July 8th – Follow up meeting with Dr. F. We went over the results of the post treatment scans as well as scheduled follow ups and next steps. Here are the main points of our discussion:
-Follow up appointment – 8/13/08
-Blood test – several days before the follow up appointment
-Follow up exams – an ultrasound in approximately 6 months and a total body scan in approximately 1 year. For the total body scan, I will be given Thyrogen (an injection that alters thyroid hormones in the body without having to go on Synthroid withdrawal), tracer amount of iodine and will not need to go on a low iodine diet. Will know at this scan whether or not the cancer was ablated. If the radiation did its job, the scan will hopefully be clear.
-Low chance of recurrence and mortality for a guy my age – considered Stage 1 (under 45). If recurrence happens, usually surgery is done but radiation is also an option.
Results of my post treatment total body scans:
-Nothing worried Dr. F. There were no metastases and everything looked normal.
-Ablation takes several months to occur
-Dr. F talked to Dr. T and there was no metastasis to my lung or liver. The activity in my liver was caused by the physiologic breakdown of thyroid hormone from a tumor or residual thyroid tissue in my neck, which is expected. If there was any activity or tumor in my neck, it should be killed off by the radiation. Dr. F. and Dr. T purposely gave me a slightly higher dose than usual due to my young age and ability to handle the effects.
-I will be followed for several years
-It is possible that since I have no thyroid anymore, the antibodies that I currently have that cloud the results of my blood tests, could be eventually be gone and we could make more use of the blood tests
-Generally, two consecutive clear scans and you could be considered cancer free.
No comments:
Post a Comment