Husband just had his total thyroid removed. Found out the tumor is papillary and small, but lymph nodes have cancer. He has to wait till the first of the year to do the radioactive iodine then a week later he does a body scan. I'm scaried to death to wait so long for the body scan. This waiting in llimbo is making me crazy. I think his age seems to be a factor, he's 58. I'm very concerned what will follow...............
2006-12-06 03:33:09 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Cancer
Hi. I am the mother of a vibrant 15 yr. old girl that also has thyroid cancer. She was dx in July with papillary thyroid cancer with a follicular variant. First of all, please visit www.thyca.org and take plenty of time to read through everything. Be very careful getting info. on the Internet, as it is often misleading & false. Just to compare time lines, my daughter had 2 surgeries in July and did nto have the radioactive iodine tx and body scan until October. She also had some lymph nodes removed in her 2nd surgery. It is okay to wait for the scan & the RAI. Now, you don't want to wait years or anything, but it is not uncommon to wait anywhere from 6 weeks to 4 months. Let me also tell you that pap. thyca. is very very treatable! Visit that website and gather info. for you and your husband. I wish you the best of luck on your thyca journey. Stay strong and take care.
2006-12-06 06:10:12 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I had the same thing happen to me 12 months ago including spead to several lymph nodes (I'm 40) so let me tell you that you should calm down - your husband still has a good prognosis. I've had two rounds of radioiodine in the last 12 months and my doctors say I'm now clear of any disease.
I have to say that there was quite a lot of post operative neck pain for which I had to take some quite stong analgesics for about a month, so be prepared to ask for pain relief.
The radioiodine treatment is painless, though the requirement for isolation can be a bit difficult to deal with. I was in an isolated roon for 5 days on my first treatment as I had a young son at home. With hindsight I would have preferred to make alternative arrangments for my son and gotten out of the hospital quicker (whch is what i did for the second round of treatment 6 months after the first).
The removal of thyroid hormone replacement prior to the radioiodine treatment can make one feel very lousy and lethargic, but, if your employer allows you sufficient time off work then this can be manageable without too much stress.
After the radioiodine treatment it may take a while to get your husband on the right thyroid replacement regime so be prepared for that.
Otherwise, if the treatment works out as it did for me then your husband can expect a normal life expectancy thereafter (whatever that may be!!).
Good luck with the treament and don't let it spoil your Christmas holidays. Let your husband have a few extra drinks over the holidays if the analgesics are wearing off - he has a good excuse.
2006-12-08 08:58:28 · answer #2 · answered by Andrew 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
im a 20 year previous guy with thyroid issues, I actual have alot of the comparable symptoms as you. all i can assert is that in case you do have thyroid maximum cancers it particularly is between the main treatable varieties of maximum cancers around. yet to me it doesnt sound like maximum cancers. only take a deep breath, relax, and luxuriate in existence.
2016-10-14 03:37:54 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2006-12-06 03:52:37 · answer #4 · answered by tmthyh 4 · 0⤊ 4⤋