So... I have cancer. Again.

Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma to be exact.  Stage 4a.
Google that for a fun read.  

Back in early December I felt a lump on my neck.  I waited a week for it to go down, it didn't, so I got in to see my oncologist who immediately ordered a PET scan.  I had the scan the Monday before Christmas.  Results on Friday the day after Christmas.  Turns out my thyroid lit up pretty brightly on the scan (usually means cancer) and my lymph node was lighting up a little.  Biopsies ordered.  The same day I had a needle biopsy of my lymph node.  We couldn't biopsy the the thyroid at that point because it's too far in your neck to do without ultrasound guidance, so that was schedule for the next week.  Results from both biopsies were inconclusive.  "Puzzled" was the word the doctor used.  The results indicated thyroid cancer but we couldn't be totally sure.  They needed a bigger chunk of tissue.  

Last Tuesday I had surgery to remove my right thyroid and most of the right lymph node.  We finally got the pathology results back and I have a rare thyroid cancer -- medullary thyroid carcinoma.  We are (slightly) relieved it was not recurring Hodgkins lymphoma, as that would require more chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. The treatment for this particular cancer is more surgery.  And that's probably it.  We may do radiation but that is to be determined.  And regular CT scans to monitor everything.  

We are leaving for the MAYO Clinic in Minnesota on Sunday.  I have an appointment Monday morning with a specialist there.  They will hopefully schedule surgery for Tuesday or Wednesday.   They will remove the other half of my thyroid and any remaining lymph nodes, along with a lot of other tissue in my neck. 

We had some BIG questions when we finally knew what was happening.  

 Was this caused by pregnancy?  I have developed cancer shortly after each pregnancy.  Although neither of these cancers is known to develop after having a baby, my doctor did say that pregnancy suppresses your immune system, so it wasn't working as hard to fight off cancer.   He also said that my Hodgkins and this thyroid cancer weren't related in any way - it's just really bad luck.  I was referred to the Cancer Geneticists at Lemmen-Holten for more testing.   

Today we killed some time at the mall and picked up hard copies of all my medical records to take with us to MAYO.  Little Miss Cutiepants got a special hot chocolate. 

There's a lot happening around here. If you have questions about anything I may have missed I will try and answer them in the comments. 

 At least I don't need more chemo.  Silver lining?