Fw: [snh-sangha] Results of Pathology Report

[http://www.juno.com/~bhavaniowl]

First a joke...

A man isn't feeling well, so he goes to see his doctor. The doctor
examines him, and then asks to speak 
with his wife. The doctor tells his wife that her husband has cancer. The
wife asks "can he be cured?". 
The doctor replies "there's a chance we can cure him with chemotherapy,
but you will need to take care 
of him every day for the next year -- cooking all the meals, cleaning up
the vomit, changing the bed pan, 
driving him to the hospital for daily treatments, and so on". When the
wife comes out to the waiting room,
the husband asks her what the doctor said. The wife answers "he said that
you're going to die".

OK, now that you have had a laugh...the results of the Pathology Report:

FINAL DIAGNOSIS: 
THYROID AND ISTHMUS, LEFT, LOBECTOMY 
ENCAPSULATED ANGIOINVASIVE FOLLICULAR CARCINOMA, 4.2 CM, SEE NOTE 
MULTIPLE LEVELS EXAMINED.

NOTE: THE TUMOR IS AN ENCAPSULATED FOLLICULAR PATTERN NEOPLASM. THERE IS
NO 
DEFINITIVE CAPSULAR INVASION. HOWEVER, THERE ARE AT LEAST 2 FOCI OF
VASCULAR 
INVASION AT THE LEVEL OF THE TUMOR CAPSULE. THE TUMOR IS TOTALLY
INTRATHYROIDAL 
AND DOES NOT SHOW EXTRA THYROIDAL EXTENSION. AJCC PATIENT 3 NXMX.

The simple version, the nodule was malignant (cancerous).

Some details:

? follicular thyroid cancer 10-20% probability
Follicular thyroid cancer occurs most often among individuals between 20
and 60 years of age and accounts for about 10 
percent of thyroid cancer cases. This type of thyroid cancer is more
aggressive and tends to spread through the 
bloodstream to other parts of the body.

Treatment for follicular cancer may include: 
? surgery - to remove the thyroid gland (thyroidectomy) 
? administration of  radioactive iodine - to destroy any remaining
thyroid tissue.

The proactive/agressive treatment is to have a 2nd surgery to remove the
right side of the thyroid (in about 2 months).  After that I 
would have a radioactive iodine treatment (in the form of a single pill).
 Assuming all that goes well, I would take to take thyroid meds
for the rest of my life.

This cancer can spread (usually to the bone or lungs via the
bloodstream), so that would have to me monitored.

Other interest bits:  Once the radioactive iodine pill is taken, they can
scan to see if the cancer has spread.  It is possible
for the radioactive iodine to kill cancer cells that have spread (not a
certainty).

On the flip side, I can do nothing.  It's very likely that the right
thyroid is not malignant given the biopsy of the small
nodule.  Although the spreading of the cancer is still possible.

I need to do some research before I make a decision.  I have two months
to decide (when the second surgery is scheduled).

That's it for now.

Robert