Guest guest Posted July 7, 2001 Report Share Posted July 7, 2001 Something just occurred to me and I wanted to ask this wise group about it. When you have a recurrence, let's say in your bones, or lungs or anywhere, " how " does your doc KNOW that the thyca cells ARE, in fact, CANCER. Do they do a bioposy on the mets? I thought my doctor said that it is just " assumed " that any mets thyca cells are cancer. But as I read the postings, it seems that some of you are certain that your mets is cancer. So, how do you KNOW? I'm just curious about this, that's all. --Chris pt 4/5/01; tt 4/9/01; RAI ablation in 2 weeks (7/23/01) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2001 Report Share Posted July 8, 2001 christine_stier@... wrote: > .... it seems that some of you are > certain that your mets is cancer. So, how do you KNOW? - This is one reason why it is generally good advice to have a TT and ablation, even if the surgeon is confident he or she has " gotten it all " . Once your scans are clean and your Tg level is undetectable, it is assumed that you have no remaining thyroid cells, healthy or otherwise. So if your Tg levels later rise, it may be assumed that it is a recurrence of thyca, since you have no healthy thyroid cells left to multiply. Thyca cells are particularly tiny, and may lurk undetected in the bloodstream for years, growing s-l-o-w-l-y, until one day they will create a mass large enough to be detected. (Also, by definition, " metastasis " refers only to malignant cells. I don't think you will ever find healthy thyroid cells anywhere but in the thyroid bed.) This is why thyca is never really considered " cured " ; unlike most cancers, it can return as easily in twenty years as in two. On the other hand, this is also why thyca is considered the, um, " good cancer " ; because it is slow growing and usually continues to take up iodine, with lifelong vigilance, any recurrence may be detected and treated promptly. I hope I haven't confused the issue more :-\ - NYC (TT 2/99 dx pap/foll; RAI 100 mCi 3/99 & 4/00; current TSH ~.06 on .225 levothyroxine) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2001 Report Share Posted July 8, 2001 christine_stier@... wrote: > .... it seems that some of you are > certain that your mets is cancer. So, how do you KNOW? - This is one reason why it is generally good advice to have a TT and ablation, even if the surgeon is confident he or she has " gotten it all " . Once your scans are clean and your Tg level is undetectable, it is assumed that you have no remaining thyroid cells, healthy or otherwise. So if your Tg levels later rise, it may be assumed that it is a recurrence of thyca, since you have no healthy thyroid cells left to multiply. Thyca cells are particularly tiny, and may lurk undetected in the bloodstream for years, growing s-l-o-w-l-y, until one day they will create a mass large enough to be detected. (Also, by definition, " metastasis " refers only to malignant cells. I don't think you will ever find healthy thyroid cells anywhere but in the thyroid bed.) This is why thyca is never really considered " cured " ; unlike most cancers, it can return as easily in twenty years as in two. On the other hand, this is also why thyca is considered the, um, " good cancer " ; because it is slow growing and usually continues to take up iodine, with lifelong vigilance, any recurrence may be detected and treated promptly. I hope I haven't confused the issue more :-\ - NYC (TT 2/99 dx pap/foll; RAI 100 mCi 3/99 & 4/00; current TSH ~.06 on .225 levothyroxine) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2001 Report Share Posted July 8, 2001 Don't you ever go to bed???? It's too late to be writing e-mail....get some sleep! (I'm up late waiting for my husband to come home from a trip and thought I'd check messages). :-) Marilyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2001 Report Share Posted July 8, 2001 Don't you ever go to bed???? It's too late to be writing e-mail....get some sleep! (I'm up late waiting for my husband to come home from a trip and thought I'd check messages). :-) Marilyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2001 Report Share Posted July 8, 2001 > Don't you ever go to bed???? It's too late to be writing e- mail....get > some sleep! (I'm up late waiting for my husband to come home from a > trip and thought I'd check messages). :-)> Marilyn I wish I COULD get some sleep. I'm starting to understand why you all refer to this as hypo " HELL " ! I'm in my 5th week of going hypo for RAI ablation scheduled for 2 weeks from now-July 23rd. I just took my last lovely dose of Cytomel and tomorrow I start the LID. My microwave oven decided to stop working today and I have almost no groceries in the house. I honestly don't know how I'm going to get through this. I was doing pretty well until about 5 days ago. I must be getting very hypo, but I still have to wait until the 23rd because the isolation room at the hospital is booked up. My head feels so dizzy and even loading the washing machine makes my heart pound very fast. And this has also thrown my sleep schedule off track -- so I'll be hanging out here at all times of the day and night... ;o) --Chris tt 4/9/01; papillary w/ follicular var RAI scheduled for 7/23/01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2001 Report Share Posted July 8, 2001 > Don't you ever go to bed???? It's too late to be writing e- mail....get > some sleep! (I'm up late waiting for my husband to come home from a > trip and thought I'd check messages). :-)> Marilyn I wish I COULD get some sleep. I'm starting to understand why you all refer to this as hypo " HELL " ! I'm in my 5th week of going hypo for RAI ablation scheduled for 2 weeks from now-July 23rd. I just took my last lovely dose of Cytomel and tomorrow I start the LID. My microwave oven decided to stop working today and I have almost no groceries in the house. I honestly don't know how I'm going to get through this. I was doing pretty well until about 5 days ago. I must be getting very hypo, but I still have to wait until the 23rd because the isolation room at the hospital is booked up. My head feels so dizzy and even loading the washing machine makes my heart pound very fast. And this has also thrown my sleep schedule off track -- so I'll be hanging out here at all times of the day and night... ;o) --Chris tt 4/9/01; papillary w/ follicular var RAI scheduled for 7/23/01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2001 Report Share Posted July 8, 2001 > Don't you ever go to bed???? It's too late to be writing e- mail....get > some sleep! (I'm up late waiting for my husband to come home from a > trip and thought I'd check messages). :-)> Marilyn I wish I COULD get some sleep. I'm starting to understand why you all refer to this as hypo " HELL " ! I'm in my 5th week of going hypo for RAI ablation scheduled for 2 weeks from now-July 23rd. I just took my last lovely dose of Cytomel and tomorrow I start the LID. My microwave oven decided to stop working today and I have almost no groceries in the house. I honestly don't know how I'm going to get through this. I was doing pretty well until about 5 days ago. I must be getting very hypo, but I still have to wait until the 23rd because the isolation room at the hospital is booked up. My head feels so dizzy and even loading the washing machine makes my heart pound very fast. And this has also thrown my sleep schedule off track -- so I'll be hanging out here at all times of the day and night... ;o) --Chris tt 4/9/01; papillary w/ follicular var RAI scheduled for 7/23/01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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