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Radioactive iodine treatment

Gem9317
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Hi, I was diagnosed with follicular thyroid cancer in June. I have had my thyroid removed and radioactive iodine treatment has been offered to me to blast out any remaining thyroid cells. The oncologist has told me all the pros and cons of the treatment, but I was hoping for a bit more guidance. If I have the treatment I have a small but increased chance of developing cancer in other areas (due to the radiation). If I don't have the treatment there is a very small risk of thyroid cancer cells still being present. There is an ongoing study to determine if the treatment is worth having for someone with my type of cancer, as the risk of it returning is quite small. Has anyone else gone through the radioactive iodine treatment in the past and thinks it is worth doing?

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    I had radioactive iodine treatment and...based on my experience...well, I don't see any reason to advise against doing it. There are, of course, some risks, the worst being that slight increase in the risk of another cancer in the future, but my impression is that it is slight, especially if your dosage is low.

    It is hard to say if it is worth doing because of course, I have no idea if I would have had a reccurrence without it. But I will say that it is basically a matter of taking a capsule and while the two weeks afterwards are annoying, it does not make you sick or cause pain or anything. I did have a nosebleed about 10 days afterwards that is apparently a side-effect, but that was it.

    Personally what I would do, and what I did, is go with the consultant's recommendation. If they are saying it is completely up to you, then that gets trickier but if they are saying they would reccommend it, then...I would tend to trust them. 

    I am no expert but that is my experience for what it is worth and given two and a half years after treatment.

  • Offline in reply to MargaretMary

    Thank you, I appreciate your reply. That's helped me.

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