# holy moly! TG level quadrupled in a month!



## Abcdefg (Mar 16, 2012)

OMG. I just saw my latest TG test online, and it's gone from:

88 to *310*....in less than 30 days.

You can't tell me I don't have cancer with #s like that. Damn Rad Onc still hasn't decided if I'm an RAI candidate. I'm starting to think that it'll have to hit 10,000 before they do anything.. or I die first.

What could possibly cause it to rise so much? Bone mets?


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Do you know what your TG and TG Antibodies were before your TT?


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## Abcdefg (Mar 16, 2012)

Octavia said:


> Do you know what your TG was before your TT?


It was never tested beforehand. Idiot doctors :sad0049:


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

I would be willing to wager that, yes, you still have cancer in there. That said, as Octavia mentioned, you really need the antibodies test (TgAB) to determine if the thyroglobulin results is accurate.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Abcdefg said:


> OMG. I just saw my latest TG test online, and it's gone from:
> 
> 88 to *310*....in less than 30 days.
> 
> ...


When is your RAI scheduled? Hopefully, this will zap out any remaining thyroid tissue!

Have they not contacted you yet? Can you contact them?

Do you have swollen lymph nodes, sore throat; anything?


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## Abcdefg (Mar 16, 2012)

I had the TGab test... it was <20. So the TG is accurate.

No, RAI isn't scheduled yet. I haven't heard from the doctor either. Still in limbo basically.

Yes, I've had a sore throat, my voice has been very hoarse since surgery, and my fatigue continues. I'm back to work and finding it difficult as I'm so tired. My TSH is 0.48, so def not hypo either.

ugh

PS... here's my test results copy pasted:
=========================================================================
Thyroid Function
Thyroglobulin Ab

<20

<41

kIU/L
Thyroglobulin

H

310
Target value for thyroid cancer treated with total thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine is "below reportable range", i.e., <1. The response criteria will differ for other treatment protocols.

<60

ug/L


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

UGH.

Ok, definitely accurate (my thryoglobulin was >0.3).

I don't understand how they are still deciding...what did your doctor say about this result?

And are they dosing on TSH alone? You might be a candidate for T3 supplementation.


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## Abcdefg (Mar 16, 2012)

they tested TSH, T4 free and T3 free. all are in range, but the T3 was on the low end.

Doctor hasn't said anything, because I haven't talked to him since Oct 4th. Hoping he calls. I don't hold out much hope though that they're going to do anything.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Abcdefg said:


> I had the TGab test... it was <20. So the TG is accurate.
> 
> No, RAI isn't scheduled yet. I haven't heard from the doctor either. Still in limbo basically.
> 
> ...


Can you go see your regular doc? Maybe he/she can get on the big horn and get some action out of the powers that be?


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

So, what is a patient's recourse in this system?


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## Abcdefg (Mar 16, 2012)

Octavia said:


> So, what is a patient's recourse in this system?


I'm guessing zero. What I want or think I need is irrelevant.

I'm far past the point of frustration, and moving into the no-longer-caring phase. Ugh


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Well, this is certainly not very patient-centered. There has to be some sort of oversight organization, no?


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## Abcdefg (Mar 16, 2012)

Update: my gp stepped in . Within hours of her contacting his office, I got a phone call from him. He apparently had never seen my last TG test (of 310). His secretary hadn't added it to my file. That result is the only thing spurring him to take this seriously. He's going back to the tumor board next week to discuss my case again-because at the last one the pathologists decided I didn't need further treatment. *idiot counsel?*. He's now saying I need at minimum to have remaining thyroid tissue ablated (that's another thing-he was confused. Thought I'd only ever had a PT-not a TT). Wish they'd read files properly. Grrr.

Anyway, I had more blood work done today, and a chest xray. The TG results won't be available until next week, but I'd gamble that it's doubled again.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Well, I'm sorry this is still not taken care of, but I'm really glad that you have someone's attention now!


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Sounds like a little more forward progress, at least.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Abcdefg said:


> Update: my gp stepped in . Within hours of her contacting his office, I got a phone call from him. He apparently had never seen my last TG test (of 310). His secretary hadn't added it to my file. That result is the only thing spurring him to take this seriously. He's going back to the tumor board next week to discuss my case again-because at the last one the pathologists decided I didn't need further treatment. *idiot counsel?*. He's now saying I need at minimum to have remaining thyroid tissue ablated (that's another thing-he was confused. Thought I'd only ever had a PT-not a TT). Wish they'd read files properly. Grrr.
> 
> Anyway, I had more blood work done today, and a chest xray. The TG results won't be available until next week, but I'd gamble that it's doubled again.


Thank God you are getting some action! Please please keep us in the loop about this. Many of us are worried about you!


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## Abcdefg (Mar 16, 2012)

Thank you ladies! I'm waiting on pins and needles for my followup with him next Friday. They better have some satisfactory answers. I've already changed my spring travel plans to avoid being radioactive and setting off the airport alarms lol. We're going mid-January instead (because it's obvious I'll be waiting at least 3 or 4 months to get RAI).

On a side note, glad my GP upped my T4 to 150mcgs. I'm really fatigued lately, and with my latest TSH (from yesterday), having risen, stands to reason it was needed. I bet it would have been higher, but I took my meds at 7am (before the doc called telling me to go have it done) and it must have absorbed by 1030 when the blood was drawn.


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