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Suggest Treatment For Recurrance Of Papillary Thyroid Cancer

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Posted on Sat, 22 Feb 2014
Question: I had surgery for papillary thyroid cancer in 2009 and XXXXXXX treatment.Reoccurrnce in July 2013.Had neck dissection at that time.After surgery my endo told me he wanted to wait until I was healed to begin XXXXXXX regimen and told me there was no risk in waiting.I begin XXXXXXX in March. Question 1- Is this wait unusual and is what are the benefits and risks of waiting? Question 2-I am quite concerned about the possible damage to salivary glands and want to know the best way to avoid damage.Is it the amount of Rai?What precautions should I take to avoid damage.
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Answered by Dr. Chobufo Ditah (3 hours later)
Brief Answer: There is no harm and timeline not exact! Detailed Answer: Hi and thank you so much for this query. I am so sorry to hear about this cancer. I have reviewed all the inforation you have provide and below are the answers to your questions. 1. There are no clear benefits or risks. the most important thing is to follow up surgery with this treatment so as to ensure that the remaining cancerous cells are destroyed. Please, be informed that the risk of having hypothyroidism is huge and you may need to take thyroid supplements after the XXXXXXX 2. The side effect to the salivary glans is most often temporal and relieved with pain medications. there is nothing specific that can be done about it. Remember, not everyone who take XXXXXXX develops this side effect butt some. It means it is not mandatory that you would come down with this side effect. If it should, we would try to mange them and make you feel better. Toxicity is not related to the amount of XXXXXXX as dosage is standardized according to the patients age, weight, pathology report etc. I hope this addresses your query fully. Thank you so much for patronizing our services and please do feel free to ask for follow up clarifications and information if need be. I wish you the best of health. Dr. Ditah, MD.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Follow up: Dr. Chobufo Ditah (24 minutes later)
Did not understand "risk of hypothyroidism-may need to take thyroid supplements" I am already taking 137 synthroid daily-is that what you meant? Does keeping mouth hydrated(gum ,mints,lozenges) help reduce chance of damage to salivary glands during XXXXXXX treatment? What excatly causes the damage? Thank You XXXX
doctor
Answered by Dr. Chobufo Ditah (3 hours later)
Brief Answer: Thanks for this precision Detailed Answer: Hi and thank you so much for this precision. Well, because of the first surgery you are already on this supplement. It means it wouldn't be any new observation. Sorry for the repetition. We do not know why patients develop side effects with XXXXXXX to the salivary glands. We can only hypothesize that radiations concentrated around these organs would probably be the cause. But I do not for sure know why. Staying hydrated, eating healthy would help but there have been no studies to show that there are differences in the proportion of people who develop complications doing these and those who don't. It is a healthy habit and I will encourage you to adopt and practice even if it is not for the direct benefit to this effect. I hope this helps. Ii wish you well. Dr. Ditah, MD.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Dr. Chobufo Ditah

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :2009

Answered : 6323 Questions

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Suggest Treatment For Recurrance Of Papillary Thyroid Cancer

Brief Answer: There is no harm and timeline not exact! Detailed Answer: Hi and thank you so much for this query. I am so sorry to hear about this cancer. I have reviewed all the inforation you have provide and below are the answers to your questions. 1. There are no clear benefits or risks. the most important thing is to follow up surgery with this treatment so as to ensure that the remaining cancerous cells are destroyed. Please, be informed that the risk of having hypothyroidism is huge and you may need to take thyroid supplements after the XXXXXXX 2. The side effect to the salivary glans is most often temporal and relieved with pain medications. there is nothing specific that can be done about it. Remember, not everyone who take XXXXXXX develops this side effect butt some. It means it is not mandatory that you would come down with this side effect. If it should, we would try to mange them and make you feel better. Toxicity is not related to the amount of XXXXXXX as dosage is standardized according to the patients age, weight, pathology report etc. I hope this addresses your query fully. Thank you so much for patronizing our services and please do feel free to ask for follow up clarifications and information if need be. I wish you the best of health. Dr. Ditah, MD.