Stimulated TSH results

Heya Pkc, 

Just a quick question before I get into your questions properly. Are you in the UK, or elsewhere in the world? 

Lass

Xx

Hi,

UK and female. I posted a while back...been a while, whoops!

Lol, no whoops. The good thing about the forum is its here as and when you need it. So pick it up and put it down as you need it. 

I did have a quick browse through your last posts, but couldn't see country anywhere. The reason I asked is your stimulated tests, I've not heard of anyone in the UK having so many. However it is quite common in the US to be tested like that. 

So, your questions.... 

1. How common is a hard one to quantify. People are given as many doses as they need and that they can take. So it varies from person to person. Me? I've had 4 doses so far, and more aren't ruled out for the future.

2. You had malignancy in your thyroid, it just hadn't spread to your lymph nodes. And yes, it's possible for it to pop up there after the fact because that's the job of the lymph nodes. Anything that's seen as an invader in the body, like a bug or an infection, is swept off into the lymph nodes for them to deal with and destroy. All part of your immune system you see. So any little cell baddies that decide to go rogue, are carried into the lymph nodes and will sometimes infect them and grow within them.

3. CT scans being done vary from hospital to hospital and Dr to Dr. I had one done before my completion, which is one of the usual times it's done. The other time is when you're having it done, when TG is rising and they just want to dot the i's and cross the t's to check what's going on everywhere.

4. Something similar? Do you mean a TG rise, or recurrence, or something else? There's a few people who have experienced different bits and pieces, but once they're all sorted they tend to move on with their lives and leave the forum behind. Though my last blood test a couple of weeks ago showed a TG rise.

5. Yes.

6. No. TG measures the awake and active thyroid tissue in your body. This could be healthy thyroid cells, or it could be cancerous cells. There's no way to tell the difference. As for recurrence or persistent, that one is hard to tell as well in some cases. I have one spot of persistent in my rib, because we've never got rid of it. However there are two spots in my spine that weren't there on the scans at the start. But they may have existed, just been asleep and then woke up. Or, they may be new growth. There's just no way of knowing, and tbh, it doesn't really matter as far as treatment is concerned.

7. Yup. Still excellent.

8. Nope. Just the same as last time, don't get pregnant for at least 6 months after treatment. It's why the RAI is so good. As a targeted treatment, it doesn't poison the whole body the way chemo or radio do.

I hope that helps. Do shout if there's anything else I can help with! 

Lass

Xx

Hey Lass

You are an absolute star. Thank you so much for all your advice. 

I am in the UK too..

Thanks a lot x

Not a problem at all. If anything else pops into your head, you know where I am. 

Lass

Xx