Confused

cbosarge
cbosarge Member Posts: 5
edited March 2014 in Thyroid Cancer #1
I was diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Cancer in Jan 2006. Since I have had 2 surgeries and a very high dosage of I-131 to rid the cancer. I had this treatment in March 2006. In Sept. I had a body scan that had uptake in the neck area. My doctor says it is too soon to committ to cancer recurrance, that this uptake me just be residual thyroid tissue left that wasn't killed by the treatment. I am very confused on this situation. The Dr. says we will watch this for the next 6 months. My fear is what if this is cancer. He says in 3 months we will do an ultrasound and run other test and in 6 months we will do another body scan. My thyroglobulin is not at 0. I have not had a clear scan or 0 thyro count. My dr says there is not another dr that would do anything about this at this point. He says no Dr will treat me again with I-131 until 1 year after my first dose. Please help, any advice would be appreciated. Also I have family and friends wanting me to go to MD Anderson and see what they will do or say about my situation.

Thanks to all who are here. You are all a great inspiration to me. I have read everyone's web page and many of the discussions. It took me a while to post to the site, but just reading your postings helped me thru my hard times. It is so nice to come to this site and know you are going to get complete understanding from someone, because you have gone thru it and do truly understand. Thanks for being so concerned, caring compassionate and understanding.

Cat

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • tcbuds
    tcbuds Member Posts: 4
    #3
    Dear Confused,

    Yes, I would agree with you about going to M D Anderson for further consultation. However; you can not have another RAI within the first year. That much is true. Tg level of 2 and under is good from what I am studying. RAI works in your body for one year and it is not uncommon for Tg to be detectable for a while. But, the trend should be going down. That is the good progression. Be patient. This is very difficult I understand. I had my TT is June of 2004 and my Tg was at 14 and going up in April 2005. So, I knew that something was going on. I had a very thorough neck ultrasound with FNA by a very competent doctor. The FNA biopsy revealed elevated Tg in lymph nodes. An MRI revealed something suspicious in my collar bone area. The CT/PET scan and I-123 full body scan revealed nothing. But, the thorough u/s and FNA with pathology revealed recurrence. I was able to take the u/s and doctors report to my surgeon who could see exactly where the cancerous nodes were so that he could perform a very thorough surgery. My Tg is now <0.5 which is undetectable! My first clean report in two years. The first two-three years are imperative to be aggressive in conquering this. It would be ok to wait another 6 months to have anothe Tg to see what the trend is. That is what you need to know........the trend of your Tg. Then, if it continues upward, that would be the time to take action. I hope that this helps........

    tcbuds
  • litman25
    litman25 Member Posts: 7
    #4
    I can sure relate to your confussion. I don't know another person in the world that has had thyroid cancer. I had my removed in May 05. I did the I131 and have had scans. Last month I was told after one of my scans that my Tg came back at a 2 then a 20. Concern? Now what? They did a PT scan everything was fine. The Oncologist thinks its residual thyroid tissue that we either go back in or radiation again. I noticed in your email you were being pushed to going to MD Anderson. Does this mean you live in TX area? I live in the DFW area and have also been researching options for more information/help.

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