Yvonne - Re: So many questions....

[Guest guest]

Hi, Yvonne -

Welcome to the group. Or, rather, welcome to your first posting :-)

> 1. Does anyone else have the experience of having a benign FNA and

> then found they had thyca? I'm beginning to be concerned that the

> year between the benign FNA and cancer diagnosis was too long. And

> could pap cancer grow that quickly? I thought it was supposed to be

> slow growing.

This isn't all that uncommon. We've had quite a few members with benign FNA

results, who turned out to have thyca. Even more common is to have

inconclusive FNA results.

Even if the FNA was inaccurate, the year between it and your surgery shouldn't

make all that much of a difference. What was your Tg at the time of your

follow up scan? What about TgAb?

Papillary thyroid cancer is generally slow growing, and there are all sorts of

explanations for a recurrence so soon (if that's what it turns out to be).

Actually, if this new lump is cancer, it's more

likely not to be a recurrence, but a spot of thyca that didn't show up on the

scan.

> 2. Is it possible that I had thyca mets in nodes when I had the TT

> back in Aug 02, even though they looked normal to the eye? Could

> thyca spread within 6 months?

I think this is the question I just answered above - I think it's more likely to

be something that was missed the first time around.

> 3. I think I'm probably way off base, but wonder if there's any way

> thyca would have spread to my bones that quickly, 6 months since

> surgery? Crazy, right.

Extremely unlikely.

> 4. My doctor checked my Tg levels last week, but I haven't gotten

> the results yet. My TSH is sufficiently suppressed on first 150,

> then 137 mcg of Levoxyl. I'm now on 125 because I keep having

> these " spells " of weakness, heavy breathing, shaky feeling, sweating

> that my endo thinks may mean my dose needs to be regulated.

It sounds like hyper symptoms. What was your TSH on those other doses?

> 5. What does the follicular variant type of cancer mean?

Briefly, follicular variant of papillary is papillary thyroid cancer which

either totally or partly follows the follicular pattern, but whose cells are, in

fact, papillary. It is generally treated in the

same way, and is considered to have the same survival rate (which is to say

extremely high), as straight papillary. For a more lengthy explanation, see

Dr. Ain's letter at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Thyca/message/12696

> 6. Can Papillary cancer be fast growing?

It can be, yes.

But not often.

Hurthle cell variant of papillary is one example of an aggressive papillary

thyca.

BTW - if the pain in your shoulder and

> Even if I don't get answers to my questions, I'll be ok.

Oh, sure! NOW you say that :-)

I hope these answers help.

NYC

ybwright50 wrote:

> Hello Everyone,

>

> I'm new to posting on this list but subscribe and have learned so

> much from you all. I visited for the first time when I was diagnosed

> with thyca in Aug 02. I came back last week when I found a swollen

> (small) lymph node on the right side of my neck (the same side where

> my cancerous nodule was located). I have some questions that I know

> I can get answered here, at least I sure hope so. Where to begin...

>

> I located a lump on the right side of my neck around the same time I

> started having numbness, dizziness, loss of balance symptoms. I

> started on the journey of dianostic tests during the summer of 2001.

> I was eventually diagnosed with MS in Nov 01, but just prior to that

> I was told I had a nodule in the right lobe of my thyroid. I had a

> negative FNA in Oct 01. And I know my endo got samples from all over

> my thyroid, even fluid from the fluid filled center of the nodule.

> Results were benign and we decided to keep an eye on it and give me a

> chance to get adjusted to having MS and taking weekly injections for

> that.

>

> During the summer of 2002 I noticed that the lump was getting bigger

> (a little over 2 cm I believe) so my endo said, it's got to come

> out. I had a TT on Aug 29, 2002 and found out 3 days later that I

> had papillary w/ follicular variant thyca. The cancer had left the

> nodule and invaded the thyroid, but the cancer had not spread beyond

> the thyroid. I had a benign nodule in the left lobe. My surgeon

> said my lymph nodes looked fine.

>

> I had RAI in Sept 02, with a scan that showed a little uptake in the

> neck, which I was told was expected.

>

> At my 6 month check up with my endo, I told her about the swollen

> node. She said it didn't feel troubling and was very mobile. If it

> is still there in a month, she wants to biopsy it, of course if the

> Tg levels are high, we'll she'll do something sooner. I also told

> her about pain in my collar bone - on the right side - and pain in my

> left shoulder that prevents me from raising my arm above my head. Of

> course, she doesn't see a link to the pain to thyca.

>

> What are my questions: .....