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I Survived Thyroid Cancer—but Dealing With the Side Effects Has Been Harder Than I Ever Imagined

Five years ago, I thought I was suffering from springtime allergies. My nose felt stuffy, and I was experiencing dull ear pain and pressure inside my ear canal—which I attributed to the fact that I was blowing my nose so much.

I also had a raspy voice, which I assumed was the result of postnasal drip. At the time, I was a busy single mom of a 6-year-old boy who worked in publishing and as an author. So I resorted to my usual OTC allergy meds, armed myself with tissues, and waited for my symptoms to pass. But a month later, I was still using nasal spray 24-7. Thankfully my yearly checkup with my internist was rounding the corner. At my appointment, my doctor examined my neck…

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Featured

 #checkyourneck

Stop what you're doing and #checkyourneck. Feel something? Say something, fast. Thyroid cancer strikes three women for every one guy, and it’s much more curable if you catch it early - Christine Coppa

 Thyroid Cancer Awareness: Check your Neck

According to the statistics, 80% of individuals diagnosed with thyroid cancer are women. In the past several years, it has become the number one cancer diagnosed in young Canadians. There are no known “causes” of thyroid cancer except for in individuals who have been directly exposed to a high level of radiation (not very common).

 Thyroid Cancer Rates Are Rising For An Infuriating Reason

The last four decades have witnessed an explosion of thyroid cancer diagnoses in the U.S. People are three times more likely to receive cancer diagnoses now than they were in 1975. Why? Is it chemicals in the water supply? A side effect of all those childhood vaccines? Or is it because a TV ad convinced people to ask their doctors to check their neck?

 Thyroid Cancer Rates Raise New Concerns

Two new studies pose questions about why thyroid cancer cases are on the rise and could prompt a shift in long-held thinking.

 Thyroid Cancer: When 'Watchful Waiting' Makes Sense

Watchful waiting may help many patients avoid surgery altogether, but some people may feel too anxious living with a cancer diagnosis and still decide that surgery is right for them. No matter what the patient chooses, it is vital for the entire team to support his or her decision.

Articles of Interest

7 Things You Need to Know About Thyroid Cancer

Thyroid nodules, or growths, are very common. 50-70 of postmenopausal females have nodules and even 20-30% of women in their 30s and 40s have nodules. However, most are benign and can be watched once discovered. However, 5-10% are cancerous and therefore, if you have a thyroid nodule, it should be examined with a screening ultrasound.

A Journey Through Thyroid Cancer

This is such a slow-growing, non-aggressive cancer that I need to wait until 2020 to be declared officially clean and clear. I’m not too happy about that, as it means a few more scans, which are very inconvenient, frustrating and annoying, and always have the possibility of bad news – return of cancer somewhere. I’m pretty excited to be done with it, and very optimistic and hopeful that I will never need another surgery or 131I treatment again. Keeping my fingers crossed…

An Epidemic of Thyroid Cancer?

The setting is South Korea, where, over the last two decades, the incidence of thyroid cancer has increased fifteenfold. Nowhere in the world is the rate of any cancer growing faster. We’ve all been taught to seek biological explanations for a significant rise in disease — perhaps a new infectious agent or environmental exposure. But in South Korea, we are seeing something different: an epidemic of diagnosis.

DJ Fresh Opens Up About Battle With Thyroid Cancer in Candid Facebook Post

So anyway. I found out a few weeks ago I had thyroid cancer. I didn't want to say anything because I've been told it's a bad idea to air anything that makes you look unstable in any way.

Flight attendants are more likely to get cancer than most, according to a new Harvard study

A new study published in the journal Environmental Health measured cancer rates among US airline-cabin crews relative to the overall American population and found a greater prevalence of cancer among flight attendants. Rates among flight attendants were especially high for breast, uterine, cervical, gastrointestinal, and thyroid cancer. There are a multitude of factors, and not one single reason for this cancer gap, according to the study.

Got a Thyroid Tumor? Most Should Be Left Alone.

How would we know if there’s an overdiagnosis problem? Simple, medical experts say. In a real cancer epidemic, deaths would increase in lock step with increasing incidence. But a rise in cancer cases while the death rate does not budge points to overdiagnosis. And that, sadly enough, is what has happened.

I See Life Differently After Thyroid Cancer

At the time I knew nothing about thyroid cancer. I knew I had a thyroid but didn’t really know what it did. We are told to check our skin for moles or for lumps in our breasts but no one ever talks about checking your neck.

Thyroid Cancer and Dancing with the Stars

Why the hell didn’t I check this eight months ago when my doctor told me to? Too busy, I guess. This feels like an irresponsible, stupid and lame excuse - Brooke Burke-Charvet

Why News About Thyroid Cancer Screening Doesn't Apply To Breast Cancer

To be sure, thyroid cancer can be lethal. This year some 63,000 people in the United States will find out they have thyroid cancer according to the National Cancer Institute. But fewer than 2,000 will die from it. The most common forms of thyroid “cancer” are essentially benign; although these growths are called tumors, they are unlikely to cause significant harm. Because the aggressive thyroid cancer types – occasional medullary or anaplastic forms – are rare, screening people without symptoms for thyroid cancer doesn’t make sense, nor is it feasible with extant technology.

