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ThyCa NEWS
NOTES IN THIS ISSUE
ThyCa Names Physicians From Four States and France to Medical Advisory Council ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. is pleased to announce that six distinguished physicians have been named to its Medical Advisory Council, which now has 28 members. These specialists are involved in thyroid cancer treatment and research at major centers in several states and France. They include two endocrinologists, two medical oncologists, and two surgeons,
The 28 members of ThyCa’s Medical Advisory Council are world- recognized experts in the field of thyroid cancer. The advisors provide valuable counsel and support ThyCa's goals in education, treatment, and research. Also on the Medical Advisory Council are:
The Medical Advisors page linked from ThyCa’s web site Home Page gives the names, specialties, and affiliations of all the Medical Advisory Council members. More than 50 distinguished specialists provide ongoing review and input for ThyCa’s web site and materials. The web site has more than 650 pages of thyroid cancer information, numerous free downloadable publications, connections with support services and support group meetings, workshop and conference announcements, and other resources. Nevada’s Second ThyCa Support Group Begins Meeting in Reno Welcome to our newest Support Group, ThyCa Reno, Nevada. The group’s first meeting will be on February 10, 2009. Marta Brown and Marion Hammond are the volunteer Co-Facilitators. Before moving to Reno, Marion founded and facilitated the ThyCa Baltimore, MD, Support Group. Communities around the United States and in Costa Rica and Philippines have local thyroid cancer support groups. You’re cordially invited to contact the group facilitator nearest you and attend meetings, or simply show up. Advance registration isn’t required. At local support group meetings, you have the opportunity to meet and talk with others in your community face to face. The participants share their experiences, strength, and hope. You learn more about your community’s health care resources. You experience camaraderie and connections with others who live near you and are also coping with thyroid cancer. Family members and friends are welcome to attend. Each local support group is facilitated by one or more ThyCa volunteers. You’ll find each group’s meeting schedule, location, facilitator contact information, and other details on the support group’s web page. The Find Support section of our web site connects you with all the local support groups. Spreading
“The Word” In My Workplace Sometimes the strangest things happen at work; you just never know. I am a three-year survivor of thyroid cancer and I always wear my ThyCa Awareness Bracelet to work. I have been asked a few times about what it represents and I explain what it means. Recently, though, I have had two opportunities to offer support and encouragement to my co- workers who were in need of thyroid cancer information. I work at a retirement community that has a skilled nursing facility. One staff member has a daughter who needed a fine needle aspiration biopsy of a nodule in her neck. She came to me because she knew I had this procedure done due to my thyroid cancer and asked a lot of questions, most of which I could answer from experience. I gave her ThyCa’s website address and I went online and got her more information. She felt better sorting things out with someone “who had been there” already. She has Hashimoto’s and is pushing her doctor to follow her condition more closely now. Her daughter is doing fine now – and, happily, doesn’t have cancer. My second opportunity came when another co-worker came and told me she was just diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Someone told her that I had it and suggested she might feel less scared after talking with me. As is usual with anyone who is told they have cancer, she was frightened and upset. She had been having fullness in her neck and a cough. Her primary care physician initially thought it was sinus trouble. Finally, after some time, he sent her to an ear, nose, and throat specialist, who did the biopsy and found follicular cells. She is waiting for her surgery, scheduled to take place in a couple of months. She was very concerned about the surgery, how limiting it would be, how painful it would be, etc. She helps care for family members and thought this would interfere greatly with her duties. I told her of my experience with thyroid cancer and showed her my scar. I have to admit that my scar is almost invisible and that gave her some comfort. We talked for a while, and when she was leaving, I gave her a reassuring hug. Later that day, the person who sent her to me reported that she did feel better after speaking to me. She comes and we talk, not every day, but when she leaves she always tells me I have given her strength. I like helping her, and it makes me feel better as well. I am just glad I could help these two people by giving them support, explaining this disease to them, giving them the information that they needed, steering them in the direction of ThyCa, and showing them that even though they have cancer and are scared, that they can get through it all and also that there are people who will help when you need help. And, that’s why I volunteer for ThyCa. Be on the lookout at work – you never know when you will be needed! No
