just because you would want thyroid cancer because it is very slow growing with close to 100% cure rate even with lymph node spread and recurrence hope I was able to help

Q: Can one form of cancer (specifically papillary thyroid cancer) lead to another cancer?
I have had papillary thyroid cancer and got it removed in July 2005. I was wondering if this makes me more prone to other cancers, such as skin cancer. Ever since my surgury, I’ve been so suspicious of cancer popping up in other place, and I just wanted to know what I should look out for. Thanks.

A: Cancer is a whole body thing – not just one type of cancer in one place. The problem with the current system of medicine is that it treats symptoms only, and never considers the cause. If you have cancer, your whole body has it, although it may show in only one place.
The solution is to go for a holistic cure, of which about 100 are available,
They are not publicised by the cancer industry, because there is no money to be made. For the same reason, they are not approved by the FDA, so even if doctors do know about them, they are not allowed to recommend them.

For a detailed report on this subject, and some holistic cures, see

http://dgwa1.fortunecity.com/body/cancer.html

Q: I have been diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Cancer. What are dangers of radioactive iodine dye treatment?
I am also going to have my entire thyroid removed before the iodine dye treatment is done. The iodine dye treatment is being done through an IV in my wrist. I will be completely off my synthroid.

A: I had papillary cancer also. Never had the radioactive iodine treatment, backed out of it because of fertility concerns. Which the doctor than consulted someone at Columbia University and found out I was right. It is temporary though. Other concerns are damage to your salivary glands, usually temporary but may be permanent. Sucking candies are recommended. Also there is a small chance of developing a secondary cancer even though the radiation is targeted at remaining thyroid cells.

It has been 5 years, and I have a new doctor who wants me to see a specialist to see if radioactive iodine treatment is needed. Also there is a drug you can take so you do not need to go off synthroid. Not all places use it.

My initial doctor never thought I needed radioactive iodine treatment, but every endocrinologist I see does.

Q: I was diagnosed w/papillary thyroid cancer. What was your experience with meds/surgery?
I am meeting a surgeon on Monday to schedule my thyroidectomy. I am 41, healthy, normal functioning thyroid otherwise. I am concerned about weight, meds, moods, the actual surgery……what has been your experience? I am an avid exerciser and 130 lbs.

A: This one is a long answer.

I was diagnosed at age 26 with papillary thyroid cancer, not really an exerciser, big lover of junk food, but I was about a size 8 (5′4″, 130 pounds) at that time.

I postponed RAI (radioactive iodine) because I wanted to have children.

After the surgery, I didn’t really gain much weight. Some people gain up to 10 pounds that can be blamed on thyroid. Anything more than 10 pounds is probably unrelated to thyroid (lack of exercise, pregnancy weight, etc.).

Your TSH will need to be suppressed for the rest of your life except for when you go through RAI treatment. You’ll need to take a suppressive dose of levothyroxine (T4) like synthroid. Normal TSH is about 1.0-2.0. Yours will need to be around 0.1. This is technically, chemically, hyPERthyroidism. You may feel jittery, panic, hot flashes, heart palpitations, irritable, lose weight, etc. If you feel these symptoms, you may need to slightly lower your dose of meds enough to stop those “hyperthyroidism” symptoms, but still keep your TSH as low as possible.

Mood? Well…being told you have cancer, no matter how “treatable” it is, is life changing and can be very depressing. There have been days that I’ve just sat down in the middle of my living room and just cried my head off. But it’s been almost 6 years now for me…so those days don’t really happen anymore. Instead of thinking “why me” I just try to think “it could have been worse.”

This kind of goes back to what I said before about the hyperthyroidism symptoms. I was feeling depressed and jumpy all at the same time…like panic. My endocrinologist said that I need to “get over it.” My primary care doctor diagnosed me with depression and I took anti-depressants for awhile. The anti-depressants helped a little. I switched endocrinologists and the new one lowered my dosage and I stopped the anti-depressants. Now I feel great!! Turns out it wasn’t really depression…just way too much thyroid hormone.

I have 2 totally healthy kids now. One born after the surgery and the other born after surgery and RAI. Oh…I am still 5′4″ but I weigh about 145 pounds now (baby weight…not thyroid) and I wear a size 10.

The surgery went well. The doctor will cut the nerves in your neck which will numb the area for several months, until the nerves regrow. To this day, I have never felt pain from the surgery. I spent 2 nights in the hospital because my parathyroids went into shock causing my calcium levels to drop. I just had to take a calcium pill and some vitamin d for 1 month. I had sore shoulder muscles though because psychologically, I felt like my neck was cut from end to end even though the incision was only 2 inches. I walked around hunched over for a few weeks. My parents kept reminding me to stand up straight.

As far as recovery…I made Thanksgiving dinner exactly 1 week after surgery. I just had to prove to myself and everyone around me that I could do it and I could beat cancer!

Good luck to you…Check out the website link below for lots of useful info about thyroid cancer.

Regards,
mari

Q: Thyroid Removal & Neck Dissection due to Papillary thyroid Cancer?
Earlier this year I had a swollen lymph node in my neck removed and tested. They determinded that I have papillary thyroid cancer which had spread to my lymph nodes in my neck.

They are suggesting that I have my entire thyroid gland removed along with a neck dissection to remove all the lymph nodes on the left side of my neck. After the surgery I am to do a short amount of iodine treatment and then will be on thyroid medication the rest of my life.

Has anyone had this (or similar) situation? If so, what was your outcome after the sugery? Has being on thyroid medication changed the way you feel?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

-Joe

A: I had my thyroid removed a year ago. It hadn’t spread to the lymph nodes but from what I understand that doesn’t cause any additional problems. The surgery itself was not bad. I was in the hospital for 2 days afterwards. My throat was very sore (like you have a giant lump in your throat), but other than that I felt ok. I took some tylenol but never needed prescription pain medications.

