Thyroid Cancer Journey "The best cancer"
Hi cuties ♥
This post is for those of you who may stumble upon my blog who might be going through something similar and have questions. Feel free to reach out to me if you would like someone to talk to or would like to be directed to some helpful support groups/internet links.
I was diagnosed with Cancer at age 28. I was told that I have the "good cancer". There is no good cancer. It is not okay for anyone to tell you that, even though EVERYONE will tell you that. It is a completely unfair and unjust statement. I am however, extremely blessed to be alive and to have my cancer caught "early on".
So here is my story....
I just got health insurance last year after not having any insurance for a few years. I went to a general practice doctor to have a physical for my overall health. My labs came up fairly normal with only my estrogen/progesterone/testosterone levels being off. This doctor diagnosed me with PCOS (which is an entirely different story that hasn't been completely figured out yet). This doctor puts me on progesterone tablets for 3 months and then quits or gets fired from the practice (I don't know which one). So, I decided to go see an endocrinologist for this potential syndrome I may/may not have.
The endocrinologist ran all the blood work all over again. Again, everything fairly normal except for my estrogen/progesterone levels. This doctor feels my neck and says "it seems to bulge out a little on the right side of your thyroid, it could just be your muscles but I want you to be on the safe side and go get an ultrasound done, no rush". So, I waited about 2 months before I went and got the ultrasound done, and sure enough they found a nodule on the right side of my thyroid. They also added that there was no way that the doctor could have felt the nodule during his exam because it was only 6mm in size, the doctor got lucky that something was actually there.
The next step, back to the endocrinologist, where he orders a FNA (fine needle aspiration) biopsy to be done on the nodule, just to be on the safe side. Again, he told me "I doubt it's anything to worry about, 80% of nodules are benign, it is very unlikely to be cancerous". So I waited a little before scheduling the biopsy but not as long as my first test. I just had a bad feeling about it.
Fast forward a few weeks, I go to have the FNA biopsy done. I was so anxious about it hurting. Of course, I read horror stories online and many comments about how bad the biopsy hurts and terrible things happening afterwards. I was surprised at how well the biopsy actually went and that it didn't hurt much at all despite having a needle stuck deep in my neck while awake and without any topical anesthetic. So, that part was easy. The next part was the hard part. They had a pathologist on site at this health practice and they went and looked at my biopsy under a microscope. Five minutes later, they returned to the room and said "well there is bad news and good news. Bad news is that it's papillary carcinoma. Good news is that it's the best cancer to have. There is a 90% survival rate. Any questions for us?". Oh man.....I was just numb. I just asked, are you sure? Was it easy to tell on the slide or any chance of error? They said yes it was easy to tell, the biopsy showed classic looking cells for papillary carcinoma. Ugh. what a bummer. This was the 18th of March 2015. A day I will never forget.
So.....then I was referred to a surgeon at Johns Hopkins (the best hospital in the world).....and it was a 6 month wait. Well first of all, it was going to be longer....because they didn't even want to give me a consultation appointment until June but I pushed and magically got a cancellation for the 31st of March 2015....which corresponded to the earliest available surgery date of the 2nd of September 2015. Oof....if you read online tons of people have surgery immediately (within 2 weeks) of being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I was freaked out. But I decided to enjoy my summer.....and just started to get more and more anxious as the days got closer to my surgery date.
Fast forward to surgery, I opted to have just a right lobectomy since my cancer was small 6mm or 0.5cm. Surgeons are only allowed to consider this option if the cancer is smaller than 1cm according to new guidelines. The standard procedure for any thyroid surgery is just to remove the whole thing. My hope was that I wouldn't need thyroid hormone replacement and be on medication for the rest of my life, since there is a 60-70% chance that 1/2 of the thyroid can compensate for the removed 1/2. I was really sore and horrible feeling for about a week after surgery. I recovered fine despite still having random stabbing pains across my neck/throat.
I felt good for about a month and then everything fell apart (well sort of). I'm ok, I'm alive, but I have zero energy and feel like a complete zombie. No amount of coffee or sleep can make me feel refreshed. I have had my bloodwork done once a month since surgery and have now been put on Synthroid (thyroid medication) as my thyroid levels have fallen and I now have hypothyroidism. My half a thyroid has failed. I will keep getting blood work done constantly to monitor all of my levels. I will have to have yearly ultrasounds of my neck and then more FNA biopsies if more nodules show up on my other side. Praying and hoping for the best!
