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ThyCa NEWS NOTES
December 2006

News from ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.

FREE SUPPORT SERVICES GROW

TPPN Offers One-To-One Support, Matched by Diagnosis

Want to communicate with a ThyCa volunteer who has the same type of thyroid cancer as you? Contact the ThyCa Person To Person Network. Our TPPN has just completed its seventh year of successful service to growing numbers of thyroid cancer survivors. Our wonderful TPPN volunteers offer support, understanding, and the opportunity to share experiences one-to-one.

We have volunteers with every type of thyroid cancer. Peggy Melton, ThyCa Board Member and facilitator of the ThyCa Dallas, Texas, Support Group, coordinates the Network. For more information, and to request a match with a TPPN volunteer, visit http://www.thyca.org/tppn.htm.

Local Support Groups’ Schedule for 2007 Now Available

More than 60 communities in the US and Philippines now have local ThyCa support groups. The groups’ monthly meetings are wonderful places to meet other thyroid cancer survivors and caregivers in your area and to discuss your experiences with your thyroid cancer.

The complete list of meetings already scheduled for 2007 is now available on our web site. New groups are also in development.

If there’s a group in your area, you’re welcome to attend. You do not need to register in advance. We invite you to contact the volunteer support group facilitator nearest you and to attend meetings if you can. For the web pages for all the groups, visit http://www.thyca.org/sg/local.htm

New E-Mail Support Group Will Focus on Childbearing and Thyroid Cancer

ThyCa’s nine e-mail support groups had more than 8,500 participants by early December. ThyCa’s tenth free e-mail support group will begin soon. The Childbearing and Thyroid Cancer Support Group welcomes thyroid cancer survivors who are coping with pregnancy, maternity, and parenting issues. The group will offer a place to share experiences and offer understanding and support.

The volunteer moderators are Jennifer Fryns, ThyCa Person To Person Network Volunteer, and Peggy Melton, Coordinator of ThyCa’s Person To Person Network. The ThyCa Support Groups section of www.thyca.org will soon have details about the new group and how to join it.

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HAVE YOU VISITED ThyCa’s WEB SITE LATELY?

Our web site grows every week and now has more than 600 pages of content. It receives more than 200,000 visits each month.

Thank you to the more than 50 distinguished physician specialists, plus many other specialists, who provide ongoing input and review for the web site’s medical information.

• In the Newly Diagnosed section (http://www.thyca.org/newly_diagnosed.htm), you’ll find dozens of topics. Included are lists of questions to ask your doctor; links to find a thyroid specialist physician in your community; and lots of information about the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up for each type of thyroid cancer.
• The Pediatric Thyroid Cancer Site (http://www.thyca.org/pediatric/index.htm) has the latest information about the care of children and adolescents with differentiated thyroid cancer (papillary and follicular) and medullary thyroid cancer. It also has several family stories, plus helpful tips for family-physician interactions. Our thanks to the physician specialists who gave input and review of all the medical information.
• The Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Site (http://www.thyca.org/atc/) has added more details from Trish, one of the long-term ATC survivors, about her experience. The ATC site has several other ATC Journey stories, plus caregivers’ perspectives and extensive medical information.
• Medullary thyroid cancer information is available in the Newly Diagnosed, Pediatric, and Links sections. The new Medullary Thyroid Cancer Site being developed will be added to ThyCa’s site.
• The Clinical Trials section (http://www.thyca.org/clinical_trials.htm) gives links to major databases with details and contacts for the current clinical trials for all types of thyroid cancer. This section also gives background information about clinical trials.
• The Local Support Groups section (http://www.thyca.org/sg/local.htm) gives you the monthly meeting dates and locations of all the local ThyCa support groups. If you live near a group, you’re welcome to come, or you may contact the group’s volunteer facilitator first, to start meeting other thyroid cancer survivors and caregivers in your community.

Thank you to everyone who contributes to our Web site: the Coordinators, Joel Amromin and Betty Solbjor; the dozens of Publications Committee volunteers, and the numerous physicians and other specialists who contribute to www.thyca.org.

Visit our web site often, for the latest news and updates.

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MORE FREE SPANISH LANGUAGE MATERIALS AVAILABLE FROM ThyCa

We’re proud to announce that our Spanish translation project is expanding. Our web site has added several new flyers in Spanish. You can download them free of charge from http://www.thyca.org/espanol.htm.

