Stillwater Cancer Care Center......a second surgery?

So, the staples are out.  I have gone back to work and now it's time to start seeing my oncologist.  Paul and I really weren't all that sure what to expect.  We knew I would have to go through treatment but that was all and it seemed rather obvious.  Most generally cancer=treatment.

We got to the Cancer Care Center and met my oncologist.  I loved my nurse.  She was absolutely wonderful.  Now my doctor on the other hand...he was nice, but odd.  Paul and I figured to have a specialty like and oncology, they must all be that way.  At first I didn't have that great of a first impression, but the more I got use to him the more I liked him. 

The doctor looked at my scar and said it was healing nicely.  Apparently the scar had to be healed in order to do treatment.  He then looked at my chart and suddenly had a puzzled look on his face.  I asked him what was wrong and he asked...so the surgeon only removed the thyroid and one lymph  node?  I told him from what I understood, yes.  He proceeded to say that wasn't acceptable and that I would have to have a right neck disection before I could go through treatment.

I think he could tell by the look on my husband's and my face that we were in shock...based off the look on  his face, he was not happy at all.  He then went on to explain that considering cancer was found in the lymph node that the surgeon should have removed all of them from the right side of my neck.  If they aren't he would have to give me more of the Radioactive Iodine (RAI or I-131:  http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/ThyroidCancer/DetailedGuide/thyroid-cancer-treating-radioactive-iodine) and if he did that I would be at risk of developing Leukemia.  Well, I don't want that...dealing with cancer is enough, I didn't need to add leukemia to the list, but I didn't want another surgery either.  Even though I wasn't able to go through treatment just yet, there were other things I was able to accomplish...like having a PET Scan (http://www.petscaninfo.com/zportal/portals/pat/cancer), a Body Scan, blood work, ect.  I was also told about the Low-Iodine diet (http://thyca.org/rai.htm) I will have to go on once I was able to go through treatment.  But first, I had to have the right neck disection...which meant I had to go back to the ENT and I didn't want to do that.

Side note/rant...okay, so I'm not happy that I'm facing a second surgery.  My family and I have talked about this several times and it has brought up several questions.  Why isn't there some type of protocol to follow when it come to Thyroid Cancer or cancer surgery in general?  There is no way or reason as to why I'm facing a second surgery.  Is it because the nodule was missed during the biopsy?  Is the communication between surgeons and the Cancer Care Center lacking?  Just what is the issue....okay, rant over (for now).

The body scan, PET Scan and the appointment with the ENT got scheduled.  The two scans weren't all that bad.  Meeting with the ENT was...I went to my appointment and was informed that (ugh, still frustrates me) he will not do the second surgery.  He told me that the technology in Stillwater and his skills are not advanced enough to the the right neck disection.  So, he will be sending me to a doctor in the OKC.  Great, not only am I under the care of two ot three doctors in Stillwater, now I get to make trips back and forth to Oklahoma City.  This just keeps getting better.  While speaking with my ENT, I had made mention that Paul and I were talking about going to the bowl game.  I was wondering if it would be possible this could all be done before hand.  At the time we weren't sure which bowl we would be going to, but I would love to be able to go if possible.  Yep, should have seen the look on his face.  You would have thought I had asked the impossible and I was putting him out.  I'm so glad I'm no longer under his care.

Another side note:  I bet you all are thinking I have forgotten that I had made mention I was going through fertility treatment because of PCOS....I haven't.  It was during this time there was a couple of news stories linking fertility treatments to Thyroid Cancer (http://infertility.about.com/od/infertilitytreatments/i/drugrisk_cancer_2.htm, http://thestir.cafemom.com/pregnancy/7284/Do_Fertility_Drugs_Increase_Thyroid).  I actually asked my oncologist and his nurse if this was possible and they said anything is possible when it comes to Thyroid Cancer.  There is no definate known cause (http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/ThyroidCancer/DetailedGuide/thyroid-cancer-what-causes) and it is the fastest growing type of cancer (http://www.examiner.com/article/thyca-groups-provide-support-for-fastest-growing-cancer-u-s).

I finally got a call from OU Medical Center...I have an appointment with my new doctor.  This was either right before or right after Thanksgiving, I really can't remember.  I LOVE this doctor.  He talks with you and not at or down to you.  Boy, I sure wish I had gone to him from the beginning of all this mess.  I had to have another ultra sound.  He wanted to know how things look since the first surgery and see if a second one is really needed.  He also took a picture of my scar because they (he and his research students) are trying to figure out a way to make the scars from Thyroid surgeries smaller.

We scheduled the test and made an appointment to get the results.