There I was, chatting away with an online friend who works for an ISP. She was helping me to solve a problem for one of our members here at the boards. We always trade jokes back and forth and seem to have equally bent senses of humor.
This morning, I’m online and she pops up in an IM. Bad effing news! She’s got thyroid cancer! If any of you have information on treatments or websites related to this issue, would you please send them to me here at this thread or via email. I would be most grateful and it would surely help to calm my friend a little since she just got the news.
I apologize if this seems to be yet another “Oprahfication” of the boards, but this is a good person with two daughters that is probably scared out of her mind right now. I’m hoping that some accurate information can help her through what is obviously a rough patch here.
Thank you in advance for any help that any of you might render.
Chris
You might try posting this over on the Fathom board at [url=“http://fff.fathom.org/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi”]http://fff.fathom.org/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi on either the SDMB Haven or I.C.U. Forum.
I believe that the specialty of SUEp Du Jour (who used to post, here, as MajorMD) is endocrinology. She won’t give diagnoses or treatments on the Board, but she can supply a lot of good general information along with places to find more.
I really appreciate all of you sharing the distilled knowledge that I seek. All of the respondents, feel free to post requests at my recipe thread. I promise that I’ll do my best for you.
As to the 25 views with no replies, that’s probably because of your title. People who have no clue about thyroid cancer (like myself) see a title “Kapow”, and wonder what the thread’s about. We then wander in, see it’s about something we can’t answer, and wander back out. I do have sympathy for you and your friend, I just can’t do much to help.
If you want, I could change the thread title for you… Let me know if that’s the case.
Try MEDLINEplus - Thyroid Cancer Page. I found this among many pages after doing a search on the National Institute of Health’s website (www.nih.gov). There looks to be a wealth of information there.
Laymans understanding.
A close personal friend of mine has had thyroid cancer and recovered. Depending on the type and progession of the thyroid cancer (there are a few apparently) it is among the most successfully treatable of cancers partially because they can use radioactive iodine to highlight the uptake regions and blast these sections very accurately with radiation, and pretty much precisely blow out the cancer (and the thyroid). You have to take meds for the rest of your life to replace the hormones the thyroid produced but it’s better than the alternative.
As I am sure you’ve picked up from the links, there are several distinct subtypes of thyroid cancer each with a different prognosis. So, your friend needs to know the histology of the tumor. Presumably, her physician will share this (better damn well do so!).
In any case, it’s also worth pointing out that if you look hard enough, you’ll find thyroid cancer in about 25% of apparently healthy young people. This is fair proof that the majority of thyroid cancers are almost “benign”. And it also raises the issue of how your friend’s thyroid cancer manifested itself. If the thyroid was excised for another reason, and there happened to be a microscopic focus of cancer, she probably doesn’t have to worry at all (I don’t mean to sound patronizing, but that’s the truth).
I just wanted to share my friend’s feelings with all of you. Also to say, once more,
Thank You,
Chris
PS: If you have some good and bent humor, please email it to me and I’ll forward it to my friend.
Her Email To Me
Thank your friends for me. I printed this out.
It’s alot to deal with and knowing I have support helps more than I can say.
I have faith in God, and today is the Jewish New Year.
I time of reflection and rebirth of one’s self.
I’m heading out to the Dr. this morning for a summary of my “options”.
Then for a drive through the Canyon.