Titles now available in both Spanish and English include:

• About Thyroid Cancer
• Fine Needle Aspiration of the Thyroid: The Patient’s Guide
• Thyroid Cancer Facts
• Low-Iodine Diet for Patients Preparing To Receive Radioiodine
• Know Your Pills

These and our other free materials are also available by mail. Please contact us at thyca@thyca.org or by mail at ThyCa, P.O. Box 1145, New York, NY 10159-1545 or by fax to 1-530-604-6078.

We plan to add more materials in Spanish early in 2007. The medical materials all receive review by Spanish-speaking physicians specializing in thyroid cancer care.

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ThyCa WILL AWARD TWO NEW GRANTS FOR THYROID CANCER RESEARCH
100% of Funds Go to Research.

We are proud to announce the call for proposals for ThyCa’s two new research grants to be awarded in 2007. Proposals are due by January 31, 2007.

These will be the seventh and eighth research grants to be awarded by ThyCa. The expert panel of the American Thyroid Association will select the grant recipients.

ThyCa grants are open to researchers at all institutions worldwide. The grants also continue ThyCa’s funding of thyroid cancer research grants funded entirely by thyroid cancer patients, caregivers, and friends. For more information about the 2007 grants, visit http://www.thyca.org/news/proposals07.htm.

Thank you to everyone who supports ThyCa through your volunteer efforts and your financial donations.

Together, we are making a difference in our dream of finding cures for everyone with our disease!

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THANK YOU, ThyCa VOLUNTEERS!

In 2006, more than 250 dedicated ThyCa volunteers provided our support services, outreach, publications, and administration.

Around the globe, more than 100 additional volunteers distributed ThyCa materials.

And worldwide, many thousands of thyroid cancer survivors, family members, friends, and health care professionals wear Thyroid Cancer Awareness Wristbands and Pins. You also wear, display, and give our other Spirit items, helping raise awareness and spread the word.

Thank you, everyone!

We welcome new volunteers at any time. To find out more, visit “Volunteering for ThyCa” (http://www.thyca.org/volunteer.htm).

If you’d like to download or send for free materials to help raise awareness of the importance of early detection of thyroid cancer and lifelong monitoring, visit this page (http://www.thyca.org/awareness.htm).

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THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS!

Another record-setting year of services and support has been made possible by the wonderfully generous contributions of time, in-kind contributions, and financial donations from our members, our individual donors, and numerous organizations.

We thank you all.

If you would like to help ThyCa sustain and strengthen our free support services and resources to people around the globe, please visit the HOW TO HELP section of www.thyca.org.

Donations of any size are welcome and will make a difference to the well-being of others. All donations are acknowledged with a letter of thanks by our volunteers. We send these out as quickly as possible.

When you donate to ThyCa, you can be assured that your personal contact information is never sold, loaned, or shared with anyone or any organization.

We thank you for your wonderful support.

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MARK THE DATES!

For 2007, our web site’s Calendar of Events previews the following events.

• Every Month: Free monthly meetings of local support groups
• Spring 2007: Free one-day regional Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Workshops. Check the web site for more details, contact thyca@thyca.org or call 1-877-588-7904
• September 2007: Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month. Plus year-round awareness campaigns and free materials
• October 19-21, 2007. The 10th International Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Conference in San Francisco, California, on October 19-21, 2007
• October 20, 2007. The 6th Annual Dinner/Auction to Support Thyroid Cancer Research in San Francisco, California.

Our Calendar will add further events and updates. For details, visit http://www.thyca.org/calendar.htm.

Also coming early in 2007 — The next issues of:

• ThyCa Journeys, our free online newsletter, and
• Membership Messenger, the newsletter mailed to ThyCa members.

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SEASON’S GREETINGS

We wish all our readers a healthy and safe holiday season and all the best in the coming year.

Copyright (c) 2006 ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association, Inc. We encourage you to send these News Notes to your family and friends. For permission to reprint in another electronic or print publication, please contact us.

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 public awareness for early detection, lifetime health monitoring, and thyroid cancer research fundraising and research grants. E-mail thyca@thyca.org, or call 1-877-588-7904, or visit www.thyca.org.