Your opinions, please...

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

I would like to get some opinions from you all about whether or not

I'm just being " overly sensitive " towards my therapist comments

regarding my newly diagnosed thyca-3.8 cm papillary with follicular

variant. I've been in therapy with the same therapist (actually a

psychiatrist) for the past 7 years due to some post trauma and

depression due to childhood abuse. My therapist has always been very

supportive towards me and I have experienced a great deal of healing

under his care; however, ever since I was diagnosed with thyca 2

weeks ago after a having a partial, then a completion thyroidectomy,

he has not wanted to talk about my having cancer with me.

I have weekly 1-hour sessions with him and we also do some email

therapy. At first I thought it was just my imagination that he was

avoiding the topic, but whenever I confronted him (gently) via an e-

mail message today, this is what he said to me:

" I guess I was relieved from what little I've heard about the path

report - that your cancer was encapsulated rather than invasive....

Otherwise I would probably have been MUCH more focused on

your " having cancer. " My position right now is that,

hopefully, " curing " your cancer has basically been done by a surgical

technique and that all the rest(radiation, Radioactive I 131, etc),

are all just more or less trivial annoyances. "

I am new to all this, so please, somebody correct me if I'm wrong,

but isn't having thyca considered " having cancer? " He seemed to be

implying that thyca is not considered to be " in the same league " as

having other kinds of cancer or cancer that metastasizes. Is he

right? And is thyca really " cured " once you have a total

thyroidectomy? And is Radioactive I 131 therapy a " trivial

annyoyance " like he described it to be?

Like I said, I'm just asking because I am struggling right now with

trying to comprehend my diagnosis. Do I " REALLY " have cancer? or not?

--Chris