blood test

jdunn
jdunn Member Posts: 4
in Thyroid Cancer #1
So I had thyroid cancer about 10 years ago and only been seen by my GP. So she sent me to an endo and he did my blood work and sent me for a scan. I picked up a copy of my blood results because I really do not understand my condition at all and feel like it is overdue for me to get some understanding. The endo will not be back in office until Monday and nurse is not willing to explain the results. They are as folling: TSH 38.920/ T4 FREE .68 AND THYROGLOBULIN 8.6. Is there anyone out there that understands what this means. I have been feeling really out of whack lately... Thanks Jan

Comments

  • alapah
    alapah Member Posts: 287
    #2
    Labs
    Were those labs done under the influence of any drug such as thyrogen? If the numbers represent your everyday situation i am not surprised tht you feel bad. You really should be under the regular care of an endo who knows thyroid cancer. It is so important to be working with a doctor who is very familiar with thyca and current methods for monitoring and treating it.

    Your TSH is really high, even for the average person. The normal range is 0.3 to 3 (or 0.5 to 5 depending on who you talk to). Your number is that of someone who is hypothyroid, who has an underactive thyroid. this would make you feel sluggish, tired, foggy, etc. A thyroid cancer patient should be monitored rregularly and have meds adjusted to keep the TSH low. In higher risk cases, an endo usually elects to keep tha patient at very low levels, in an effort to suppress thryoid tissue activity and thus cancer growth. For example, my TSH is kept at 0.3. The level of your synthroid/levothyroxine may need to be adjusted periodically to ensure that that TSH is kept low.

    Free t4 is a measure of the available processed hormone in your system. I think the normal range for free t4 is something like 0.7 to 2.

    Thyroglobulin is only produced by thyroid cells. The goal of surgery and RAI is to remove and kill off any remaining thryoid cells so ideally a cancer patient will want a tg of zero. If it is more thqn zero, thyroid cells remain and those cells coild be cancerous although the presence of tg cannot tell you if theris cancer or not, just thqt thyroid cells remain. You may need a scan using RAI or a PET scan to see if they can determine the source of your thyroglobulin.

    Theree is some really great info about labs and ,much more at the thyroid cancer survivor site: www.thyca.org
    Best to you Jan
    Eileen
  • jdunn
    jdunn Member Posts: 4
    #3
    alapah said:

    Labs
    Were those labs done under the influence of any drug such as thyrogen? If the numbers represent your everyday situation i am not surprised tht you feel bad. You really should be under the regular care of an endo who knows thyroid cancer. It is so important to be working with a doctor who is very familiar with thyca and current methods for monitoring and treating it.

    Your TSH is really high, even for the average person. The normal range is 0.3 to 3 (or 0.5 to 5 depending on who you talk to). Your number is that of someone who is hypothyroid, who has an underactive thyroid. this would make you feel sluggish, tired, foggy, etc. A thyroid cancer patient should be monitored rregularly and have meds adjusted to keep the TSH low. In higher risk cases, an endo usually elects to keep tha patient at very low levels, in an effort to suppress thryoid tissue activity and thus cancer growth. For example, my TSH is kept at 0.3. The level of your synthroid/levothyroxine may need to be adjusted periodically to ensure that that TSH is kept low.

    Free t4 is a measure of the available processed hormone in your system. I think the normal range for free t4 is something like 0.7 to 2.

    Thyroglobulin is only produced by thyroid cells. The goal of surgery and RAI is to remove and kill off any remaining thryoid cells so ideally a cancer patient will want a tg of zero. If it is more thqn zero, thyroid cells remain and those cells coild be cancerous although the presence of tg cannot tell you if theris cancer or not, just thqt thyroid cells remain. You may need a scan using RAI or a PET scan to see if they can determine the source of your thyroglobulin.

    Theree is some really great info about labs and ,much more at the thyroid cancer survivor site: www.thyca.org
    Best to you Jan
    Eileen

    test
    I do feel so tired and I have lost weight so I thought that is strange. Since having thy cancer, I have done nothing but gain weight. I went by and picked up the ultrasound today. It says that they are lymph nodes (3) and they have the pics of them. It is sore and tender to the touch so could I just be sick or something?
    I am now trying educate myself and have been on the site thyca.org. It has been very helpful.
    Thanks Eileen
    Jan

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