Resources

Light of Life Foundation

The mission of the Light of Life Foundation (a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization) is to improve the quality of life of thyroid cancer patients through continual education of the lay public and the medical community, and by promoting research and development to improve thyroid cancer care.

ThyCa

Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association...support, education, and communication for thyroid cancer survivors, their families and friends. We also sponsor Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month, year-round awareness activities, and thyroid cancer research fundraising and research grants.

Head and Neck and Thyroid Cancer Institute

The Head and Neck and Thyroid Cancer Institute of Beth Israel in New York, New York, collaborates with The Institute for Reconstruction Sciences in Medicine in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the University of Turku and Turku University Hospital in Finland, and the University Medical Center Freiburg, Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Freiburg, Germany, by gathering data to improve patient diagnosis, treatment and care.

International Thyroid Oncology Group

The mission of the International Thyroid Oncology Group is to catalyze a cure for the most challenging thyroid cancers through the collaborative efforts of our unique multidisciplinary team of leading physicians, scientists, and advocates to design, coordinate, and prioritize state-of-the-art clinical trials and correlative science.

MyThyroid.com

Thyroid cancer generally presents as a nodule, lump, or mass in the thyroid. Less commonly, a swollen gland or lymph node in the neck may be the initial manifestation of the disease.

THANC Foundation

We are committed to supporting research and education in the early detection and treatment of thyroid and head and neck cancer, to advancing new therapies, and to alleviating the suffering and functional impairment of patients who undergo treatment.

The Christopher Murphy Foundation

The Christopher Murphy Foundation was created to raise money for head and neck cancer patients who need financial assistance with treatment. We hope to help some of the 40,000 individuals who are diagnosed with these cancers each year. The journey that led to the creation of the foundation started in September 2007, when I was given the great opportunity to work for The Los Angeles Country Club...

Thyroid Cancer Canada

Thyroid cancer is treated differently from other cancers. Even though they have cancer, thyroid cancer patients are not often treated in cancer centers, and do not have access to the same psychological and emotional support as other cancer patients. Our programming provides them with much-needed peer support, hope and encouragement.

Thyroid Cancer Center

Thyroid Cancer Specialist: Thousands of thyroid operations performed with more than 35 years experience.

Thyroid Disease Manager

The annual incidence of thyroid cancer varies considerably in different registries, ranging from 1.2-2.6 per 100,000 individuals in men and from 2.0-3.8 per 100,000 in women (106,107). It is particularly elevated in Iceland and Hawaii, being nearly two times higher than in North European countries, Canada and the USA.

Thyroid Foundation of Canada

The Thyroid Foundation of Canada is a non-profit registered volunteer organzation whose mission is to support thyroid patients across Canada through awareness, education, and research.

Cancer Connect

Understanding treatment options, accessing new and innovative therapies through clinical trials, as well as understanding the role of supportive care and complementary and alternative medicine are essential.

Cancer Research UK

This section is about thyroid cancer. It includes symptoms and causes, tests for thyroid cancer, treatment, living with thyroid cancer, and current research.

EndocrineWeb

There are about 20,000 new cases of thyroid cancer each year in the United States. Females are more likely to have thyroid cancer at a ratio of three to one. Thyroid cancer can occur in any age group, although it is most common after age 30 and its aggressiveness increases significantly in older patients.

Hypoparathyroidism Association

Hypoparathyroidism Association, Inc. is a voluntary, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with all forms of Hypoparathyroidism, a rare medical disorder, by maintaining a worldwide network of family support, and promoting public, as well as professional, awareness of this disorder through a quarterly newsletter and our website.

MedicineNet

Thyroid Cancer Symptoms and Warning Signs

National Cancer Institute

Information about thyroid cancer treatment, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and vaccine therapy

National Foundation for Cancer Research

The thyroid is a hormone-producing gland at the front of our neck (beneath the larynx). Usually, thyroid cells grow and divide, as the body needs them. Sometimes, this process goes awry, leading to the buildup of extra cells. While this buildup of extra cells often forms a benign mass, or nodule, occasionally these lumps can become cancerous. Any new lumps on your thyroid should be brought to your doctor’s attention.

Why You Should Stop Calling Thyroid Cancer 'Good Cancer'

A thyroid cancer diagnosis has a strange reputation: It's cancer, but with a near 100 percent survival rate when caught in the early stages, it's one of the "good" cancers, as many doctors and even other survivors will tell you. But Alan Ho, M.D., Ph.D., thinks that categorization is a common misunderstanding of people who have never had thyroid cancer nor treated it.