Thyroid cancer statistics (warning: will NOT cheer you up)

[utahmomma]

I don't want to bum anyone out but I was looking up some thyroid cancer statistics because I've heard from a few people (a couple on line, some in person) that thyroid cancer isn't as serious as "real" cancers.  

Maybe I'm just posting this information as an homage to my sisters and all those on this site who took control of their lives and conquered thyroid cancer!!  Maybe it's one more thing I can use to *try* to convince my mother to have her thyroid removed.

Here are the estimated 2006 US Female Death From Cancer (by Type) statistics from the American Cancer Society

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PRO/content/PRO_1_1_Cancer_Statistics_2006_presentation.asp?

31% Breast
12% Lung & bronchus
11% Colon & rectum
6% Uterine corpus
4% Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
4% Melanoma of skin
3%     Thyroid
3% Ovary
2% Urinary bladder
2% Pancreas
22% All Other Sites

Did you see that?  Thyroid cancer is estimated to account for AS MANY DEATHS IN THE U.S. THIS YEAR AS OVARIAN CANCER!  I had no idea.

Here's some other information I shared further down the forum:
- an estimated 1200 patients died of thyroid cancer in the United States in 1998
- Thyroid cancers represent approximately 1% of new cancer diagnoses each year
- Approximately 23,500 cases of thyroid cancer are diagnosed yearly in the United States.
info from: http://www.emedicine.com/ent/topic646.htm

Sorry if this is ruining any one's day but it is information I plan on sitting down with my mother and discussing Christmas Eve.  Maybe it could help someone YOU know.

[Barb135]

This is a very old thread, so none of the previous posters are likely to answer you.  

Do you have current thyroid hormone levels?  Those would be TSH, Free T3 and Free T4......  if so, please post them, with the reference ranges from you lab report, since ranges vary lab to lab and must come from your own report.

Your symptoms are probably related to hypothyroidism, and it sounds like your doctor is stuck on labs (maybe only TSH) and as long as they are "normal" isn't willing to help you.  

You should think about finding a different doctor...

If you'd like to post a new thread on the forum, with only your information, you can do so, by clicking on the orange "Post a Question" button at the top of this page.  You will get a blank form to fill out with your own information and when finished, click the green "Post a Comment" button.  
By doing this, your issues will get more attention than latching onto an old post like this.

[pain5293]

wow you got that so right, i mean i will not judge anyone. But for someone who has not had Thyroid cancer and for them to say it is treated like a cold. Boy i think they should not say that unless they have been through it. I had thyroid cancer and i also thought it was just going to be taken out and i would go back to my normal everyday self... Boy who ever told me that i would like to just smack them because it has been a year and i have been trough hell. I am not my normal self and i am scared i never will be, I hurt EVERYDAY in places i didnt think i even had. i have no energy and it takes everything i have to make it through my day. My doctor says that my thyroid medication is at the right level and she can not raise it any more. I have been on vicodin for the pain and that has stopped working so she has now put me on percacet and that really dont help, it just makes me groggy and craby. i have no idea what to do anymore. I just want to cry all the time becouse i am not mself. I use to be so happy and laugh everyday and i use to love to bring everyone up and make them laugh. People use to love to come and hang around me because i would always act so silly and make people happy, Now people know that i have changed and they see how much pain i am in and know that i am not myself any more... So dont let anyone tell you that Thyroid cancer is just like treating a cold.... Plus i didnt have insurace so i could not affaird to had the radiation treatment that i needed. It has now been over a year and i still have not had the radiation treatment and i think about that everyday. wondering if i am ok or not...

