An Update, Finally...

Sorry for not posting anything in such a long time.  Life, work and laziness got the best of me...

It's now been 10 weeks (10 WEEKS!!!) since the surgery.  Tanya is continuing to heal; the scar is getting better, her calcium levels have stabilized, her voice is back to normal, and she is feeling pretty good overall.  It took longer than expected to get the calcium levels to get back to normal (low-normal, but still normal).  She has been going in weekly to get her calcium and PTH (para-thyroid hormone) levels checked, but hopefully that is now over.

At the suggestion of Dr. Hsieh, Tanya has been going to Physical therapy to work on her neck and right shoulder.  Thanks to those appointments and the exercises she is doing at home she is starting to regain the strength and movement she had pre-surgery.

We have finally gotten to the point of setting the date for the radioactive iodine (I-131 or radioiodine) treatment.  We are currently planning for February 15th.  There is a lot to do before the treatment, including a low-iodine diet and some lab work.  The low-iodine diet starts on Monday, and lasts until 3-4 days after treatment.  That makes it about 2 1/2 weeks on it.  Luckily we found a cookbook from ThyCa (Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association).  It doesn't look terrible, just bland.

We did get good news in that Tanya will be able to get the Thyrogen injections prior to the I-131 treatment.  This means that she doesn't need to go off of her thyroid meds (Levothyroxine), which will make her more comfortable.  We were not sure until this week if she would even be able to get it, as it has been back-ordered for over a year.  We will go in to Dr. Kimmel's (the Endocrinologist) office on the Monday and Tuesday before the I-131 treatment for one injection each day.


I'll post more info shortly.  I promise...  Really! :)

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. :)

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.

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.

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.

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.