# Papillary thyroid cancer recurrence?



## ipscec

I had TT with modified radical RIGHT neck dissection in Oct 2010. I had 94 LN removed with only 4 being positive however one was 5cm in size. Followed by RAI in dec 2010. Went in for one year check up and my US showed a worrisome LN on the LEFT side that was highly vascular. That's the same term I heard one year ago when i found the original large LN. They did a FNB the same day. Waiting on the biopsy results. I assume I will have to have a WBS next.

I am just wondering if anyone has had a similar case with recurrence and what treatment you had. Surgery and RAI again? Is one year really soon to have a recurrence?

Thanks for any input!


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## joplin1975

I'm not more than five months out (TT & RAI), so I can't answer specifically, but I was told that reoccurrence is somewhat common and to expect to need RAI again (after a WBS to confirm there's some gunk still floating around in there...).

Good luck and let us know how the biopsy comes out, ok?


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## Andros

ipscec said:


> I had TT with modified radical RIGHT neck dissection in Oct 2010. I had 94 LN removed with only 4 being positive however one was 5cm in size. Followed by RAI in dec 2010. Went in for one year check up and my US showed a worrisome LN on the LEFT side that was highly vascular. That's the same term I heard one year ago when i found the original large LN. They did a FNB the same day. Waiting on the biopsy results. I assume I will have to have a WBS next.
> 
> I am just wondering if anyone has had a similar case with recurrence and what treatment you had. Surgery and RAI again? Is one year really soon to have a recurrence?
> 
> Thanks for any input!


I sure am sorry to hear that. I personally would have preferred to have the whole thyroid out rather than a partial. But, that is now hindsight.

LHM! (Lord have mercy!)

We have quite a few here who have had similar experience with this so I know they will be along soon.


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## Butterflyjkg

Hello. I am a newbie to the whole Thyroid experience. I was told that for me, and we are all different, that my chances of having it again were the same for anyone else.. who never had it? Mine was .8cm and fully encapsulated.. and no involvement with any lymph nodes or anything. I had two other nodules that were okay. I wonder if they are all full of poopy..I mean the people who tell you that you are FINE and it's gone and whatnot.. I still have my paras in there and I think what is to stop them from getting cancer??? I grew up miles from the Limerick Nuke plant.. I live away now but I work in pretty much the same area. As I type this my sister is awaiting breast surgery for a suspicious lump in her breast......I hope your tests come out okay. I get so scared when I come on this board. I try to be brave but I get heart palps. Like somehow if I come on here it will attract it back to me . Isn't that ridiculous?? LIke I will Jinx myself... the silly stuff you think.

I wish I could hug everyone on this board hugs1.


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## ipscec

Butterflyjkg,

I think we all allow ourselves to have wandering thoughts sometimes. It's natural. We just have to stay positive and appreciate all the good things we have in life. I don't blame you for being a little nervous about having grown up and working near a nuclear plant, I wouldn't much like that either. I will say a prayer for your sister that she has only good results from her surgery! Keep going in for your follow up's and keep positive thoughts for the future!


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## sunshinie

Hi ipscec - I'm fairly new to all of this too, TT w/left neck dissection in July 2011, but I wanted to let you know I'll be thinking of you...hoping your biopsy results come back totally normal. That's the last thing you want to hear at your yearly checkup. Keep us posted!

Butterflyjkg - I hear ya! I live near Limerick also and I feel anxious every time I see those towers. Hate it. Sorry to hear about your sister also - I hope everything turns out fine.

Very true that we need for focus on the positive and not let our fears get the best of us.


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## Butterflyjkg

I need to ask this and it may sound ridiculous but I don't care if it does..Okay, so I had both sides of my thyroid out and my paras are still in there. I had a tiny .8 cm of papillary that was encapsulated and nowhere else. My mom had it (what kind I do not know.. don't know if I want to know...) and she didn't make it. OR at least she had thyroid cancer and 2.5 years later she was dead. So, they tell me that since mine was caught so early that I am FINE. They say you never catch it that early, or at least they don't even turn the lights on in the O.R. to remove something that small. My mom's history is why mine was taken out ASAP. SO, here is my question or thought... if this does come back, where will it go? My parathyroid? Will it go into my lymph glands or would it have to spread from my thyroid TO that? Does it have to be touching? I guess it doesn't. That's stupid. What I mean is, can this show up in my liver? Or would that be something different? Is it "thyroid" cancer only because it's literally IN my thyroid, or can I have papillary cancer in my elbow?? HA. You know what I mean. Are those SPECIFIC cells only in my thyroid? I guess I want to know that withOUT a thyroid, are my chances PRETTY DARNED GOOD that I will not get this back? I know I sound nutty. I know that if you have part of your thyroid still in there, it has somewhere to go.. what if you don't? Does anyone have an opinion as to how we GOT this in the first place?? I think it's from radiation from the Nuke plant I live near. My mom always thought that hers was from that too... or the chemical plant .5 miles down the road. What are your opinions???


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## joplin1975

A thyroidectomy is not a "clean" surgery, because of the proximity of the structures around the thyroid, residual cells more or less have to be left behind (otherwise you'd have parathyroid damage or complications with your recurrent laryngeal nerve). Because of that, thyroid cells can and sometimes do grow back, but those cells aren't always cancerous (if you've have thyroid cancer, that is). It's why many of us have had RAI -- to kill the remaining cells. It's also why I had suggested in your other thread that you inquire about the necessity of a whole body scan when you meet with your endo.

Metastasis most often goes to lymph nodes first (the more proximal to the thyroid, the more likely) and then, if left untreated, (speaking generally) will show up in lungs. As I understand it, the chances of recurrence is most closely tied to how invasive your original cancer finding was.


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## Andros

Butterflyjkg said:


> I need to ask this and it may sound ridiculous but I don't care if it does..Okay, so I had both sides of my thyroid out and my paras are still in there. I had a tiny .8 cm of papillary that was encapsulated and nowhere else. My mom had it (what kind I do not know.. don't know if I want to know...) and she didn't make it. OR at least she had thyroid cancer and 2.5 years later she was dead. So, they tell me that since mine was caught so early that I am FINE. They say you never catch it that early, or at least they don't even turn the lights on in the O.R. to remove something that small. My mom's history is why mine was taken out ASAP. SO, here is my question or thought... if this does come back, where will it go? My parathyroid? Will it go into my lymph glands or would it have to spread from my thyroid TO that? Does it have to be touching? I guess it doesn't. That's stupid. What I mean is, can this show up in my liver? Or would that be something different? Is it "thyroid" cancer only because it's literally IN my thyroid, or can I have papillary cancer in my elbow?? HA. You know what I mean. Are those SPECIFIC cells only in my thyroid? I guess I want to know that withOUT a thyroid, are my chances PRETTY DARNED GOOD that I will not get this back? I know I sound nutty. I know that if you have part of your thyroid still in there, it has somewhere to go.. what if you don't? Does anyone have an opinion as to how we GOT this in the first place?? I think it's from radiation from the Nuke plant I live near. My mom always thought that hers was from that too... or the chemical plant .5 miles down the road. What are your opinions???


You have every reason to be concerned but not to the point that it is complicating your life to the extreme. Just make sure you get regular check-ups and possibly an MRI with contrast material sometime in the future...........................because;

there is such a thing as ectopic thyroid tissue and yes, it can attach to the liver, the lungs, the heart, the ovaries etc.. It replicates just like endometriosis; believe that or not. So, you are not way out there in your thinking. It is always better to err on the side of caution.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=ectopic+thyroid+tissue&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart

Stay on top of it but as I say, "Don't let it rob you of the joy of life!"


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