[blsdnsvd]

I feel your pain. I am almost two years post Thyroidectomy (Total) and I am not doing well. The sad thing is: Most Endo's will determine treatment by testing of the TSH and nothing else. Most will not test the Free T3 level because they feel that it is irrelevant, but as i have been a member on this site for two years, I have learned just how important that test is and although I literally have to request the test myself, my doc still doesn't stand by it because my TSH levels are in range. It is certainly not easy to have a "normal" life without my thyroid and I have a couple of friends who are in the same position. We must continue to figure out why, and deal with each issue one by one and pray that one day, further testing (beside TSH)is recommended in order to determine how a patient feels.  

[gimel]

Please post your thyroid test results and reference ranges shown on the lab report so that members can assess the adequacy of your testing and treatment.

Also, what thyroid meds and other supplements are you taking and what amounts daily?


If you look at this listing of 26 typical hypothyroid symptoms, which ones do you still have?

http://endocrine-system.emedtv.com/hypothyroidism/hypothyroidism-symptoms-and-signs.html

[bellus]

I had thyroid cancer 7 months ago. I no longer have a thyroid, and while I am thankful to be alive life without my thyroid is pretty tough. Still haven't gotten my meds straight. Most days I can hardly function. I read about how Jennifer Gray is doing so well after thyroidectomy. Good for her! But she can afford a trainer, a nutrtionist and expensive foods. I cannot. So how do regular people cope?

[utahmomma]

I have been dealing with this since my diagnosis in 2003 and I have been working full time (plus some) since then.  I don't know that I've ever felt "normal" since (or before) that time but I muddle through somehow.  :-)  I feel best when my TSH is very suppressed (around 0.02 or so).

[nancylpn]

I have just been diagnosed with papillary ca w/ folliculary tendency (?)
Have had the throidectomy and thought that's over.....Now, realizing I too have to do the hypo hell. and the RAI .   Please tell me exactly how it affects a patient?  All that I keep hearing, I will feel like hell - being in a medical field, that does not tell me much.    Are you able to keep up w/ daily living, job or just hope your level reaches what the MD wants and soon, so you can back to life as it once was.   I am thiking it exhibits signs and symptoms of hypothrism.  Right?  How long (average) does it take for your body to adjust to the meds?  If at all?        
I took early retirement (was planning on working part time)  But all this is not how I had planned to start out in retirement...Venting.........
Thanks for any and all input.    Nancy M

[fanofthefab4]

thank you bizwiz. I think it's actually worse to have more than one nodule instead of just one if they now find that it's not less likely to be cancerous if you have just one,so if mine *are* cancerous,I have three cancerous nodules instead of just one isn't that lovely ?1

[bizwiz12751]

I read up on this stuff all the time and I've heard that this may be true. However, the old time favorite is what was the order for me. My tumor was very large and the FNA did come back suspicious. I remember that I was upset for a while but I also knew that it can be taken out and the prognosis was good and that's pretty much the information I would hang on to. Actually, I just wanted it removed and get it over with and on with my life. Ok, enjoy the Holidays, my orders, lol!

[fanofthefab4]

bizwiz,

Thank you for your supportive words. But I'm so scared I have hardly been sleeping for almost three months since my doctor called and told me about the nodules! Also,please look up online the AACE Task Force On Thyroid Nodules by The Americam Association of Clinical Endocrinologists from this year. It's a long extensive thorough paper with oncologists and endocrinologists as chairpersons and commitee members. They explain that in the past it was believed that  having larger size nodules and having only one instead of more than one was more likely to be cancerous,but now they have found it's not true. And that there is an increase in these microcancers and that they can be just as aggressive as the larger ones! And that many spread locally to lymph nodes and can even reoccur.

[bizwiz12751]

I understand your concern. It'll be ok. Try to relax, although I know it's hard and I remember hating it when someone told me that while I was going through this whole ordeal. The only difference is, that the people that were telling me this were not the people that had this problem before. I've been through both and I'm telling you to try to relax and just go with the flow until you get your results. Then you should have a good pity party and then do whatever you need to do with the thyroid according to what the results are and what the doctor recommends. Enjoy the Holidays.

