Papillary Thyroid Cancer, But In Pathalogy Report Thyroid Looks Normal

Hello,

I was diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid cancer and i had neck surgery to remove affected lympnodes (2+1). But my thyroid looks normal in pathalogy report. Does any one had this kind of experience? Is it possible that Thyroid looks normal with papillary thyroid cancer?

Thanks,

R

Hi, I had the same situation.  My thyroid levels were normal my whole life.  However I had a huge tumor in my lymph nod on the front of my neck.  The doctor described it to me like this.  Cancer is one cell out of 100's that desided to misbehave.  It then mutates and under microscope looks a lot like the Thyrod but actually doesn't function like one.  It kind of reminds me of a mirror image, it looks like one but it isn't.  Anyway, the mutation can grow and grow and invade other areas but your 99% of the other normal cells will do what they are saposse. 

It was a good thing to get the effected area removed asap.  I seat on a lump thinking it couldn't be that bad, and by the time I got it checked out (5 years later) it had invaded 13 out of 30 lymph nods and the right side of my neck.  I had to get all of my thyroid removed and all my nods on the right side.

Good luck and be greatful they got it out before it grew to much.

Thanks for your reply. I had my neck surgery and they removed Thyroid and around 25 lymph nodes. 2 lymph nodes from right side and 1 from under by chin got impacted. This week i am schduled for RAI scan and treatment.

Thanks,

R

I was in the same sitation, 30 lymph nods and all of my thyroid.  13 of the 30 were affected.  That was April 1st, but due to a "contrast CT" in March, I have to wait to get my RAI, until June.  Let me know how it goes.  I have to have a large enough dose that it will be administared in the hospital.  Suck on lots of sour candies and drink plenty of fluid.

Thanks,

 Angie

Hi, I had my contrast CT scan on March 25th. Do you think 8 Weeks is ok to go for RAI treatment? My Endo said it should be fine. But another Endo said, i may need additional two weeks... Pls share your experience.

Thanks.

That's interesting.  My Primary Care Doctor, my ENT doc, and my Endo, said 3 to 4 months.  I would just worry about wasting your money on a treatment that isn't effective because your Thyroid isn't starved enough. You could have gotten a CT that wasn't a contrast, so they wouldn't have used Iodine.  It wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion on this one.  I wouldn't want to waste the money on a treatment that is not going to work. 

My Endo, did a bunch of blood test last week, and i'll find out on May 14th, when I'll get my RAI.  I think one of the test shows how much Iodine is still in your system, but I'm really not sure.

Just re-read your message, sorry you did say contrast.  My mistake.

Angie

The only sure fire way to know if you ready or not is a 24 hour urine collection at the lab (its a pain) where they can measure your Iodine in your urine.  The complication with this is, it's only done at the Mayo Clinic somewhere far away, and it takes 2 to 3 weeks to get the results.  I would say thats pretty soon.  My level in my urine was like 248 and I wasn't restricted to LID for the test and my doc said she just wanted it under 400, so it was a go.