Hurthle Cell Carcinoma

On July 2 I had a partial
On July 2 I had a partial thyroidectomy for a large nodule on the right lobe. It tested positive for Hurthle Cell Carcinoma. On July 16, the surgeon removed the rest of the thyroid and some lymph nodes. I will get those reports at my post-op visit on Wednesday. After that, I guess it's back to the endocrinologist to see what's next.

post-op
At my post-op visit, the surgeon reported no cancer in the left lobe. He removed an enlarged parathyroid gland; no lymph nodes. No invasion to blood vessels. Sounds good so far; still waiting to hear from the endocrinologist for a follow-up appointment and the next step. I'm still feeling quite sluggish after the surgery; or maybe it's the cytomel.

hurthle cell cancer
Yes, I have hurthle cell cancer. I just found out yesterday after the pathology report from a total thyroidectomy came back (due to hurthle cell adenomas). This is shocking, scary news. Please, tell me your story and I will share mine, though my journey has just begun.....

pfmerriell said:

I am just a little bit ahead
I am just a little bit ahead of you in terms of treatment. And I'm still in the "can't quite believe this is happening" stage. I have always been very healthy - hardly ever even get a cold; never had any surgeries, etc. So, this is quite a shock. On top of that, my business partner and very good friend was diagnosed just a year ago with terminal lung cancer.

I had my thyroid removed in two surgeries, July 2 and July 16. After going off the thyroid replacement and going on a low iodine diet, I will have my radioactive iodine treatment Sept 8. I hope to know a lot more after Monday when I see my endocrinologist. A good friend is going with me and we are preparing a long list of questions.

I wish I had more to tell you. Right now I'm feeling pretty good. My energy level is high, but I'm having a lot of trouble sleeping.
I am on cytomel twice a day. I am worried that the radio-iodine doesn't always work with Hurthle Cell; and worried about the side effects of the treatment.

my story...
Thanks for filling me in on your situation. I am sorry to hear about it, but I must say it makes me feel a little better knowing that I am not alone out there. I hope that's not coming across as rude, I don't mean to be... I just need someone to talk to who is in my boat. I am guessing you are a female? I am a 38 year old mother of three.... I didn't even know that I had any nodules- my primary care doctor suspected problems with my thyroid... then onto sonograms, FNA's, total thyroidectomy, cancer.... it is just unreal. I just began synthroid yesterday. What is cytomel? Is it a form of thyroid hormone or is it the med. that keeps you from getting such severe symptoms prior to the radioactive iodine treatment? The info. out there on our type of cancer and the iodine treatment makes me nervous- I just want to be told for sure that after the iodine, the cancer will be gone but obviously that won't happen- the waiting and wondering are frightening. You are like a week or two ahead of me- my iodine treatment is Sept 18th. I just saw the endo. yesterday, but I didn't have even a single question because I was so stunned. Please let me know what you find out when you and your friend go, and I will keep you posted on anything I hear. Where are you? I live in MD. Also, I am sorry about the run-on paragraphs.... my enter key doesn't work and trust me, that is a pain in the butt! Good luck and thank you for listening

pfmerriell said:

Good morning.
I am a 58 year
Good morning.
I am a 58 year old divorced mother of two grown sons. My younger son returned to the nest after college, but he's moving out Sep 1 (glory, hallelujah). My older son lives in Columbus, Ohio very close to all my doctors and the hospital. I live about 2 hours south in Athens, Ohio. My boys have been great, though I think a little scared for me. I worry about what this means for them.

I'll keep you posted about what I find out tomorrow. Hang in there.

I forgot to tell you about
I forgot to tell you about cytomel. It's a thyroid replacement hormone, but just T3, I think. My understanding is that it's easier to come off cytomel prior to the radio-iodine treatment.

Hurthle cell
Yes, I am new and I am here! I have been posting if you're interested in my story. I am interested in yours.... hint, hint .

Hi
I wish you well with the doctor's appointment tomorrow, and I hope to hear from you. Thanks for the tip on the website- going to check it out right now. Good luck.

pfmerriell said:

Visit with my endocrinologist
My friend and I drove up this morning and it went very well. The doctor is very smart and was patient while I went through all my papers with all my questions. He clarified the radio-iodine procedure and i feel much better about what's going on.

