I was thinking about some of the little things that come along with having survived thyroid cancer - like never being warm enough - shop I did a Google search looking for information on it. I wanted to see if others are still as frozen to the bone as their waiting for radioactive iodine days. Because I am. I found ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
Not a word. I started looking for other thyroid specific things, and found nothing about thyroid cancer. There isn't much out there, even on the thyca website.
Then, I started thinking about the people going through treatment with nobody to talk to about it. I remember finding some support on general cancer websites, but hardly anyone knows about thyroid cancer.
Here are a few facts, in case you're one of the people who don't know:
1. There are three kinds.
Anaplastic, fastest spreading. Frequently lethal and difficult to treat.
Medullary, moderate spread in most people. Thought to have a genetic component. Harder to treat and more lethal than papillary.
Papillary, slow spreading except in children. Aggressive in children. Normally very easy to treat, most survivable cancer there is. Often pops back up again later on and is treated as a chronic health condition.
2. Thyroid cancer is quite common.
3. Treatment often involves total removal of the thyroid gland, total thyroidectomy.
4. Total thyroidectomy results in lifelong thyroid symptoms.
5. After total thyroidectomy, thyroid hormone MUST be taken daily for life - going off of it will eventually kill you.
6. Both papillary and medullary can come back as anaplastic.
Moving on, I've made a new goal. I want to create a forum especially for thyroid cancer. Survivors can swap war stories and find support for constantly suffering from hypothyroid symptoms, and the newly diagnosed can find support and answers. This. Needs. To. Happen. Well, my arm hurts from lactic acid buildup. That's a strange hypothyroid thing. There are lots.
