Hi
Had my first appointment with the surgeon today, my tt will be on June 8th. Now I understand that I have papillary, which I understand is the most curable. (I can't say good cancer there is no good cancer if you ask me, and I hate when people say that) Anyway, the doctor, who I know is very good, and I definitely do want to use him, said that he believes it has spread to my lymphnodes, and he has to remove the infected ones, and biopsy them. Now if this is not an aggresive type, how did it spread to my lymphnodes. This does make me nervous. But he also told me surgery and the RAI will cure me. I guess I was a bit surprised to hear that we went from a 2 hour surgery to a 4-5 hour surgery. Am I being rediculous?
Cindy
Hi, Cindy.
First of all,
:--)
Monday, June 8, the day you have your TT, is the day I have my second RAI treatment of 150 mCi. I'm a year and 4 months past my TT and a year and 3 months past my first ablation, which was also 150 mCi. I have gone down the well-traveled roads of research and prayer and have come from where you are (pre-surgery jitters) through a search for a good endo to where I am now--at peace with having a second RAI treatment. My docs don't consider my elevated Tg a recurrence--rather, persistent disease, which makes sense to me. The surgery and first ablation just didn't get it all the first time around. It happens.
I wanted to tell you a few things from first-hand experience to make you feel better and more hopeful about your journey:
1) My surgery was a breeze. Woke up the next morning full of energy, was driving 3 days later (could turn my head very well), and was back to normal in a very short time. Scar hardly noticeable at all.
2) RAI treatment, for me, wasn't all that eventful--even quite hypo (TSH >60), I only felt a little tired, and after the treatment, I lost my sense of taste for 4-5 weeks, but I hardly had any salivary gland issues at all (a few times I had soreness, which I massaged away). I considered these to be minor inconveniences.
3) You're not being ridiculous at all. This is the perfect place to ask questions and ask for support--no question is a dumb or ridiculous one.
4) I had lymph node spread, too, and having spread to lymph nodes doesn't negatively affect your prognosis.
5) Your surgeon *expecting* to find lymph node spread is actually a good thing--knowing that going into the surgery makes it more likely that your surgeon will be extra "definitive" about lymph node dissection (removal). My surgeon just took out the ones that looked suspicious, and all 5 he took out were malignant. I wish he'd removed more so we could have a better idea of the extent of lymph node spread, but that's not what happened. I've learned to accept this. You have the benefit of an experienced surgeon who is going into the surgery expecting to remove at least some lymph nodes. In my opinion, that's to your advantage.
Hope all this helps. Best of luck to you, Cindy! We're here if you need us!
Sincerely,
Lynn in Orange County, California
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