# Had my surgery November 30th



## Nana78 (Nov 13, 2015)

I had my surgery everything went good, really didn't have much pain never had pain meds at the hospital they sent me home with some but didn't take them. I don't like taking pain meds because it knocks me out I can take 5mg of flexiril and feel the effects into the day after. Today I went and seen the surgeon I had multifocal papillary carcinoma she said it was pretty well spread throughout my thyroid. I have a paper with info on it says Extrathyroidal extension is present not sure what that is does anyone know? I'm the type of person that hears everything you say but can't remember a thing lol She told me that I will need to keep an eye on this because it can come back and she said that one was basically coloring outside the lines so. Now I am waiting to hear from another doctor who will give me the radiation pill she told me it I take the pill once (more if the other doctor or if it comes back) she said for 3 days I would have to be away from others and pets.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

I'm glad your surgery went well.

The best way to explain it is to imagine that a healthy thryoid sits in a ballon or capsule. Smaller cancers usually are contained within that "balloon" and in those cases, it's rare that you will find cancer in lymph nodes or other structures in the neck.

With un-encapsulated thyroid cancer, the tumors have broken through that "balloon." Usually in those cases, you find cancer in surrounding lymph nodes, hence the need for RAI.

Your RAI restrictions will be determined by the dose. The higher the dose, the more you need to stay way from people and pets, and take other precautions.


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## Nana78 (Nov 13, 2015)

Thank you for explaining that


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

So the growth outside the thyroid capsule is minimal. And your tumors weren't exceptionally large. And you had classic papillary cancer. This is all good news. There's some discussion about no longer calling these types of tumors cancer (I don't agree with that, but...).

Your RAI dose, if they determine you need it, should be quite low.


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## indigovalley (Oct 9, 2015)

I had a 1.2 cm tumor and there were two 1 mm micro spots in the thyroid tissue nearby. Does that mean my cancer has spread outside the nodule?


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