[fanofthefab4]

thank you bizwiz,

But you too are under 40 and that might be one of the reasons you are doing so well. I had a scare about possible cervical cancer I posted about in another topic on here, in the fall of 2003 I went to my gynocologist after not being there for a year and three months just for a regular check up. This is when she tells me that my pap test from a year and three months before,had some abnormal cells! I was so scared I didn't sleep for almost a week until I got the new pap test results back and the doctor put a rush on it. I have had two normal pap tests including that one that have been normal but I haven't had one in almost three years since they only recommend them once every thre years unless you are high risk which I'm not.

[bizwiz12751]

I am 36 years old and was diagnosed with the thyroid cancer last year. I've been doing some research into this and although no one wants to actually link it, there are a lot of women that have thyroid problems after births of their children. My son is 17 and I had no changes after his birth in weight loss or weight gain, energy, etc. However, my daughter is 8 years old and although the pregnancy was easy and the first 6 months after her birth was fine, now that I look back though, I can see that things changed. Huge weight gain (seemed a short period of time too), my metabolism became non existent, was feeling tired and lazy all the time, etc. I attributed this to the birth and didn't think much of it after that. I started to lose some weight on Phentermine and other medicine, so I went with the notion that I just had a lazy metabolism and because I don't exercise that I just gain weight. After the cervical cancer fiasco, I decided that I can't keep "letting myself go" and that I need to gain control of my life and that I can't be a slave to the diet pills forever since I was getting older. I stopped the diet pills and went on a strict diet. Low carbs, ate the right things, low calories, etc., still gained weight. Went to see my doctor and that's when all the testing began. So, sorry to ramble on, but the point I'm trying to make is that I've read other stories where women did find changes in their bodies after births and later diagnosed with thyroid problems. I mean, while I'm reading information on the thyroid issue, I don't understand why hormonal changes during pregnancy or birth wouldn't have anything to do with the thyroid seeing as the thyroid produces so much hormones. Anyway, I just wish there would be more research into this subject. After a while it seems that all the websites keep saying the same things over and over again. I'd like to see some new information on the subject so I can feel that something is being investigated. Ok, I'm done rambling on......LOL!

[fanofthefab4]

bizwiz,

thank you for your supportive words too. You can enjoy your holidays more this year though because you are beating everything so far! Can I ask how old you are and when you got the thyroid cancer?

[bizwiz12751]

I definitely relate to your worries, especially at this time of the year. I was in the same situation exactly a year ago. My doctor finally thought that the thyroid was enlarged (after 6 previous visits) on 11/22 (right before Thanksgiving), the doctor finally sent me for a thyroid scan on 11/30/05 (bad day), my doctor calls me with the bad results on 12/5/05 (another bad day), FNA on 12/15/05, doctor calls me with the bad results on 12/22/05 (right before Christmas). So, if you notice the dateline, my year was horrendous. I'm very low key this Christmas season and I normally am the bustle of the family. Everyone needs a break and my family really respects my space. So, I appreciate your nervousness. Although the process was thyroid hell, I'm here to tell my story and that's all that counts. Next year I'll get back to the bustle and the Christmas spirit again. I needed a year of a break. Happy Holidays and hang in there.

[fanofthefab4]

bizwiz,

I'm really sorry you had *both* cancers thyroid and cervical,they do say though that they are both slow growing and pretty treatable if caught early enough. I'm definitely not ignoring my worrisome nodules or treating them like a common cold.

Venora,

thank you for your supportive words and I know you are right,and I'm trying not to focus too much on this,but it's really hard not to!

[GravesLady]

Ok Ladies and Gent,

I am not in this discussion but thought the info below might be interesting and/informative to you all, if not, maybe just some of you.

