Thyroid Cancer Support Group

Hi everyone- I am finally starting to feel better after a thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine treatment. You will start feeling better too :-) ! I recently discovered I might have gardner's syndrome or FAP, a disease which starts out with colon polyps that eventually turn into cancer. One of the symptoms of gardners is papillary thyroid cancer. I live out in the sticks, so when I brought up my concerns with my doctors, they had no answers. So I drove 100 miles to Boston to Mass General Hospital hereditary gastrointestinl cancer center and spoke with them. They think I might have attenuated gardners, which is a slower onset of the disease. I suspect that my mother and maternal grandmoter may have passed away from this disease. I had blood drawn for genetic testing which takes about a month so I should know in mid December '07. If you have a strong family history of gastrointestinal/breast/ovarian cancers, and you have papillary thyroid cancer, it might be worth getting screened for gardners. A good place to start is with a colonoscopy. Not everyone needs genetic testing. Because I already have many of the signs and due to family history, genetic testing was recommended. NOTE- this is a RARE disease and you prolly don't have it. I figure so many people go on the internet, if I can help 1 or 2 I'll be happy. I am a little freaked out about the possibility of having gardners but it can be managed if caught early, especially the slower or attenuated type. Happy Thanksgiving and hugs, cherry
Posted on 11/18/07, 08:11 am