What happens after treatment for thyroid cancer?
After your treatment is over, it is very important to keep all follow-up appointments. During these visits, your doctors will ask about symptoms, examine you, and may order blood tests or imaging studies such as radioiodine scans or CT scans. Follow-up is needed to check for cancer recurrence or spread, as well as possible side effects of certain treatments. This is the time for you to ask your health care team any questions you need answered and to discuss any concerns you might have. Because most people do very well after treatment, follow-up care can continue for a lifetime. This is very important since thyroid cancers grow slowly and can recur even 10 to 20 years after initial treatment. Your health care team will explain what tests you need and how often they should be done. If you have had a papillary or follicular cancer, and your thyroid gland has been completely removed and ablated, your doctors will do at least one radioactive iodine scan after your initial treatment is compl
Completing treatment can be both stressful and exciting. You will be relieved to finish treatment, yet it is hard not to worry about cancer coming back. (When cancer returns, it is called recurrence.) This is a very common concern among those who have had cancer. It may take a while before your confidence in your own recovery begins to feel real and your fears are somewhat relieved. Even with no recurrences, people who have had cancer learn to live with uncertainty. Follow-up Care After your treatment is over, it is very important to keep all follow-up appointments. During these visits, your doctors will ask about symptoms, examine you, and may order blood tests or imaging studies such as radioiodine scans or CT scans. Follow-up is needed to check for cancer recurrence or spread, as well as possible side effects of certain treatments. This is the time for you to ask your health care team any questions you need answered and to discuss any concerns you might have. Because most people do
After cancer happens thyroid: Minnesota Twins pitcher Craig Breslow has the tools to beat cancer Pioneer Press, MN From that awful moment, the day his 14-year-old sister first underwent surgery for thyroid cancer , sprouted a lot of great ones, with the prospect of many more. One of them came last Nov. 8 in Woodbridge, Conn.