Such Thing As “Good Cancer” We’ve all heard it at one time or another: “If you have to get cancer, then this is the one to get.” “Thyroid cancer is good cancer,” and similar statements. These comments fail to take into account just how serious and complex thyroid cancer can be. Those of us who have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer know these statements aren’t true. There is no “good cancer.” Telling someone diagnosed with papillary or follicular thyroid cancer that he or she has an excellent prognosis for a long life of living with thyroid cancer is reasonable. Telling the same person that he/she has “good cancer” diminishes both how dangerous the disease can be, and what the person diagnosed is going through. Medical professionals need to speak to us in the same way they discuss any other cancer, so that we will realize how important lifetime monitoring is even when we have a good prognosis. Not clearly delivering this message can lead survivors to not understand how important lifetime monitoring and follow-up are to managing their thyroid cancer. To put things in context, when someone feels poorly and goes to the doctor for a checkup, the doctor may say, “you have a bad cold.” How can a person be told he or she has a “bad cold,” but can have “good cancer”? It’s quick and easy to sign up to receive our free online newsletter, plus announcements of ThyCa events and activities. Just fill out our Guestbook form. To protect each person’s privacy, the mailing list is for the sole use of ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association, Inc., and its affiliates. ThyCa does not ever sell, share, or give away any contact information. Our web site has more than 650 pages. More than 50 distinguished physicians plus numerous other specialists provide ongoing input and review. We greatly appreciate the wonderful support of these medical specialists. Recent additions: The web site expands nearly every week. Visit www.thyca.org often for the latest information updates, the schedules of local support group meetings, and news about special events. And let us know if you have ideas for additional web site content, as well as additional questions to be answered by physicians. E-mail your ideas to thyca@thyca.org. This is our web site, and it benefits from everyone's contribution. It's also a great way to start being involved! Help us sustain, strengthen, and extend our services. We invite you to join ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. Your membership dues will support ThyCa's efforts to reach and serve other survivors and their families around the world. You may join as a one-year member ($25), two-year member ($45), or lifetime member ($225). For our secure online Membership form and our mailed Membership form, go to our Membership page.. Low-Iodine
Recipe
of the Month Banana-Nut Griddle Cakes Beat 2 egg whites
with 2 Tablespoons sugar. Recipe makes about 8 pancakes. Judy says, “These were so delicious you wouldn't know the difference from regular pancakes.” Thank you, Judy! Your recipe will be added to the next edition of the FREE Downloadable Low-Iodine Cookbook. Download the 6th edition of the Low-Iodine Cookbook, with more than 250 favorite recipes from more than 100 generous volunteers. This free cookbook is a wonderful help when you’re preparing to receive radioactive iodine for treatment or testing. The recipes are also great for family meals and for potlucks, any time. If you’d like to contribute your favorite recipe or tip to the cookbook’s next edition, send it to recipes@thyca.org. Awareness
Story: I Am a Thyroid Cancer Survivor I am a 41-year-old mother of 4, grandmother of 3, thyroid cancer survivor and work full time as an Administrative Assistant. I am Blessed! I have had Trigeminal Neuralgia for the last 12 years. Since I have had this nerve damage and pain I have seen numerous doctors, from neurologist to maxi-facial surgeons. While under the care of my surgeon, I asked him about a lump I felt under my neck towards the left side. I asked him to feel it, hoping he might be able to tell me what it could be. He felt it, pushed on it (which was a little painful) and suggested that I get a CT Scan. I went to have this done and he later sent me to see an ear, nose, and throat doctor (ENT). The ENT sent me to get a fine needle aspiration (FNA) with ultrasound guidance to better determine what was going on. Once I received my date for this I called the man in my life who loves and cares about me very much, Richard, to tell him that this was the next step. He told me not to worry and that he would be flying in from active military duty to be with me when I had this FNA done. On July 24, 2006, I was sitting in my office when I received the call that changed my life forever. I was told that I was diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma and would have surgery in about 30 days. I hung up the phone and called Richard. Of course my being upset didn’t make him comfortable being so far away from me. He told me everything would be all right and that he would be with me when I had the surgery. Later that day, my son Darryl, who was