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The message was posted by Diane Grandinetti, one of the thyca

facilitators. Enjoy!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tina,

I think I understand where you are coming from, which is why this

group has such an importance. Here are my rambling thoughts back.

We are the kind of the square pegs of the cancer world. Our treatment

for follicular and papillary is different (assuming it responds to

radiation) so we don't fit into the support groups of the rest of the

cancers. Our prognosis is very good for the most part, assuming we get

good treatment on the front end, and get an early diagnosis.

I don't think of myself as a " cancer survivor " either. I don't define

myself around my cancer, and most of the time don't think of myself as

" dodging a bullet " , even though I probably did. I don't characterize

myself as a victim, or weak, or even exceptionally strong as in

" overcoming all odds " . I don't feel like I am a hero because I got

sick, and then well.

But I never - never -think this isn't serious. I remember meeting a

friend's father who had been treated for thyroid cancer years ago, and

then never bothered to go back again to have follow up. He was lucky

in that he hasn't suffered any subsequent problems, and he had the

audacity to question me as to " why in hell " we " needed a support group

for such a micky mouse disease!? " I passed this comment along to the

on-line group, and was soundly met with information on why a support

group was needed - and hence- the Southern California group was born.

The first person to respond to me was a man named Hal. He was about

the same age as my friend's father. His story was extremely different.

He had received treatment, but it insufficient, and it was late. By

the time he got the right treatment from informed doctors, he had

already lost a lot in the way of quality of life. He struggled with

complications from this disease a long time before he passed away.

So- yes, you have earned the right to run as a cancer survivor. The

folks who have a tougher time of it or didn't get the right treatment

on time can't run, so run for them. This disease has a better

prognosis for many of us than a lot of other cancers, but there is

nothing GOOD about it. There is nothing good about having organs

removed through surgery. There is nothing good about swallowing

radiation -whether or not your hair falls out or stays in. There is

nothing good about having to take time off of work because you are too

hypo to drive, or you have a job where your decisions may mean the

difference between life or death for someone.

Through running- you bring more attention to the disease, and spread

the word that the right treatment, early enough, can make a

difference. It is not a contest over who suffers more from their

cancer. You have been through a lot. It really doesn't matter whether

you suffered more or less than the person running next to you, the

point is you were tough and did what you had to do to get it treated,

and you were also lucky enough to have the type that was treatable.

Because of all of that, you are still able to run and tell others

about it. With enough publicity, maybe the next person won't ignore

that lump on their neck as long, and will get it checked out before

it's too late to treat.

But are we luckier than most with a diagnosis of cancer? For many of

us- undoubtably - yes. Should we appreciate that we have RAI going in

our favor? Of course! Thank our lucky stars that we have the

treatments that we have! Yes, appreciate what we have. But I have

talked to too many people who didn't have the right treatment, or got

the treatment too late, or just were unlucky enough to have that rare

stubborn case. I've talked to people who 6 months after treatment

cannot speak above a whisper or are breathing through a tube because

of a slip in surgery from an inexperienced doctor. I've talked to

people who lost their job over too much time off for radiation. I've

talked to people who spent nights in the emergency room because of

parathryroid damage. Most of these people, would have made different

decisions if they had it to do over again, or if they had known

someone else with this disease that they could have talked to first to

make those decisions easier.

Nope - I would never ever think of this as not a serious disease.

My thoughts are- appreciate what you have, but also appreciate what

you have been through, and don't minimalize it. Realize that not

everyone's treatment goes as well. Run for you - and run for them.

Run Tina, Run! Hope to meet you in October!

Diane (dx papillary'98- LosAngeles)

> I'm happy to accept help from anyone, but I'm guessing will

> probably be the one who can help me out here.

>

> Way back in the first half of 2002, someone posted a message... Tina,

> I think... about hestitating to run the survivor's lap in the relay

> for life, because of the way non-ThyCans act about ThyCa. Someone

> else, whose name I can't remember, replied with a beautiful,

> inspiring response. I've been trying to find this message, but the

> search on Yahoo groups is NOT working worth a darn. I stumbled across

> it earlier, but I've lost it again. I wanted to contact the author of

> it, and ask her if she would mind if I post it on my website.

>

> Can anybody help me out???

>

>

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