My thyroid cancer has spread....

how are you doing now?

Hi! I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2008. I, too had a total thyroidectomy. Unfortunately, I had to have the radioactive iodine twice as the cancer spread to my lymph nodes. The radioactive iodine was not effective on me. Did not work so that is not an option. I have had four surgeries already to remove lymph nodes and just found out the cancer is back on the left side of my neck and the thyroid bed. Due to scar tissue from past surgeries my dr. wants to wait 6 months to see if the cancer gets larger then operate. I am afraid of it spreading in this 6 months period of time. Please let me know where yours had spread and recommended treatment. I am going to my original surgeon on the 15th. He is great! Has a wonderful reputation. Just wanted second opinion. If I can find out details about your case maybe I can ask him about it at my appt..

Hi, just wondering how you are really!! Vicky x

just wondering if You found out what was going on with your stomach issues...im going through the same thing now

Hi Everyone! My name is Daniel. I have been re-reading the thread which I had bookmarked from a couple months ago. My heart

aches and I feel like crying as I read many of your stories. You are TRUE warriors and I am humbled to hear your battles. I will pray

for you all, that our good Lord will bring you peace and healing and guide you in how to have the most fulfilling lives possible. I do

believe you are all very precious in His sight and you are all very precious to me too. Never ever give up, do not be afraid...plan to

be healed and do all that you can in the meanwhile. 

Here's a bit of my story....

I am a 31yr old male. I was feeling ill on and off for about a year and towards the end noticed a

bump in the front of my neck. It grew and started to hurt. Finally got a ct scan which showed 7 nodules in Dec 2011. I was very

scared at first and have spent a lot of time researching and praying since then. Part of me doesn't like the care I receive at the

county hospital and I do not put a whole lot of faith in modern doctors. But after biopsies showing papillary thyroid carcinoma had

spread to lymph nodes I finally decided that surgery was the right thing to do (although some told me to go 100% homeopathic.)

I had a total thyroidectomy/partial neck dissection done in Sept. 2012 and followed with RAI in Dec 2012(before the world ended of course;)

I had the scan afterwards and was pretty bummed to find out that two tumors had spread to my chest behind the sternum.

I hear the next place it could go is the lungs. I have been smoking marijuana with my surgeons approval and although it seemed to

help at first (with the stress at least and the pre-surgery growth size seemed to reduce maybe due to blood flow?) I now believe it

has made things worse as I feel more pain in the problem areas after I smoke. I want to be free of this disease soo bad but am

also aware that things happen for a reason and am trying to trust that God will bring a lot of good out of this regardless of what

happens to me physically....I'm about to get married and of course there's so much I want to do with my life. Any tips would be

highly appreciated....I try to eat as healthy as I know how and am taking a bunch of supplements. I'm really trying to get into

exercising more as I know this is vital. God bless every one of you and may His peace that passes all understanding fill your hearts

and minds, and His perfect love cast out all your fears, Amen.

So, I'm reading here that everyone's cancer has spread.  I was told Thyroid Cancer was rare and the spreading of it was even more rare.  Coming here that doesn't seem the case.  Can you guys tell me what your symptoms were?   How many nodules were found on your Thyroids?  Large, small?

 

 

It has been very helpful reading everyone's stories and point of views and struggles... I have just been diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Cancer- got my biopsy results that say result show a BRAF mutation V600E... in over 50% of the biopsy sample... Curious to know if anyone else had these findings and what your experience with it has been. I believe it may mean this can be genetic and passed on to my children, that it has been passed on to my by an ancestor???

My results also state the findings are both papillary and follicular cell structures... I went in for my surgical consult today and the doctor saw a suspicious lymph node that he wants me to have biopsied before we schedule the surgery. If the lymph node is cancerous he will be removing lymph nodes as well in the surgery. 

I believe to be more nervous about all of this because I am 30, and 26 years ago- when I was 4 I had a large mass (primarily known as a goiter before surgery)the size of a golf ball removed... I just pray they didn't miss something then and that this has not been festering or spreading since then... but- guess I won't know until after surgery and other treatments??? My thyroid levels have always been within normal limits, never placed on medication, and this all came as a shock to me...

I have the next biopsy scheduled for Friday... just 4 days away but that is 4 days of contemplation, worry, and over analyzing all of this... I also work in the medical field, 10 years in multiple specialties, and it doesn't help to know so much- although I get positive feedback for the type of cancer I have- it doesn't help if it spread to lymph nodes, and possibly farther!!!? 

I would love to hear continued conversation, experiences, and be here to listen and support all of you who are going through some type of this, or if you have someone close going through this... And ahead of time, I appreciate any comments or feedback you may have on my current situation.

