More than 1 surgery?

ak432
ak432 Member Posts: 1
in Thyroid Cancer #1
Hello I am wondering if anybody has heard of a similar scenario or can comment on the below:

basically after undergoing the surgery, the patient has recieved 2 rounds of radioactive iodine treatment, there are still some cells in the neck area, and the doctor has advised that the area where they are located does not respond well to the radioactive treatment and has advised for a 2nd surgery to remove some skin tissue.

any feedback is much appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

Comments

  • luvmygirls
    luvmygirls Member Posts: 6
    #2
    My husband age 47 has had 5
    My husband age 47 has had 5 reoccurances, and 3 different rounds of I-131. He can no longer have any more radiation, so now when a tumor occurs we resort to surgery. He was diagnosed 14 years ago and is now in stage 4. Just last week he was also diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma, a secondary cancer that is not related to the papillary carcinoma. Then to sum that up, our 2 daughters ages 16 and 13 have unfortunately inherited the thyroid cancer. Our 16 yr old had surgery last June and followed in July with the I-131. Her last body scan showed uptake in the neck bed, upper chest and right arm pit. Hopefully th I-131 will continue to heal her, she is due another body scan in June. Our 13 yr old was diagnosed in Jan. 2011...she will have a total thyroidectomy in June. Regarding my husband, the doctors told him a few yrs ago that the I-131 didn't work for him either, or they didn't give him a high enough dose 13 yrs ago. From my understanding, it needs to be hit hard and aggressive the first go round. Hope you do well!
  • nasher
    nasher Member Posts: 505 Member
    #3
    luvmygirls said:

    My husband age 47 has had 5
    My husband age 47 has had 5 reoccurances, and 3 different rounds of I-131. He can no longer have any more radiation, so now when a tumor occurs we resort to surgery. He was diagnosed 14 years ago and is now in stage 4. Just last week he was also diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma, a secondary cancer that is not related to the papillary carcinoma. Then to sum that up, our 2 daughters ages 16 and 13 have unfortunately inherited the thyroid cancer. Our 16 yr old had surgery last June and followed in July with the I-131. Her last body scan showed uptake in the neck bed, upper chest and right arm pit. Hopefully th I-131 will continue to heal her, she is due another body scan in June. Our 13 yr old was diagnosed in Jan. 2011...she will have a total thyroidectomy in June. Regarding my husband, the doctors told him a few yrs ago that the I-131 didn't work for him either, or they didn't give him a high enough dose 13 yrs ago. From my understanding, it needs to be hit hard and aggressive the first go round. Hope you do well!

    when they gave me my RAI
    when they gave me my RAI treatment after I convinced them that I really shoud have it and together we decided that 175mCI of RAI.

    I dont know how big a dose they gave your husband or 16 year old but you might want to talk about makeing sure your younger daughter gets a big dose since the thyroid tissue your husband and mabey your daughter is more resistant to RAI.

    also make sure that you talk to nuclear medicine doctors and express all your concerns and take charge of the treatment.

    good luck and keep us informed

    Craig
  • sunnyaz
    sunnyaz Member Posts: 582
    #4
    RAI usually will uptake
    RAI usually will uptake everywhere, including other body parts, unless the patient didn't go on the Low Iodine Diet two weeks before to starve the cells of iodine. Or, they didn't get enough RAI. First dose was 83.3 mCi's. Didn't kill all of the cells. My second dose was 178.3 mCi's. Radical? Yes, but it killed the cells even though I have a B-RAF mutation gene. Second surgery could risk paralysis to the vocal cords if not preformed carefully and depending on where the tissue is.

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