Re: OT: treatment

On 2007-03-31, Dawn <dawn.sellick@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
nigel wrote:

Spoiler space for Whiskers and others
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*










Dawn wrote:

I'm still waiting for a proper reply to my letter of complaint about
not being told I had cancer or that I'm still being treated for it.

May I ask what treatment they're giving you? Apologies if the question
is intrusive, but I used to work as a statistician for a pharmaceutical
company and I'm insatiably curious about the medications people are taking.

(And congratulations on still being alive and kicking)

Evil Nigel

I had my thyroid removed because the right half had enlarged inwardly
and was crushing my windpipe. They thought that it had also paralysed
my vocal cord, so removed the left half as well to see. They decided
the thyroid wasn't to blame for that. I was told at my post-op check
that, in the biopsy, they'd found a tiny benign tumour, and that as
removing the thyroid was the cure, nothing else needed to be done.
Fine. Each blood test, however, showed my levels were too low, and my
dose was increased to its current 200mg. When I complained at my
appointment in January that I'm still tired and overweight, agreeing
that my dose is high, twice that of my mother's, who also had to have
her enlarged thyroid removed, the consultant casually said my dose is
high because I had cancer and they need to fool the pituitary gland into
thinking my levels are always high enough that my thyroid gland
(apparently bits can get left behind) isn't stimulated to produce more,
which could then become cancerous.

Doctors have always had this 'don't tell the patient' thing about cancer,
I think. My sister only discovered her prognosis by accident: she was
talking to a nurse who let it slip having assumed that 'someone else'
would have already given the bad news, which had been in the file for
weeks. It seems no-one could pluck up the courage, or something - which
is understandable, and very human, but not all that helpful to the patient
and her family.

My mother's mother had most of her thyroid removed when she was a child
before the 1st world war - leaving her with half her face paralysed - and
was not expected to live. She only discovered it was cancer in the 1960s,
when she was given an early form of radio-therapy which left her with a
large blue mark on her face as well. But she survived and led a full
life, living long enough to see her first great-grandson start school.
She was given plastic surgery in her 80s to improve her speech and eating;
possibly the oldest woman to get a face-lift on the NHS :))

So, my treatment, apparently, I've discovered after being on it for a
year, is 200mg daily of thyroxine. My mother, also without a thyroid,
is on 100mg. I'm now going to see if Boots have managed to get my
prescription urgently, as I've not got any left. If not, I'm going to
get some from my mother. She already has an extra packet that I got for
her as a standby when I was having so many prescriptions due to the
increase in dose that I was able to get more.

Just thought - is this wicked and illegal? Can I add it to my list of
'not being a good girl' rebellion?

Dawn

Just unorthodox thinking-for-yourself <G> Rather sensible, in the
circumstances - and a demonstration of the importance of telling patients
the truth so that they can understand and participate more intelligently
in their own treatment.

Whiskery Hugs {{{{{Dawn}}}}}

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re:OT: treatment
    ... Evil Nigel ... I had my thyroid removed because the right half had enlarged inwardly and was crushing my windpipe. ... When I complained at my appointment in January that I'm still tired and overweight, agreeing that my dose is high, twice that of my mother's, who also had to have her enlarged thyroid removed, the consultant casually said my dose is high because I had cancer and they need to fool the pituitary gland into thinking my levels are always high enough that my thyroid gland isn't stimulated to produce more, which could then become cancerous. ...
    (uk.people.support.depression)
  • Re: OT - Need purrs
    ... technology to treat this very pernicious cancer. ... Her mother, my niece, had sense enough to keep trying to find a doctor to ... diagnosed a malignant tumor growing on and in to her thyroid. ... So, sorry for the long and rambling post, but could you please send purrs ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Recent review articles about thyroid cancer (InTextoResearch)
    ... RET oncogene in MEN2, MEN2B, MTC and other forms of thyroid cancer. ... Endocr Relat Cancer. ... Nat Clin Pract Endocrinol Metab. ...
    (sci.med.diseases.cancer)
  • Re: OT - Need purrs
    ... But I do lurk - and having seen for myself over all those years, just how miraculous is the power of purrs and I'm begging your indulgence and come beg for more. ... However, like my granddaughter, Brooke, even though the cancer was "cured", they told her that she should be on the alert for other types of cancer for the rest of her life. ... The doctors diagnosed a malignant tumor growing on and in to her thyroid. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)
  • Re: OT - Need purrs
    ... power of purrs and I'm begging your indulgence and come beg for more. ... Brooke, even though the cancer was "cured", they told her that she ... The doctors diagnosed a malignant tumor growing on and in to her ... They took only part of the thyroid to get a biopsy. ...
    (rec.pets.cats.anecdotes)