New Member, A Few Questions ....

My wife was recently diagnosed with hashimotos, hypothyroidism, and then .... papillary thyroid cancer.  We traveled to Johns Hopkins and had an excellent experience.  Her thyroid was removed and the surgeon said if he left anything behind it was "maybe a few cells".  There was no evidence of lymph node involvement (several were biopsied beforehand and a few enlarged nodes were removed and tested) perimeter of the thyroid was healthy.  She had two cancerous nodules, both about 1.5 cm in size and both on the left side of her thyroid.  Our endocrinologist said that he is on the fence (leaning towards) whether or not the RAI treatment is necessary.  She is 40 years old, which is good, the nodules were under 2 cm, which is good, but it is multifocal - 2 nodules.  He said if she had 3 nodules, it would be a no-brainer, and if she only had only 1 nodule, he would advise against RAI.  He said some endocrinologist would probably strongly reccomend it, and others would strongly advise against it.  As I said, he could go either way.  My wife and I are trying to make the decision.  Our reservation of doing the RAI treatment is the increased risk of salivary gland, breast and GI cancer.  Any feedback (personal experience, knowledge of statsistics on prognosis with vs. without treatment etc ....) would be helpful.  Thanks.

David 

 

Hi there!  Sorry you had to join us here.  Your wifes experience sounds pretty similar to mine.  I had only one nodual, that is the difference.  However, my endo was "on the fence" on RAI for me too.  He said the same thing as yours.  Some would recomend it and some would not.  So, he left it up tp me.  After thinking about it for all of about a minute, I decided to do it.  It makes it alot easier to monitor blood levels,  which is very important to test for any reacurance.  Also, as far as other cancers, your wife, like me, will probably have a pretty low dose, which does not increase the chances of getting other cancers.  You have to have alot of RAI for that to happen.  In the end, I am glad I did it.  It is just a little reasurance for me that all the cancer is gone.  After she does the original treatment, she will have a scan that will show any left over thyroid tissue, or any cancer that may have got left behind.  Then she will have a tracer dose once and a while and have the scan again.  It is really the best way to detect any reacurance.  It is a hard decision, I know.  Good luck with what ever you decide, Skylog

For what it's worth, I agree with Skylog.   Have you considered a second opinion from an oncologist who might have knowledge of the statistics of other cancers caused by the RAI?  I had an RAI dose of 150----very similar situation as your are describing.  I had 'tall cell' papillary--2 nodules and one was 2 cm.  This board is an excellent source of information and I appreciate people helping other people by sharing their experiences.  Let us know what you do.  Best of luck.   Tara