Spoke to surgeon directly about conflicting opinions on TT .....

[ChitChatNine]

When in the Dr's office for the infection on the scarline, I brought up the mj. conflicting opinion of the Endo HE recommended I go to vs. my own Surgeon's opinion .. as a refresher the Endo said TT with the microcarcinomas they found and my Prim Dr., My Endo, and this Surgeon all said to carefully monitor and not to remove other side .. etc., etc.

I was very pleased that my surgeon is aware of the published guidelines and, keep in mind he had a TT at aprox the age of 15 so is in tune with all this .. he does not agree with the recent recommendations.  He feels it is like a pendulem swinging .. one yr one way the next yr another way & until he sees published reports stating the effectiveness of this new protocol he isn't going to change his opinion (that would be for my case)I felt VERY GOOD knowing he is on top of things and falls into the category of "controversy" .. .he said 6 opinions may yield 2 distinct results and can be right in the middle ..

I know my choices are clear:  TT or watch and wait.  Doesn't matter how many people I see for opinions there are shades of grey out there and I now have the total picture and am okay with it all as of this writing.  

BTW, my surgeon is top notch in the league of some in NY City and in Top Dr's for about 5 yrs straight .. so I value his opinion as much as Endo #2 even though they are strikingly different.  If he said, "Huh, what protocol and what report" then I'd have been disappointed.

C~

[ChitChatNine]

So glad you asked ahead of time and that my having gone thru the ?able microcarcinoma "what if's" has helped you be proactive and ask ahead of time even though I really hope they don't find anything like that at all.

C~

[rayneweather]

I asked my endo about microcarcinomas a few weeks ago and he is of the "watch and wait group" dependent upon the size.  He said that the current theory is that the microcarinomas may not be clinically significant meaning they will never have an impact on a person's health so his treatment is not to do RAI on them unless they are true carcinomas or large.  I trust my endo and that he is up on the latest research so if they find any microcarcinomas next week I'll be in the watch & wait group, too.  :-)

[ChitChatNine]

My next appt with surgeon is on Mon when he will decide if he will lance it open or not.  I'm all for it .. just do it already and let it heal .. this is not fun so many weeks post op (wait, didn't I say that already LOL ?) ... actually, though, the lymph glands freakin' hurt more than the areas in ? . . . although one of the glands is directly over stitch abcess #2 that has started to take hold since my last appt .. that one is in the middle of the scar whereas the other one is on the stitch bundle at the far end .. UGH.

C~

[utahmomma]

I would have opted for watch and wait if it wasn't for the rest of my family deciding to get cancer too.  I thought the odds were a bit too high so I opted for the TT.  In my case I was glad I did because of the recurrence but you don't have my genetics.  Lucky you.  :-)

[ChitChatNine]

That is very comforting to read Utah .... really, is nice to know your honest opinion if it were you bcz you and your family have been thru so much & you are the closest person to have a similar case-history to me that I've met and probably will meet online or in person!

To be honest with you, the surgeon said that there is a very good liklihood there are cancer cells {perhaps very very small areas} on the other side, but nothing worthy of removing the gland at this point in time.

In the meantime this darn stitch abscess thing is such a pain in the neck ... the actual pain of the abscessy thing is much better, but there is a white patch ready to erupt at any given moment .. what hurts even more are 3 (yes, now 3 and not just 2) lymph glands in the neck under the adam's apple and into the scar .. they are swollen and hurt like heck .. paratracheal glands are 2 of them and haven't had time to look up what the 3rd one is now.

Interesting to note as we spoke about upcoming f/u ultrasounds he asked for my Endo's name and address and made some notes .. I realize that this stitch abscess can show up on an ultrasound as scar tissue I bet and replicate a nodule LOL .. just what I would have needed!

I am not happy about this thing at all in the vanity dept .. something tells me when all is said and done a trip to the dermatologist is going to be in line .. I have a sneaky feeling this area will need something more to be invisible .. it seems to be getting thicker and more "keloid scar" looking on a daily basis as it heals .. oh well, small price to pay to be cancer-free on that side I guess .. well, that is the rational side of me talking for now :::wink wink wink:::

C~

[utahmomma]

"If it's not one thing it's another!"

I'm so sorry you are going through all this abscess mess!  Can they lance the *$%% thing and just get it over with?!?!?

As for the scar, I was always afraid that I was going to look like I had a second mouth but it did calm down after a while.  I hope you are putting Aloe Vera gel, Vitamin E, or a scar cream.  It really does help but you won't see the difference for a few months.

Hang in there.

**HUGS**  (but not around your neck)  :-)

[tiredpuppy]

good its nice to feel confident in the doc you chose...makes your decisions easier to make when your sure they are not gonna kill you for a buck...
Lisa