Continuing To Heal

Tanya is continuing to get her strength back and to heal.  The 'steri-strips' that covered the incision have come off so we can see where the doctors worked their magic. It looks really good, better than I could have hoped it would.  I am calling it Tanya's battle scar.  Also Tanya's calcium levels are looking better.  She has to go in for more blood work tomorrow to get it checked again.  Hopefully it will be closer to normal by then.

I can't believe it's been over two weeks since she had the surgery. I also can't believe that my time off of work is coming to an end. I am so grateful to all of my coworkers who filled in for me while I was taking care of the family (you know who you are).

Later this week we have our first post-surgery appointment with the Endocrinologist. Hopefully we will find out when the next step in treatment will happen.

Pathology Report: They Got It

Last Tuesday we had follow-up appointments with Tanya's Surgeons, Dr. Lee and Dr. Hsieh.  Both Surgeons told us that they received the pathology reports from the tissue removed during the procedure.  We were also told us that the results while sounding scary were good.  Nineteen (19) of the twenty-three (23) lymph nodes removed had cancer, which appears to be not that unusual for thyroid cancer.  The report showed that there were clear margins around all the cancerous tissue, so it looks like they got it all.  Tanya will still need radioactive iodine treatment to nuke any of the microscopic cancer remnants that might be left.  We were also told that this was in Stage 1, also really great news.

Parathyroid, Calcium Levels and Blood Tests

We were told that during the surgery it was possible that Dr. Lee might remove one or more parathyroid glands in addition to the thyroid, but that this was common and the parathyroid glands would be reimplanted into the muscle in Tanya's neck.  This did happen.  The parathyroid maintains the calcium levels in the blood, among other things, and we knew that Tanya's calcium level might be a little off for a few days.  When we were discharged on Saturday, the discharge slip contained orders for the blood work for Monday to get the calcium levels checked, and for the results to be sent STAT (within 4 hours) to Tanya's Endocrinologist (Dr. Kimmel) and Dr. Lee.  That should be no issue, right?

When we went to the lab where we have had other work done, they told us that they couldn't take the discharge slip as an order for the STAT blood tests. In addition they couldn't seem to be able to fax the request for the blood work to the Dr. Kimmel's office (tried twice) and couldn't find the Dr. Lee or her office in their system.  The lab did draw Tanya's blood, but wouldn't do any tests on it without the order.  I finally talked to the Dr. Kimmel's office and got them to fax the request to the lab.  This whole process took close to 4 hours.  We found out the next morning that the Dr. Kimmel's office still hadn't received all of the results they needed...

Homecoming

Tanya was released from the hospital after lunch on Saturday. She was kept Friday night due to her calcium levels being low, which is normal in this type of surgery. The test on Saturday showed that the levels were going up, so they said she could come home.

This coming week will include more blood tests and some follow-up appointments with her surgeons and Endocrinologist.

Thank you to everyone who has followed Tanya's journey so far, and have sent their positive thoughts, prayers, and wishes. We have definitely felt them.

Resting Comfortably

Tanya is resting comfortably.  She thanks everyone for all of their good thoughts and wishes.  We don't yet know when she will come home, but should know more tomorrow.

Tanya 1 : cancer 0

That's it cancer, you are out of here. Thyroid is removed along with the lymph nodes on the right side of the neck. Tanya is in recovery now and I hope to see her soon; I can't wait. :)

Long Day

Wake Up at 4:00 AM
Say bye to Zachary at 4:55 AM
Leave for Hospital at 5:00 AM
Check into Hospital at 5:30 AM
wait
wait
wait
wait
Surgery starts at 7:40 AM
wait
wait
wait...

One More Day...

The day we never thought would get here is a day away. I can't be it's been over 2 months since Tanya's diagnosis. Thank you to all of those who have sent email, notes, good thoughts, or who have just kept checking this blog. It all means a lot to us.

Sorry that I haven't posted anything in a while.  Nothing much going on besides waiting, and that's not really interesting to read about.  Tomorrow will be a really long day, but I will update as I can.

Comments

I just realized that I was limiting the ability to add comments, so I have opened the comments to anyone who wants to make them.

The Surgery Date Is Set...

The office of Tanya's primary surgeon (Dr. Lee) has let us know that November 17th is the day.  Tanya is slated for surgery at 7:30 AM (we get to arrive at 5:30 AM).  It is further out than we had hoped, but at least it is now scheduled.

Spleen Ultrasound Results

We heard back from Dr. Lee (Tanya's surgeon) this afternoon with the results of the spleen ultrasound, and it is good news! The spot that Dr. Lee saw on Tanya's spleen from the chest CT appears to be a cyst, and nothing that needs to be worried about right now. We will have it looked at again in 6 months to see if anything has changed. For now it is one less thing to worry about.

An Interesting Article

We came across this article, 'Talking to someone with cancer', in the USA Weekend today. It's an interesting read.

Courage

Courage is looking fear right in the eye and saying, “Get the hell out of my way, I’ve got things to do.” 
- Author Unknown

Still Waiting...

