Thyroid Cancer - What You Might Not Know

When a family member gets cancer you are never prepared. You are stunned, and even as just a family member you still constantly say why? Why her, why him, why now? Anyone who knows me and knows me well, knows my mom is my best friend. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. We were told that if you had to have any cancer this was the best one because it was easier to cure. I wanted to provide some not as sugar coated information on thyroid cancer and also give some information that I was never aware of until now.

When they say thyroid cancer, don't just stop there ask what type. Because that has a lot to do with how they treat and how hopeful you can be. The four types below are a guide, but by no means the end all be all there are always exceptions.

Papillary - This is the thyroid cancer that most people get, it is slow moving and can usually be contained by a surgery to remove the nodules in the thyroid or the thyroid all together.

Follicular - This version of Thyroid cancer also grows slowly, however it still can spread faster than papillary so early diagnosis is key, but again this one is completely curable.

Medullary - This one is more serious mostly because of where it starts in the thyroid, and although it spreads slow it can be very dangerous it can spread to other parts of your body. That is when it is very dangerous.

Anaplastic - This is the most dangerous form of thyroid cancer, because it spread quickly and everywhere, less than 2% of thyroid cancer patients get this version however.

Now as you can see there are levels of bad with thyroid cancer, what they don't tell you is that even the easiest ones to cure can go unnoticeable in someone's system for years without symptoms or not enough symptoms to cause concern. Then all of a sudden you end up with a cancer that has spread farther than you thought it could and quicker than you were told.

Some important pieces of information so many people did not seem to provide to me before my mom went through all of this. First if you have had one cancer it is almost guaranteed you will have a secondary cancer such as lymphoma. There is not usually a way to prepare for it either, you just have to be excessively aware of your body, and make sure you go in for follow ups.

The other thing they don't tell you when you start all this is that, even after treatment you just wait, and wait to see if everything is better and has gone away. There is no immediate moment of its all gone, you have to be patient and go through months and months of waiting to see if your loved one is in the clear. And with my stress I cannot even imagine what my mother's was.

Cancer can be stopped, and there are millions I don't doubt that go into remission and live their lives again without the torment of cancer. But there are also the harsh truths that go along with this disease and that is you can't fight it with your bare hands, and you can't always stop it from coming back again. Just remember to stay positive, but be prepared for anything because you just never know.

Although this is all a rather morbid piece, and normally I am a sunny side kind of person I wanted people to know that sometimes the doctors will sugar coat or even a family member so you don't know everything. I am always of the mind that the more you know the more prepared and possibly helpful you can be. So just because this is the darker side of thyroid cancer it does not mean that you or your loved one wont be just fine after treatment, likelihoods are that you will. But if I have learned anything in my life nothing is a sure thing, especially with such a terrible disease like cancer.

Resources-

1. Personal Experience

2. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/thyroid