Becky - Re: Help - Lung mets???

[Guest guest]

Hi, Becky -

I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this!

1) Lung mets aren't common, but unfortunately, they're not rare, either. In

fact, lung and bone are generally the first places distant thyca mets show up.

In my lay experience, it does seem unusual to

have them show up so soon after initial diagnosis and initial treatment, but

your experience seems to confirm protocols calling for high doses of RAI even in

the apparent absence of mets with low scanning

doses.

2) You definitely won't be getting any more RAI now; it wouldn't do any good,

since your thyroid cells are already saturated from last week's dose.

3) I can't answer the question about a PET scan. CT scans and chest x-rays are

usually the tools for following lung mets, although there seems to be a lot of

variation as to what shows up on which tests.

Some lung mets show up only on chest x-rays, while some never do. Some show up

only on CT scan, and again, some don't. Then again, some only show up after

treatment doses of RAI. Lung mets are

particularly stubborn, but the encouraging news is that most are eventually

gotten rid of with RAI.

Marilyn's lung mets took several treatments, but she has now had several clean

scans. OTOH, Gail has had known mets in her lungs for 30 years; they are

resistant to iodine, but seem to be dormant (ie:

they're not growing).

Of course you and your husband are concerned about this, and it would have been

helpful if the radiologist had stuck around to talk to you after the scan.

Good luck, and please let us know what the doctors say tomorrow.

NYC

" bstout122000 " wrote:

> Hello! I need your help, please! I just took my second treatment of

> RAI, this time 150 mCi (last time it was just 100 mCi). I went in on

> Friday for the usual post-treatment WBS (10 days post RAI) and this

> time there showed uptake in the lungs along with the new tumor in the

> thyroid area. When I had my TT, 3 lymph nodes were removed, but no

> other mets showed up. I'm only 8 months past my TT and initial

> ablation dose, and I'm in shock over this new uptake.

>

> Questions: 1. Is this rare? 2. What does this mean? Will I need

> more RAI or will the doc make me wait for 6 more months to see if

> this dose will get rid of it? 3. Should I push for a PET scan now

> to see what this is all about?

>

> My husband and I are very concerned about this new development and of

> course, we learned about this on Friday afternoon, so no doctors were

> around to tell us more.

>

> THANK YOU!!!

>

> Becky S.