This post is for those of you who may stumble upon my blog who might be going through something similar and have questions. Feel free to reach out to me if you would like someone to talk to or would like to be directed to some helpful support groups/internet links.
I was diagnosed with Cancer at age 28. I was told that I have the "good cancer". There is no good cancer. It is not okay for anyone to tell you that, even though EVERYONE will tell you that. It is a completely unfair and unjust statement. I am however, extremely blessed to be alive and to have my cancer caught "early on".
So here is my story....
I just got health insurance last year after not having any insurance for a few years. I went to a general practice doctor to have a physical for my overall health. My labs came up fairly normal with only my estrogen/progesterone/testosterone levels being off. This doctor diagnosed me with PCOS (which is an entirely different story that hasn't been completely figured out yet). This doctor puts me on progesterone tablets for 3 months and then quits or gets fired from the practice (I don't know which one). So, I decided to go see an endocrinologist for this potential syndrome I may/may not have.
The endocrinologist ran all the blood work all over again. Again, everything fairly normal except for my estrogen/progesterone levels. This doctor feels my neck and says "it seems to bulge out a little on the right side of your thyroid, it could just be your muscles but I want you to be on the safe side and go get an ultrasound done, no rush". So, I waited about 2 months before I went and got the ultrasound done, and sure enough they found a nodule on the right side of my thyroid. They also added that there was no way that the doctor could have felt the nodule during his exam because it was only 6mm in size, the doctor got lucky that something was actually there.
The next step, back to the endocrinologist, where he orders a FNA (fine needle aspiration) biopsy to be done on the nodule, just to be on the safe side. Again, he told me "I doubt it's anything to worry about, 80% of nodules are benign, it is very unlikely to be cancerous". So I waited a little before scheduling the biopsy but not as long as my first test. I just had a bad feeling about it.
Fast forward a few weeks, I go to have the FNA biopsy done. I was so anxious about it hurting. Of course, I read horror stories online and many comments about how bad the biopsy hurts and terrible things happening afterwards. I was surprised at how well the biopsy actually went and that it didn't hurt much at all despite having a needle stuck deep in my neck while awake and without any topical anesthetic. So, that part was easy. The next part was the hard part. They had a pathologist on site at this health practice and they went and looked at my biopsy under a microscope. Five minutes later, they returned to the room and said "well there is bad news and good news. Bad news is that it's papillary carcinoma. Good news is that it's the best cancer to have. There is a 90% survival rate. Any questions for us?". Oh man.....I was just numb. I just asked, are you sure? Was it easy to tell on the slide or any chance of error? They said yes it was easy to tell, the biopsy showed classic looking cells for papillary carcinoma. Ugh. what a bummer. This was the 18th of March 2015. A day I will never forget.
So.....then I was referred to a surgeon at Johns Hopkins (the best hospital in the world).....and it was a 6 month wait. Well first of all, it was going to be longer....because they didn't even want to give me a consultation appointment until June but I pushed and magically got a cancellation for the 31st of March 2015....which corresponded to the earliest available surgery date of the 2nd of September 2015. Oof....if you read online tons of people have surgery immediately (within 2 weeks) of being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I was freaked out. But I decided to enjoy my summer.....and just started to get more and more anxious as the days got closer to my surgery date.
Fast forward to surgery, I opted to have just a right lobectomy since my cancer was small 6mm or 0.5cm. Surgeons are only allowed to consider this option if the cancer is smaller than 1cm according to new guidelines. The standard procedure for any thyroid surgery is just to remove the whole thing. My hope was that I wouldn't need thyroid hormone replacement and be on medication for the rest of my life, since there is a 60-70% chance that 1/2 of the thyroid can compensate for the removed 1/2. I was really sore and horrible feeling for about a week after surgery. I recovered fine despite still having random stabbing pains across my neck/throat.
 |
| In the hospital after surgery |
 |
| In the car going home the day of surgery |
I felt good for about a month and then everything fell apart (well sort of). I'm ok, I'm alive, but I have zero energy and feel like a complete zombie. No amount of coffee or sleep can make me feel refreshed. I have had my bloodwork done once a month since surgery and have now been put on Synthroid (thyroid medication) as my thyroid levels have fallen and I now have hypothyroidism. My half a thyroid has failed. I will keep getting blood work done constantly to monitor all of my levels. I will have to have yearly ultrasounds of my neck and then more FNA biopsies if more nodules show up on my other side. Praying and hoping for the best!
Comments
Post a Comment