celebrating his 14th birthday, walked into my office and saw how upset I was and asked what was wrong. I told him and he said, “Mom don’t you worry, there is nothing God can’t handle.” I told him I was scared and he said he was too but God will have his hands on those doctors and I would be all right. I then said ok, I will! As I sat in my office the rest of that day I began to think of all the people I had to tell. The more people I thought about the more I became upset and cried. As I sat thinking I kept saying to myself: do I go home and call everyone or do I go do this in person and we all cry together and I feel better knowing I have their support as I go through this horrible thing called Cancer. So, I called my three other children while still in my office and then left work to head to my mother’s to break the news. This was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to tell her, especially face to face. When I told her, she just broke down, asking the same question I had been asking myself all that day…why me? After getting the worst part out I began to tell her everything I was told and included that I would have the surgery in 30 days. I decided to have my surgery on August 24, 2006. A few months after the surgery, I was admitted to the hospital again for confinement after radioactive iodine. I say to you all: it wasn’t easy after finding out that I was hit by Cancer but having people in my life like Richard, my mother, my sister, my children and a large group of family, friends near and far, and other people who cared about me, made it much easier for me to realize that I can do this. I can make it…. I want to tell anyone that has gone through this I join you as a CANCER SURVIVOR. For those of you who have not been through anything like this, now is the time to make yourself more knowledgeable about this. There is so much more information available to you to make you aware of Thyroid Cancer and the effects and signs to help you detect it early. Since this has changed my life I tell everyone about it. I want them to be aware. I challenge all of you to get information, take the time to look into what Thyroid Cancer is … if you are not sure, talk to your doctor about it. I ask that you take a few moments and go online to www.thyca.org and find out all you want to and need to know. ThyCa offers support, information, and much more, FREE of charge. Always encourage and help others to gain knowledge and be aware of things they are in need of knowing. Support THYROID CANCER AWARENESS AND SURVIVORS by supporting www.thyca.org (Editors’ Note: Our thanks to Yolanda for helping raise awareness of thyroid cancer with ThyCa brochures and handouts at Bally Total Fitness in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, in Fall 2008.) We welcome new volunteers at any time. To learn about volunteer opportunities, visit our Volunteer page. We believe that no one should have to be alone when facing thyroid cancer. Our free support services are offered with this as our main goal. We thank everyone for giving your time and talents to making possible our free services, publications, and events. We’re grateful to you for reaching out to others worldwide, to help connect them with ThyCa’s many free support services and educational resources.
Visit the website for details. Download the conference flyer and help spread the word. Every day, thousands of people with thyroid cancer, and their families, receive support, education, and hope from ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association. Your generous support is what makes it possible to sustain, strengthen, and expand our services and outreach. It only takes a minute to make a secure donation online in support of ThyCa's work (or you are welcome to donate by mail), so click here to give. If you have questions about thyroid cancer, please send them to thyca@thyca.org and we’ll answer your question in an upcoming newsletter as well as adding to our web site content. ThyCa
NEWS NOTES Thank you to our writing, editing, and proofreading team for this issue of the newsletter: Leah Guljord, Pat Paillard, Yolanda Roberts, Judy Smith, Cherry Wunderlich, and Gary Bloom. Your suggestions for articles are welcome. The deadline for articles and news items is the first day of each month. Please share News Notes with your family and friends. For permission to reprint in another electronic or print publication, please contact us at outreach@thyca.org. News Notes are also published on our website. ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association, Inc. is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) organization (tax ID #52-2169434) of thyroid cancer survivors, family members, and health care professionals. We are dedicated to support, education, and communication for thyroid cancer survivors, their families and friends, as well as to public awareness for early detection, treatment, and lifetime health monitoring, and to thyroid cancer research fundraising and research grants. Contact us for free awareness materials and information about our free services and special events. E-mail thyca@thyca.org, call 1-877-588-7904, fax 1-630-604-6078, write PO Box 1102, Olney, MD 20830-1102, or visit our website. |
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