Hello, has anyone had this treatment for Thryoid Cancer? I have just been diagnosed. I have been researching and found numerous reputable articles stating there is a 30% higher chance for secondary cancers from having this treatment. I am freaking out! I don%26#039;t want another cancer after this one. The others one%26#039;s it may cause are not as curable as thyroid. Help me!|||Yes I%26#039;ve had it. After having a total thyroidectomy due to papillary carcinoma, I had 100 mci of I-131. It really is the best way to kill off any thyroid cells that remain in your body.

Even with a total thyroidectomy, the surgeon will still leave a tiny amount of thyroid in your neck. This is because your thyroid gland is connected to your vocal cords. If the surgeon tries to remove this, you could lose your voice forever.

The process can be uncomfortable and annoying but it saves lives. About 6 weeks before treatment, you will stop taking levothyroxine (synthetic T4) and start taking cytomel (synthetic T3). You will take the Cytomel for about 2-4 weeks depending on what your doctor says. Then you will be off of all thyroid medications for a couple of weeks. The goal is to get your TSH well over 100. You will also go on a low iodine diet for the 2 weeks before your treatment. This way your body will happily %26quot;suck up%26quot; the poisonous I-131. About 1 week before the I-131 capsule, you will take a smaller dose of I-123 and get a whole body scan. This will show where in your body you still have some residual thyroid cells.

The day of the treatment, you%26#039;ll be admitted to the hospital and will swallow a capsule of I-131. You will remain in the hospital for 3-5 days until a geiger counter says that you are not emitting too much radiation, and safe to be discharged. For the next 10-14 days, you will be at home, isolated from others. You will sleep in a separate room from others, eat from paper plates and drink from paper cups. You should use a separate bathroom from your family members and flush twice each time. Also, take several showers a day to try to get that radioactive gunk out of you.

About 2 weeks after the initial pill, you will go to the hospital and get a whole body scan to see if the treatment appears successful. Once a year thereafter, you will have whole body scans to make sure the cancer doesn%26#039;t return.

Once you are diagnosed with any type of cancer, your chances go up of getting other types of cancer. Luckily, thyroid cancer is a little different from other types in that it can be killed with radioactive iodine as oppsed to chemotherapy.

Being diagnosed was the scariest thing I ever went through (at age 27) but now it%26#039;s been 4 years and I%26#039;m doing just fine. Had 2 healthy children after treatment and I feel unstoppable!!

Good luck to you. I wish you well.

Regards,

Mari|||Please go to www.tomotherapy.com and read up on this awesome machine. If you think this might be an option for you locate a center near you via the website and then call them and ask to be seen.|||There are a lot of support and resources for thyroid cancer

at planetcancer.org

If you are under 40, it is a great community of cancer patients (like myself) and they are able to share personal experiences regarding treatments per type of cancer, there are a lot of thyroid patients on the site. Best of luck!