Well it's been 1 year and 3 months since the surgery. My endo finally got approval for me to go in for an ultrasound to check the area where the mass was previously.
In the letter I received from the Endo dated Oct 6, 2014
I have reviewed the results of your tests and the results indicate:
The follow-up CT of your neck showed that the previously noted nodules near your trachea and sub-clavicle are no longer present.
Recommendations:
Continue you .650 Synthroid dose as discussed at your previous appointment.
Follow-up at Endocrinology Clinic in December.
I'm slightly amused by this letter. I pretty much knew that the CT scan would be clean as it's just been a little over a year. I am asymptomatic still. The surgeon felt that a CT scan would be a waste of time and money until the 2 year mark because of the cancer being a slow grower and it having taken 16 years to grow back the 2nd time. He was more interested in having a PET scan done.
PET scan is another topic of irritation. As that will probably never happen as I'm out of appeals for it and I've already had one 15 years ago therefore am supposedly ineligible even though I fall into the 1% group who has the cancer come back. Something that no one mentions at the time your originally going through all the diagnoses and treatment planning.
Will it come back in 15-16 years? Or is it lurking in some other spot where I've got something off that the doctor's can't seem to put a finger on? I don't know other than time will eventually tell. I know that the surgeon is concerned that it could be lurking else where but then he was stunned by how much he had to remove and where it was located especially since he figured it was "scar tissue" and not cancer. Yes, I lived up the bit of a nasty shock for him rep that I have.
The medical team is still concerned even though they are cautiously optimistic that I've beaten it for a 2nd time and can celebrate my 1 year 3 month +7 day cancer free anniversary with their blessing. There are still the rumbles and whispers over the lack of staging this time. So they are being super cautious about not getting my hopes up too high especially since I'm still extremely hypothyroid although there's been a bit of improvement and I'm "almost" in a normalish range which I've not been for a long time. Hey at least I'm out of the triple digits and down into the teens. That's progress.
So why the caution well cause the pathologist still won't budge on staging the cancer based just on the mass that was removed and sent in. Now I'm torn between being peeved with him for being a complete idiot and being disappointed with a tiny bit of peeved and some sympathy for him being a stickler for following the rules. After all it's not his fault that there was an exception to the rule made for him to follow. Recap for those who are new to the saga or to refresh those who remember it faintly from a year ago. I missed getting staged this time on the cancer because the surgeon didn't remove the thyroid and send it in with the mass. The surgeon didn't remove the thyroid to send in not because of incompetence which the pathologist claims but because he simply couldn't remove what wasn't there. He couldn't do it cause it had been removed originally 11 days shy of 17 year when the first surgery was done and I was first diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
I'm glad there was nothing showing on the ultrasound as it confirms my faith in the surgeon to have done his job fully. Yes, I know I had faith in the original surgeon to have done the same and that was shaken but then I've learned things about the original surgeon that I made me question stuff and got confirmed with this surgeon. So until something like that repeats and hopefully it doesn't. I'm standing on having faith in him.
So any ways that's the most recent update on the thyroid saga. Next one
will probably be in December after I make it back to the Endo clinic for
a follow up.
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