September is thyroid cancer awareness month, and today we have a guest blog from one of our cancer information reviewers. She shares her experience of thyroid cancer, including her diagnosis, treatment and support.
Hey everyone – I’m Jena and I was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer in June 2014. I am going to talk to you about my journey over the last two years.
My initial diagnosis
In May 2014 I had what I thought was a routine ultrasound for a thyroid goitre (swelling of the thyroid gland). But I could tell by the look on the radiologist's face that this was not as routine as I thought. She told me I needed to go to my GP the next day and they would refer me to an ENT (ear nose and throat) consultant. I remember being really confused by this and the following day I went to my GP who gave me a yellow leaflet with a number to call for a different appointment booking line than normal – this was when I knew something was wrong. I was assigned an ENT consultant and within a few weeks I had further tests including ultrasounds, needle biopsies and a CT scan and then on 25th June 2014 I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
The time in between diagnosis and surgery was a total blur. I had so many more appointments, pre-op etc and I felt like a robot going through all of these, and sometimes it was even like I was watching someone else live my life and this wasn’t really happening to me. I think detaching myself from it all emotionally helped me get through and helped me stay strong for everyone else around me who seemed to be falling apart.
Surgery & treatment
On 1st September 2014 I had a full thyroidectomy and right neck dissection followed by radio iodine in December. My biggest tumour was over 60mm, with over 30 lymph nodes in my neck being confirmed as cancerous. My surgeon told me after my operation that he thinks I had the disease for a number of years and it had gone undiagnosed.
My second diagnosis
In July 2015 after high thyroglobulin results on 3 blood tests it was decided that further investigation should be done. I had the normal ultrasound followed by a CT scan and it was confirmed that I had a metastatic spread into the lymph nodes in my chest.
On the 12th October 2015 – 2 weeks after I got married – I had my second surgery which was a mini sternotomy, broken breast bone and lymph node removal.
Since surgery I have had one positive thyroglobulin blood test and I am currently awaiting results from my most recent check-up. For the first time in years I have a good feeling about the results and instead of dreading the letter arriving I’m strangely looking forward to it.
Support
The thyroid cancer page on Macmillan's website is great and gave me lots of information I would need to understand what would happen during all of my appointments.
I’d also strongly really recommend joining the Thyroid Cancer group in the online community – the dedicated thyroid cancer nurse specialist Geri is amazing and will answer any questions you might have. Also the people in the group are fantastic and so supportive! I have taken to writing my own blogs as well, this has been a real comfort for me and is also a tool to help me get my emotions out and move on from the last few years.
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We're with you every step of the way
The Macmillan team is here to help. Our cancer support specialists can answer your questions, offer support, or simply listen if you need a chat. Call us free on 0808 808 00 00.
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