Thyroid Cancer

[concernedgirly]

Hi I had a total thyroidectomy 12 weeks ago due to Graves disease. At my post op I was told that they found a tumour that was malignant. It was fairly small but had breached the thyroid and possibly spread to lymph nodes and nearby tissue.

Since then I have had an ultrasound and the consultant is happy that there are no lymph nodes involved and now I am waiting to find out if I need RAI.

I feel like Im not coping well, everyone says its the good cancer and I feel guilty for feeling like I do. I haven't been back to work since my surgery Im not sure if I will be able to cope.

Anyone else had thyroid cancer?

Oh yes, feeling guilty for feeling freaked out, because it's the good cancer. I felt like that. Intellectually I knew damn well it was the least bad cancer to get. I work in the NHS, so anyone I told at work was "At least it's the least bad cancer to get"... But my emotions were doing "OMG! It's cancer! I've got cancer!" rapidly followed by "I have no right to feel like that, not when there are lots of people with proper scary cancers!" You're allowed to be freaked out. You weren't expecting this. And cancer is a bloody scary word. You're perfectly entitled to need time and space to adjust. And then you can focus on kicking its arse.

I'd be very surprised if you didn't need radioiodine. It honestly isn't a big deal. I found the hardest thing was sticking to a low iodine diet for the days in the run up. Being in isolation for a few days was tedious, but manageable. No real side effects from the radioiodine itself. Though the hospital food was so bland I was glad I'd taken snacks!

You might find www.butterfly.org.uk/ useful - I used it for info when it happened to me.

It sounds like you need to talk to someone. I think the support groups such as McMillan and Maggies centres are still available on the phone, why don't you give them a try?

I was diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer last year. I had a TT and one round of RAI. RAI is very uneventful, basically you sit in a room in isolation for 3 days, had very few side effects. RAI is usually decided upon the size if your tumour, I my case I had 2 which were 5.5 cm and 3.5 cm I also had 22 lymph nodes which contained cancer.

In the current climate I am aware that RAI has been suspended in most hospitals, I was told it should be done within 6 months of the operation.
Good luck .