Residual Thyroid Tissue

patrickandjenna
patrickandjenna Member Posts: 3
edited March 2014 in Thyroid Cancer #1
Hi, I am a young wife and mom going through my first round of thyrogen injections/body scans, etc. to check on how effective treatment was.
I'm wondering if anyone has had residual thyroid tissue show up during a follow-up body scan? I panicked when I saw it on the screen but the Nuclear Med doctor didn't seem concerned by it at all because my initial thyroglobulin numbers have come back low, undetectable the last time. However, those numbers were all taken while my levels were suppressed. We are currently awaiting the results for my thyroglobulin levels and will go from there. If the numbers come back 'normal', I'm guessing they won't do anything....but I still hate knowing that there is anything left in there after surgery and treatment. Any thoughts? Thank you...I really don't want to go through surgery and/or treatment again but would rather do that and know that it is ALL gone!

Jenna

Comments

  • nasher
    nasher Member Posts: 505 Member
    #2
    i am assumeing that you have
    i am assumeing that you have had radiation treatment or such after thyroid removal.

    i am waiting for my 1 year point to find out how effective the radiation treatment is and to set up a baseline for my thyroglobulin levels hopeing to be undetectable or such.

    after just surgery yes you will have some left

    after radiation you might have some (from what i hear) but they will use that to set a baseline to see if anything is increaing.. from what they told me.

    hope more people have better answers but i just gave what i understand about it all

    good luck
  • MoMomsa
    MoMomsa Member Posts: 16
    #3
    I also had residue left after RAI. They measured it and then sent me on my way saying--the RAI will kill it whether it's cancer or not. So, ok, we'll go with that, however they are watching my numbers to make sure everything is cool. I had stage 1 papillary. This was 8 months after Stage 1 Ovarian cancer.
    So hang in there and just stay on top of everything. Make sure you get all your paperwork from each visit, so you can see and look back on any changes. Right now they are working on the correct synthroid for me....they keep lowering it because of heart palps and put me on beta blockers. :)
    Blessings!
  • patrickandjenna
    patrickandjenna Member Posts: 3
    #4
    MoMomsa said:

    I also had residue left after RAI. They measured it and then sent me on my way saying--the RAI will kill it whether it's cancer or not. So, ok, we'll go with that, however they are watching my numbers to make sure everything is cool. I had stage 1 papillary. This was 8 months after Stage 1 Ovarian cancer.
    So hang in there and just stay on top of everything. Make sure you get all your paperwork from each visit, so you can see and look back on any changes. Right now they are working on the correct synthroid for me....they keep lowering it because of heart palps and put me on beta blockers. :)
    Blessings!

    update
    Thanks for your comments. Yes, I have already had surgery and RAI, over 9 months ago. My doctor called this week and said that my thyroglobulin levels went from .01 (suppressed) to .8 (not suppressed). She said that with the numbers still being low the tissue must be 'normal' and that I will not have to undergo any further treatment at this time. Yay! We will continue to monitor bloodwork and go from there.....I think I will forever be a little nervous as we continually get used to bad news but I hope to move forward as much as possible!

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