Tara etc:
I had my meeting with Dr. Fagin at MSKCC and had all of my research clarified.
First, I had my WBS and thyroglobulins in May and everything is clear. So I am now considered "cancer free" or 'in remission". Yahoo!!!
Second, this is what I found out about tall cell. Like I had mentioned earlier, it is very hard to diagnose and treat. Once you have 2 WBS's that are negative (done annually and not sooner), you can span the scanning out to 2 years or more. He told me that since I had the negative scan in May with the thyroglobulins also being undetectable that my chance of recurrence was less than 10%. This is great news as there is no guarantee with anything, so it could come back sooner or later but at least i know that my stats wend down from the original 30-40%. So the next step is neck ultrasound in July and labs (TSH and thyroglob in Sept) then every 3-4 months after that for the next year.
3. I will always be nervous with every scan and every lab test but that is part of being a "cancer patient". Though I do feel much better right now about being on "this side of the curtain". As i think you already know, I am a nurse and worked in oncology, specializing in head and neck cancer for 10 years before moving to my current position. It is definitely easier said than done as I did not know the horrible feeling of waiting to get the results (although, my benefit was that since I work in the hospital where all my doctors are, I am able to see my results before they do).
I hope this helps you and everyone else. I continue to check the site so if you have any other questions, please let me know.
Blessings to everyone,
Robin