We are still waiting to hear back on the results of the Spleen Ultrasound that Tanya had on Thursday. We hope to find out the results early this week, and also get confirmation on the date for surgery. I will post more as soon as I know more.

ENT Appointment (Dr. Hsieh)

Had our appointment with Dr. Hsieh today.  He confirmed that he has been in contact with Dr. Lee and that the two of them will assist each other in performing the thyroidectomy and modified neck dissection.  He also did a laryngoscopy to look at Tanya's throat and vocal chords.  The laryngoscopy wasn't as bad as either Tanya or I imagined (but still not all that fun), and only took a few minutes.

He will now coordinate with Dr. Lee to set a time for the surgery...  Hope to have an update on that soon.

Spleen Ultrasound

Finally heard back about setting up the spleen ultrasound.  It's scheduled for Thursday morning.

Ear Nose and Throat (Dr. Hsieh)

Heard back from Dr. Lee's office this afternoon with information on which Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist they want Tanya to see.  Looks like it's Dr. Hsieh (pronounced Shay).  Dr. Lee has talked with Dr. Hsieh and he knows Tanya's history.  Tanya was able to schedule an appointment for Tuesday morning.  Sounds like he will do a laryngoscopy and maybe a biopsy as well.

We are still waiting on when and where the spleen ultrasound will take place.

Still waiting

We hope to hear today about which Ear Nose and Throat specialist Tanya will see.  We got a call from one yesterday and Tanya set up an appointment, but then heard back from Dr. Lee's office regarding seeing someone else.  Hope to have the confusion cleared up today.

We also learned yesterday that Dr. Lee has requested a Ultrasound of Tanya's spleen...  Waiting to hear when this will take place as well.

The CT and Waiting...

We got the CT scan done last Tuesday (October 2), which Tanya said was much better than the MRI (only 15 minutes compared to the 45 minutes for the MRI and with a lot less noise). We then had to wait until last Friday (October 7) to meet with Dr. Lee again to get the results. That was the longest few days in history.


At our appointment we learned that as far as the radiologist and the doctors could determine, the cancer had NOT moved into the lung. What they saw was a granuloma, probably from an infection in the past. I think Tanya and I both breathed for the first time in a few days at that news.


Dr. Lee then told us that the CT scan showed something on Tanya's spleen... She said that she hadn't researched a lot on that, but that she wasn't aware of thyroid cancer moving to the spleen. She is going to do some more research, and may have Tanya do another CT to see more detail. Hopeful a biopsy will not be required...


Dr. Lee also told us that she was talking with an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist who would handle the neck dissection (Dr. Lee will do the thyroidectomy and assist the other surgeon with the neck). Once she determined who she wants to work with, she will provide us the information so that we can setup an appointment with him.  Hopefully this will be the last appointment before setting a date for surgery.

The Endocrinologist (Dr. Kimmel)

At our appointment with the Endocrinologist (Dr. Kimmel) , we were told more information about the thyroid in general and thyroid cancer specifically. Things like:

• There are usually no symptoms
• If you are going to get cancer this is the one to get
• This is generally something you die with, not of (we really like this one!)
• Post-surgery treatment of radioactive iodine (more about that later).

Dr. Kimmel also mentioned that while reviewing the chest x-ray she noticed a shadow on the lung, and requested Tanya get a CT of her chest. We were told that it is not uncommon for thyroid cancer to move to the lung, so Dr. Kimmel wanted to get a CT scan for a more detailed look. Needless to say we were even more terrified upon hearing about this.

The Diagnosis (Dr. Wight & Dr. Lee)

This is a lot of information, so I will apologize in advance for going into so much detail. In addition to sharing this with those who are interested, I am trying to document the entire process.

A few months ago Tanya found a lump in her neck. When it didn’t go away on its own, she saw her doctor (Dr. Wight), who said it was an enlarged lymph node and suggested waiting a few weeks to see if the issue resolved itself. When it didn’t, Tanya went back in and was referred to a surgeon (Dr. Lee). Dr. Lee recommended removing the lymph node, and the beginning of September Tanya had surgery; shortly after we received the diagnosis.

Dr. Lee told us that the prognosis for this type of cancer is good, but that Tanya's thyroid would need to be removed, in addition to some lymph nodes in her neck (the latter is called a neck dissection). She requested that Tanya have some tests performed: a chest x-ray, a MRI of her neck and blood work. She also referred us to an Endocrinologist.

Tanya has cancer

Metastatic Papillary Thyroid cancer to be specific.

Here is what we know as of now:

• There are usually no real symptoms of this type of cancer
• This is generally a highly treatable form of cancer 
• The survival rate is high (as Tanya’s Endocrinologist said “This is something you generally die with, not of”)
• Tanya will need surgery to remove her thyroid and will also have the lymph nodes on the right side of her neck removed
• Tanya will undergo radioactive iodine treatment at some point shortly after the surgery
• This cancer does not generally require chemotherapy or radiation