"Under Thyroid Tidbits" to the list at the left of the page:
Famous people with thyroid disorders - page 1
http://groups.msn.com/GRAVESDISEASEANDRAI/famouspeoplewiththyroiddisorders.msnw
Once you have read the above , click on the list to the left of the page,  "Famous People 2 thru Suspect thyroid disorder" .  Then by "Clicking on the underline titles in purple or blue will take you directly to that site for more information"  about the person.  This includes famous people of "thyroid cancer" as well, and is what I have collected so far to date.

[ceegee]

Sounds like a plan. :-)

[utahmomma]

Thanks Ceegee, that was very sweet.  I'm sure the holiday stress level will go up a bit.  My mother is 64 and, despite having her only sister having breast cancer, has never had a mammogram either.  I'm sure with your breast cancer diagnosis makes this info send shivers up your neck too.

I know I'm probably beating my head against the wall nagging her about her thyroid and mammograms and maybe it's just to make myself feel better knowing I've tried my best.  (I even scheduled her a surgical consult for her thyroid in June and she chickened out at the last minute).  My sisters and I (although all very financially strapped) have volunteered to pay all her co payments.  Still nothing.  I hope I can get through to her.

If not maybe we'll just spike her herbal tea and drag her off to REAL medical professionals.  :-)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

[ceegee]

Good luck with your momma tomorrow.

[utahmomma]

Ceegee and Verona,

You are both so right.  We are here to see the sun come up and that is a very good thing.  Life is full of trials and this particular one is ours.  But I saw my daughter graduate from high school, I'm still here for my son, my youngest sister had a beautiful daughter . . . and we've all been through it.

Not every thyroid nodule is cancer - thank merciful God but some are.  No, not the majority - not even close - but still some of us come up on the short end of the cancer stick.  That's why we are here.  To ask for help and to provide it to others.

I know that there are A LOT of people on this forum who dealt with (or a currently dealing with) thyroid cancer for the first time in their lives.  My original post was, as I said, an homage to everyone here who had dealt with it so bravely, to my sisters, and to me.  It was also for those of us who have a friend or family member who may be facing the same thing but isn't taking it seriously.  Tomorrow I get to sit down with my mother - one more time - and try to convince her that she needs to get her thyroid cancer taken care of.  While it's not the worst cancer diagnosis out there, it's still serious.  She knows she has it, her doctors know she has it, and her daughters know she has it.  I don't want my mother to be one of the thousands who will die from it next year.  I'd like her to be one of us crazy people here sharing our stories and comparing war wounds.  Hey, she can even complain about how her daughter nagged her so much she finally had the surgery.  :-)

My mother has ignored her thyroid condition (huge multinodular goiter and multiple large, complex nodules) for YEARS!  I remember 15 years ago when she complained her brother had ignored his prostrate problems for over 5 years and by the time he sought medical advice it had metastasized throughout his body.  She cried and complained as she watched him fade away and die from something that would have been so easy to treat if he had only taken care of it when he first knew he had a problem.  Fast forward to now and she is doing the exact same thing.  You think that having four of her daughters diagnosed with thyroid cancer would have been a wake-up call.  You think that seeing all five daughters, and her teenage granddaughter, go through the surgeries (and two of us through RAI) would have woken her up.  It hasn't.

Yes, thyroid cancer is treatable.  Yes, ANY type of cancer is hell and it changes your entire outlook.  But the most important thing is taking the giant step to take charge of your health - even if that means firing doctors, asking tons of questions, crying and screaming, and being scared out of your mind.  The MOST POSITIVE thing any of us can do is to seek help.  Of course any time I have something go wrong in my body I fear the worst (thought I was going to have to deal with ovarian cancer at the first of this year - thank goodness it was only massive, recurrent cysts).  Every swollen lymph node, every strange lump in my breast, takes on a new importance.

I just wanted to let others here know how PROUD I am that they took charge.  So many here have had surgeries and I've celebrated with every clean pathology report, and my heart has sunk with every cancer diagnosis.  But the point is, WE TOOK CHARGE and we know what we are dealing with now - and we can all look forward to tomorrow with a sense of accomplishment and hope!