Because I am over 45 and nodule was 4.5 cm and seems to be contained to the thyroid at this time, I am Stage 2.

The results of my blood work showed by T3 level was still too high, so the doc has reduced by dosage again to 12.5 mcg twice day.

I will go off the cytomel Aug 19; start the low iodine diet Aug 28; have blood work Sep 2.

On Sep 8, I will have a dose of I-123; the next morning I have the uptake scan and another dose of I-123; the next day I have a whole body scan. Then the 11th, I have the dose of I-131. Over that weekend I will need to be somewhat isolated. The 14th I start the Synthroid and resume a normal diet. The 18th, I have another whole body scan.

I'm hoping I can get through the hypothyroid period without too much of a reaction; I really don't have time to be that tired. But we'll just have to se how it goes.

I've been pleased with my care so far.

I am glad you had all of
I am glad you had all of your questions answered and are in capable hands. Stage 2 is good- caught early! :P) I am guessing you work full-time? Nursing school is very demanding, with clinicals that can be anywhere up to 2 hours away, so I am going to run into some trouble, too with the whole fatigue thing. Not to metnion weight gain- I am already overweight as it is. I have contacted the professors about being radioactive and haven't heard back yet- I hope we can work something out so I can graduate with the class I started with. So does the endo. sound pretty confident about the radioactive iodine treatment?

pfmerriell said:

The endo didn't sound one
The endo didn't sound one way or the other about the treatment. It seems that we won't really know until the scans to see where I light up.

Yes, I work full time and then some. I am a real estate Broker and co-owner of my company. My business partner was diagnosed with Stage 4 incurable lung cancer last summer. So, I have been managing the company while he has been in treatment and traveling when he can. So this has hit us really hard. But we got great news yesterday after his recent scan. They didn't find any cancer in the mass in his lung, so he seems to be in a kind of remission. He had been having chemo every 3 weeks, but now won't have another for 8 weeks.
It's nice to have some good news for a change.

Try not to worry too much about your nursing classes/clinicals. It's hard work and I hope you're professors will work with you. Take care.

I am sorry to hear about
I am sorry to hear about your business partner... life doesn't ever ask us what we want. Lung cancer is a devastating blow... A friend of mine has breast cancer and just underwent a mastectomy AND a hysterectomy at the same time. She is doing GREAT and has taken on a positive attitude. At first she was negative and angry- she pushed past the anger and has now taken on a "how can I help my healing" attitude. How are your partner's spirits?
I think it's the best thing that we keep busy and keep pushing through the side-effects rather than let the side-effects beat us. It won't be easy, of course, but it's better to keep life as normal as possible. I was assuming that the scan will be the real answer as to what we really have going on inside. That, too, is a little scary. I will pray that neither of us have very much "lighting up".]- wouldn't it be great to hear that there is NO LIGHT and you don't need any more treatment!!!! Wishful thinking.......

Nocaliman said:

A little ahead of you guys
Hi guys,

My name is Chris. I'm a 49yo male. I was diagnosed with hurthle cell in mid June. My story is about the same as yours.....lump in thyroid felt by my ENT, CAT scan verified, FNA came back as Hurthle cell, told it was a VERY small chance it was cancer, had a nuke scan that came up cold, partial thyroidectomy of the affected lobe, came back from path for Hurthle cell carcinoma with some papalary in it. Also got MRSA (an added bonus!)One week later back in for the other lobe removed & some lynph nodes at the same time. Had a small spot of begnin hurthle cell in the other lobe but that was it. I did have a small spot of Papilary carcinoma in one lymph node which my endo said was VERY unusual but he wasn't that concerned about it. Went off meds, went hypothyroid, went on low iodine diet, and had I131 treatment on the 26th of Aug. Still in partial seclusion, but at least I'm back on my meds which is a relief!! I would love to keep in touch with you guys as we are a very small group. Seems like everyone has alot of Q's......as do I.

Dear Chris,
Have you had a
Dear Chris,
Have you had a post treatment whole body scan? Is that part of your protocol? Does anyone communicate with you as the treatment happens? or do you have to wait to see your endo?
Just the not knowing the procedure us unnerving.
And going hypo doesn't seem to cure the insomnia. I'm having lots of trouble sleeping at night.
Thanks for posting.
Pat