I also had the radioactive iodine treatment 9 months later (I was pregnant so needed to wait until after the baby was born). The only side effect from that was I was tired, but that was probably more for not being on the thyroid hormones. Honestly the low iodine diet before the treatment and isolation from people for a few days after is the worst part – but in the grand scheme of things it’s hard to complain about that.

I now take 125mg of Levoxyl every day, which puts me in the hyperthyroid level. They do that to prevent any lingering thyroid cells from getting back to work. Luckily I don’t have any side effects from the medication. Many people do though so I wouldn’t be surprised if you have some. For example if your levels are too low you may feel tired, and if too high you can have heart palpitations.

I see the doctor every few months to check my levels. I’ll have another test dose of the RAI in a few months (a year from my last one). Hopefully they won’t find anything, but if they do I’ll have another full dose of the RAI.

Cancer is a very scary thing, but so far things have gone well for me. I hope you have the same outcome.

Q: if lymph nodes are involved on a papillary thyroid cancer, can it be spread to stomach?
can it be spread to the lungs?

A: It is rare for papillary to spread all the way down to the stomach. If it has gone untreated for many, many years (20+) then it may be possible. It can spread to the lungs, but it is not that common. A positive thing about pap thyca is that radioactive iodine is usually an effective treatment…I say usually because I had 2 large doses that didn’t do anything to mine, mine was best treated surgically.

Papillary thyroid cancer is very slow growing, one can have it for several years with little change in prognosis. And it is rarely fatal. I have a friend who had thyroid cancer with lung mets, 2 RAI treatments took care of it.

Some useful sites for you:
www.thyca.org
www.thyroid.org
www.endocrineweb.com
www.livestrong.org

Best of luck to you.

Q: need to know about papillary thyroid cancer ?
ok so someone i know just turned 17 and has gotten a blood test back. she has been diagnosed with possible papillary thyroid cancer . she may have had it for about 8 months. how treatable is it, and will she be able to live a normal life afterwards? will she be sick and die in 10 years? need to know asap thanks

A: Thyroid cancer is diagnosed through a biopsy so I wouldn’t stress about blood work so much and also if they did have a biopsy and it rules out to be pap. thyroid cancer it is a very slow growing cancer so the chance of it spreading beyond the thyroid is small. What they will do for treatment is remove the thyroid and they may do a follow up radioactive iodine depending on whether there a antibodies present in the blood and after all is done they will be placed on thyroid replacement meds for life. I have pap. thyroid cancer completed all the treatments had 1 recurrence and now am cancer free. Everyones body responds different but thyroid cancer has a high cure rate almost 100% even with recurrence. Hope that helps and best of luck.

Q: I had papillary thyroid cancer, total thyroidectomy, does anyone know whether there are long term consequences?
I had my surgery on Aug. 1 of this year and take Synthroid. My levels are normal but what I want to know is will I have long term effects as a result of not having my thyroid? It controls so many things in my body…how can ONE pill do the job as my thyroid?? I am 41 yr old female.

A: You ask a very good question. The thyroid basically produces thyroid hormone and calcitonin a moderator of calcium. Suprisingly ever since we learned about Cretinism and parathyroid glands, we have learned that hormone replacement will not only prevent hypothyroidism but will also prevent TSH production which is important, so as not to stimulate any ectopic or residual thyroid tissue. Papillary carcinoma is the most favorable of thyroid cancers, but there is still plenty of surgeons who would not do a total thyroidectomy for small isolated papillary cancer, so as to avoid deficiency problems. Replacement would still be required to suppress TSH.

Q: Can anyone explain papillary thyroid cancer in layman’s terms? What is the prognosis for a 14 year old female?

A: Papillary thyroid cancer is the most common form of cancer of the thyroid gland, which is a major gland in the front part of everyone’s neck.

It is almost always treated surgically and is almost always cured. It can spread locally, but rarely spreads widely.

Q: Have you put off treatment to get pregnant when experiencing recurrent papillary thyroid cancer in lymph nodes
I’m looking for new treatments other than RAI or surgery. I have been waiting a few years between fertility issues and cancer treatments to get pregnant 36 and the clock is ticking

A: Yes I put off the RAI to get pregnant with my first child. I had papillary thyroid cancer but it had not spread to my lymph nodes. It was encapsulated in my thyroid gland. I had the surgery, total thyroidectomy. I kept my TSH suppressed to 0.1 and got pregnant about 3 months after trying. I was 28 at the time. After my first child was born, I had RAI when he was 7 months. We waited 1 year to try for baby #2 and got pregnant on our first try with baby #2.

Both kids were born full term, totally healthy. I get their thyroids tested every year because I’m paranoid that my thyroid problems passed to my kids. But their thyroid tests come back normal.

So you can put off RAI to have kids or have RAI and then have kids. But once you have RAI, you have to wait 6 months to 1 year to try to conceive.

Just my opinion…since you’re 36…Keep your TSH suppressed and if your thyroglobulin levels are little to nothing…postpone RAI and have a baby first.

Good luck.

regards,
mari

Q: I just got diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Cancer yesterday. Help?
Im 19 and Im going to get my entire thyroid removed in the beginning of August and possibly my lymph nodes. Have to take a semester or so off school..
Anyone else that has had this please give me your story and opinions.

A: http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/endocrine-system-cancer?ivNPA=1&sky=ggl|hco|ca|thyroidcancers|PPC4070|c

try this site