Papillary Carcinoma/Thyroidectomy
 

Thyroid Cancer....Papillary Cancer...The Most Common Thyroid Cancer.

With a 4.6cm mass in the left lobe of my thyroid, and an inconclusive fine needle aspiration biopsy, some are beginning to believe I might suffer from this and will probably need to have it removed.

Anyone else been through this?

Apparently I will require medication for the rest of my life.

-bear

Well, my thyroid is out and pathology confirms papillary carcinoma.

I'll try and update this thread with my thoughts and experiences of having my neck sliced open, a gland removed, general anesthesia, and intubation. All of which, all in all were rather unpleasant.

Next step radioactive iodine....should happen in a few weeks.

Sweet, huh? ;-)

What a year!

:)

-bear

Sorry to hear that friend. The important thing is they caught it early and it didn't spread. Lifetime medication will probably be synthetic thyroid hormone (Synthroid being the most common brand name) and it's not to big a deal. Once you get setup with the right dose, one little pill 30 min before breakfast in the morning and you're set.

To look at a bright side,

Thyroid cancer is one of the least agressive and most easily treated cancers.

Once the treatment is done, its more or less just a pill a day and routine check ups and bloodwork.

No picnic, but coulda been much worse.

Good luck to ya

My mom had her thyroid pulled, too, although not for cancer, so she's on sinthroid. Be ready for changes in your metabolism since that's a big part of what the thyroid manages.
Good Luck.