# Do you still see an Endo?



## trishes (Aug 11, 2015)

Hi - I'm new here. Female, 32 years old. In 2004 I was found to have a nodule on one side of my thyroid. After an FNA, it was undetermined, so they decided to be on the safe side and remove one side of the thyroid, with a freeze biopsy of it being a benign tumor. A week later the lab results came back and it was found to be malignant so they went back in and took the rest of my thyroid, did radioactive iodine therapy, and called it a day. I've been on synthroid since, and did body scans for the first couple of years, along with blood tests, then switched to doing blood tests and neck ultrasounds yearly. I did switch Endocrinologists halfway through because I moved to Maryland.

When I left Maryland, my Endocrinologist said that since we were 9 years out from my cancer, that I didn't need to see an Endocrinologist anymore and just needed yearly blood tests to determine my levels, that could be done by my PCP.

I mentioned the other day to my mom that I haven't seen an endocrinologist in about 3 years and she was astounded. Should I still be seeing an endocrinologist? I trusted the advice of my endo in Maryland, but he was also closing his practice so I'm not sure if that had something do to with it. I have recently seen fluctuations in my levels which have caused me to have to change my doses of Synthroid, but that has been managed by a general PCP.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

I'm only four years out and, yes, I do see an endo. There are many people on these boards who do not see endos regularly for a variety of reasons. So, I don't think an endo is necessary, but I do think someone with a specialty in or emphasis on thyroid cancer is a good idea. I've read studies that say there are three primary times when recurrence happens: 1) sometime in the first two years; 2) right around the ten year mark; and 3) right around the 20 year mark.

The biggest (and in my opinion the most important) question is has your blood work been dome under stimulated conditions (either via thyrogen or medication withdrawal)? Blood work and ultrasounds over whole body scans is becoming the norm, but only if that blood work is stimulated.


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