# Small cancer, no RAI. Agree?



## SuzieSocialWorker (Jul 9, 2013)

Hi all, I can officially say I'm a cancer survivor, although it was very tiny. I had a 1mm spot in my 1.7cm nodule, and a 5mm spot in my 1.2cm nodule. Both papillary.

Both Endos and my surgeon agree this is so small I don't need RAI. I tend to agree, and I know people have different views and wanted to see pro's and con's.

I mentioned the possibility of my antibodies continuing to attack leftover thyroid tissue (I had 1600+), but my Endo said that's not a concern.

Thoughts?


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Knee jerk reaction is: yes, agreed!

But my follow-up question is: what is the monitoring plan, long-term?


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## KeepOnGoing (Jan 2, 2013)

Sorry to hear your bad news - thank heavens you found it while it was so small.

I didn't have RAI either - although my (follicular variant) papillary carcinoma wasn't particularly small (2cm) it was well encapsulated and hadn't spread even to the other side.

As Joplin says, you need to find out what they are going to do to make sure it doesn't come back unnoticed.

I have found that the fact that I haven't had RAI does muddy the water a little when it comes to thyroglobulin testing (as there is likely to be a bit of thyroid tissue around somewhere anyway, so you can't assume anything) but my oncologist is confident that he can monitor effectively and generally I feel comfortable with my decision.

I like to think that I've kept RAI available in the background, in case I ever need it later. No point having treatment you don't actually need.

That's my way of thinking about it. I'm afraid everyone has to decide what they think is right for them. I started out saying that I HAD to have RAI, but changed my mind after discussing with the consultant.

Time for another one of those lists of questions...


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

joplin1975 said:


> Knee jerk reaction is: yes, agreed!
> 
> But my follow-up question is: what is the monitoring plan, long-term?


Exactly.


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## SuzieSocialWorker (Jul 9, 2013)

thanks for the input! I go for my followup next week. I'm pretty sure I asked about the followup but it's all a blur  My endo said it would have never grown into anything significant..


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## KLB (Apr 4, 2014)

If the dr said it would never grown into anything significant is there a real need to keep monitoring other than getting thyroid meds right to feel good? I had my TT a little over a year ago it also was small papillary with huthle something. Anyway I haven't been back to the endo in a since last April I am staring to have hair thinning issues again and staying up all night and weight issues. Don't know if it is thyroid related or just getting old. I take 150 mg synthroid and was thinking about upping a half pill. 
Anyone have any thoughts if that would be too much?


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

When is the last time you did labs? I would do them now if it's been a while, before upping your meds.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Yeeeeeeeees there is a real need for monitoring.

I'll try to post some links tomorrow, but the take home message is even if it's small, encapsulated, and generally consider low risk, thyroid cancer cells are sneaky and can migrate. So, yes, you need monitoring. *Espeically* if you aren't feeling well, which leads one to believe you aren't well suppressed.


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## KLB (Apr 4, 2014)

It had been a year since my last lab/ and dr visit. After reading posts on this site I did get a blood test T3 was a little [email protected] 64 down from 107, last year. T4 was on high side of normal and TSH was also normal the thymcglubulin not in yet. Can't wait to feel good again. Right now I fee like I did before the surgery which is weird because my TSH back then was 10.3 and my T3 was normal. I go mid May to Drs and will be armed with greater understanding of what different approaches may get me back on track. Compared to so many others I am lucky I've only been feeling like junk for about two months now.


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