(married w/ an 11, 9, and 4 year old)

Like the rest of you, I was diagnosed with papillary carcinoma. I found out 2 weeks ago and just had additional biopsies on my lymph glands which don't look good. I met with the surgeon today and will have thyroid and all lymph nodes that return positive removed as well as the thymus and a mass under the thyroid.
I have been feeling tired and generally blah for several months, which spurred the Dr. visit.
I had actually gone to my Dr. before I moved last year and told her about a weird lump in my throat- she totally disregarded it. My labs are still normal but my body certainly does not feel that way. The specialists all say there are generally no symptoms- what is the concensus with those of you out there? How about when it has spread?
Thanks,

Although I had thought I had no symptoms ironically for the past 7 years I have had lack of energy and that "Blah" feeling you are experiencing, and I just had my surgery and it was only stage 1 Papillary Carcinoma with two masses that didn't spread to the lymph nodes. I am 8 days post-surgery and feeling weak and having some trouble swallowing and feel so much pressure on my neck I feel like I am being choked. I didn't notice the masses in my neck they were found by an endocrinologist I was seeing for gestational diabetes... I believe that saved my life because I maybe would not have noticed until too late, until it spread to much more or caused bigger problems... Wishing you well

I am 45 yrs old. Just got told my tsh levels are 4 times lower than should be. Diagnosed with hyperthyroid. Starting the special low iodine diet today for my ct scan. Is there anyway we can move this process along with a sonogram to find out if its cancer n what kind? And what are the chances it is cancer? I believe the level was 0.01 . In addition my right side liver area has been killing me for months. I had a kidney stone removed rt side but this is the liver area hurting. I am so sick and have no energy, blisters n sores all over me, hair falling out. Can you forward the information to that dr in North Carolina to me. I'm told there are only two in my area. If this is cancer I want the best dr. I've also been told I have two options one- take the radioactive iodine tx Two- just skip that part n remove the thyroid. This has been said even before any biopsy results. What should this be telling me? Please help and advise if you can Thanks Debbie

I understand your concern, usually thyroid cancer does not effect your thyroid hormone levels, however when your thyroid is not doing exactly as it should the best thing to do is to "kill" the thyroid or get rid of it all together. If you opt for the total thyroidectomy you may still have to undergo the radioactive iodine treatment, this is to make sure that all the thyroid tissue is killed and once you have your thyroid removed your hormone levels will be controlled by medication. My sister had Hashimoto's disease which caused hypothyroidism and with that she also had her thyroid removed and did the radioactive iodine treatment. I had thyroid cancer and just had my thyroid and masses removed 11 days ago and in a few weeks will undergo the radioactive iodine treatment.

Your best bet is to go on the low iodine diet, have your ct and wait for results, you can press your doctor to order a neck ultrasound to search for masses or goiters and if there are any over 1cm demand a biopsy to rule out thyroid cancer. Luckily thyroid cancer does not spread fast, and the prognosis is very good even for older patients. Please don't scar yourself too much. I know that results like this and feeling so horrible can be overwhelming. Please let me know if you would like to talk more- I am here for you.

I am 42 years old. In December of 2006, I had the right side of my thyroid removed and a tumor was found. Two day s later the left side was removed but it was all dried up and not functioning at all. The pathology report came back diagnosing me with papillary carcinoma. I had RAI treatment and then a Pet Scan. All was well until, May of 2007, when my thyroglobulin test can back elevated. In July, I had a CAT scan and more blood tests. The cancer was in my lymph nodes. I had a biopsy. Cancer was in 2 cervical lymph nodes. In August of 2007, I had a total neck dissection. A few weeks later, I had another RAI treatment. I went back for my Pet Scan and again all was well. I did not do what I should have done and go to all of my follow-up appointments. I let my busy life take over. I did have my thyroid levels checked once of twice since then but nothing else. On top of not keeping up with my follow-up appointments, my oncologist committed suicide. So here it is June 2013, I have been having trouble........symptoms of hypothyroid for 8 or 9 months now, so I finally go to the doctor, a new doctor of course. He decides to do bloodwork and also does a basic physical exam after talking to me for 30 minutes of so...................He finds a lump in my neck. He calls it a goiter and says that he will have to have an ultrasound of my neck. I went back for the ultrasound a few days later. The ultrasound technician said that she did she "tissue". She can not tell me what she thinks it is or what it might be. Now I have to wait a week for my blood tests results and my ultrasound results. I am very uneasy and do not know what to think. The next week is going to be long...having to wait to find out all my results. If anybody has any input please let me know. Thanks

brother it is in ur gene! so, we can`t do anything. body is made up of billions of cells... if u kill all the cancer cells with radiation or chemo or surgery... if single cell remains in ur body can damages other cells... brother recently my frnd also diagnosed with thyroid cancer.. from many days we are panic.. its hurting.. only thing is to ask forgiveness from Jesus Christ.. He is the genetic engineer... just ask Him with faith.. pray all the time.. leave this earthly thoughts... spend all the time in prayers and studying Word of Jesus.. God heals you soon. god bless you my dear..

First time I've seen a dead person write a post!!! A big part of cancer treatment is attitude - - and yours needs to change. You are not already dead!!! Try to work on finding the positives and take it one day at a time.

The disease is very dreadful, so without wasting time, You should go for Immunotherapy.It is very effective in cancer treatment. It is painless and no side effects and also has higher success rate.