I'm not trying to bring anyone down (hence the warning in the subject), just pass along some information that I'm going to be sharing with my mother and, in a sense, let everyone here know they should be proud that they have taken charge of their health.  Just by joining this forum, it is positive.  Seeking information, looking for answers, and asking for help is a huge, positive step!

Thyroid cancer isn't a death sentence if treated but it's no picnic either.  Thank you to everyone here who helped me get through some REALLY dark days during my RAI last month.  I hope everyone is well this holiday season and my deepest, warmest, positive thoughts to ALL for a healthy New Year!

Peace and LOVE to you all!!



P.S. all I want for Christmas is the medical community to develop a good thyroid cancer diagnostic tool!  It would save many from unnecessary surgeries and help the rest of us make better decisions.

[fanofthefab4]

Well
you're not helping to be positive though! Dr.Susan Mandel who is thyroid cancer specialist at University of Pennsylvania Hospital even wrote in online medical journals that only 4-7 % of thyroid nodules are cancerous. And she took part with many other doctors and radiologists in a conference on thyroid nodules and ultrasound features and which nodules should be biopsied and it's online this conference and they said that most thyroid cancers are slow growing and most patients have an excellent prognoses.

[bizwiz12751]

Thyroid cancer treatment is an ongoing process. The cervical cancer was a breeze compared to this nightmare for the last year. I'm sorry that we're not helping you stay positive, I am positive every day. But you can never treat cancer as commonly as a cold. Cervical cancer: diagnosed, laser surgery, one radiation treatment, done. Thyroid cancer: two surgeries, hypo hell before RAI, three days in the hospital with a deck of cards(still hypo hell), some medicine (still hypo hell), two months later a dose adjustment (still hypo hell), two months later another dose adjustment (still hypo hell)......LOL! Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that we all learn to live with it and we never know what our meds will do to us first thing in the morning and we're all positive but cancer is still cancer. The bottom line is that your life and your attitude changes (even if a little bit)and it's only because it's cancer. It humbles you just a bit. Now, for the good news, lol, it is definitely treatable if you catch it in time, just like most other cancers. Many people get adjusted just fine with the medicine (those lucky ducks!), just like with breast cancer (as an example) once in remission. One thing, though, this is hormone replacement therapy so it does make a big difference in your body. So, with all the problems I, myself, am having and some of the other people on this forum (and I'm sure there are many more) I wish someone would pay more attention to this cancer. I think that's why some of us get upset when we don't feel like anyone pays attention that it's still cancer. Have a great night.

[ceegee]

I just wanted to throw in a comment from someone with two 'good' cancers.

My first cancer was dx 2003, DCIS low stage right breast.  It was treated with lumpectomy and 35 x radiation.  It was considered 'good' because it was caught very early and I didn't have to have chemo, and it was estrogen receptive, which means taking tamoxifen helps to prevent a reoccurance.

My second cancer was dx 2006, pap w/ follicular varient both lobes.  It was treated with total thyroidectomy and preparation for RAI.  (Didn't have to have the RAI because nothing glowed on the WBS :-)).

I am not offended by the term 'good' cancer.  I'll take five good cancers to one that requires chemotherapy.  But for someone to downplay or be condensending about my cancers because they are 'good' cancers is another thing.

I am a very very postive person.  Most of my friends and relatives can't believe how well I handle things, however in the back of my mind, whenever any thing out of the ordinary happens the first thing that pops up is 'Is this another cancer?' I don't dwell on it, but it is there.  And I don't know how many 'good' cancers one is allowed in their lifetime.

One more comment then I'll hop off my soap box. Between having radiation treatments and going hypo to prepare for RAI....I'd chose radiation treatments anyday over that hypo feeling and trying to get back to normal. Which is something that thyca patients have to do at least once a year for follow-up care.

Stay positive your own outlook can affect your outcome.  Happy Holidays and Good Luck to everyone.