where to go for recurrent thyroid cancer?

I would answer, it depends on where you live. We have a number of excellent cancer hospitals in the US, and some have a high level of experience in thyroid/head & neck, endocrinological disease.
Some are: Mayo, MD Anderson in Texas, Memorial Sloan Kettering in NY/NJ, Cleveland Clinic .
I live in NJ and went to MSK.
The teams at these centers have seen it all. You would be in very good hands.

It depends upon where you live and what options are available. I would recommend a practice tat specializes in Thyroid cancer.

I am in Arizona and was diagnosed by my endocrinologist (12/2021), who was very thorough and really cared about her patients, and then found a specialized surgeon. My first surgery (1/2022: TT with lymph node dissection) was performed at a specialty surgical center. Then I was diagnosed two months later with breast cancer so I moved all my care to Mayo. My PTC tumor levels never completely went away, even after RAI (8/2022). Monitoring went on and I had another surgery to remove more affected lymph nodes (6/2026) and they cannot schedule me in sooner than the end of September for my surgical follow-up with my endocrinologist. My Mayo endo wasn't even aware that you cannot cut Tirosint (which is a gel cap) as they wanted me to add a half dose once a week.

Mayo in Rochester would be the place to be for Thyroid cancer as that is where they have their specialists. Mayo in Arizona has had a lot of endocrinologists retire recently and that staffing is not adequate and not fully trained for the number of patients they have. I miss my previous endocrinologist and her care, yet sadly she is now retiring too. I will say that my experience has been mired by being on my 4th assigned endocrinologist at Mayo alone.

With that said, one really needs to stay on top of advocating for yourself in this current health care world. It is exhausting, especially while going through cancer. You know your body best and push for the proper care where ever you decide. All the best and you got this!

@kmlnj
I live relatively close to Mayo, so it makes sense to go there. I just don't know if I should go to one of the other places you mentioned since this is recurrent rather than my first time having thyroid cancer. Is this "worse," and therefore needs "the best" care?

@seagoat3
I am so sorry you had thyroid cancer and then breast cancer right after that. I don't understand why the doctors don't check for a variety of cancers before undergoing surgery for one cancer. How did the doctors know which lymph nodes to remove for your second thyroid cancer surgery? Why did the doctors decide to remove the lymph nodes rather than watch them under active surveillance every 6 months? I don't know which makes me more nervous-having a second neck surgery to remove the affected lymph nodes or doing active monitoring at the risk it will spread before they decide to remove the nodes. How much worse is the second surgery? Did it take longer to recover? Is the incision a lot bigger? I didn't think the first surgery was too bad...

If I lived near Mayo, I would feel confident that I was in good hands.

This depends on what treatment you'll require now, I suspect. If Mayo is nearby enough, it would seem a good option. A recurrence that seems complicated, and possibly made more complex in terms of treatment approach, by your more recent salivary gland cancer, truly needs specialist approach. Does your recent lymph node biopsy indicate particular genetic mutations/profiles? Did you have genetic testing done? I'd start with research into the specialists you may need. Sloan-Kettering, Mayo, MD Anderson, UCLA, et al are all renowned and can treat you, along with other cancer centers of excellence. However, they each have their strengths and weaknesses. It's up to us as patients to do the work and that work, unfortunately, has to take place when we least feel able to cope with it. If you're going to have to make muliple trips to see doctors, and there's a cancer center of repute nearby, as others have said here, it is a great place to start. Good luck and please keep us updated.

@bojibenz I was having pain in my right shoulder that wasn't going away after my initial PTC diagnosis and surgery. They removed my thyroid and 15 lymph nodes (4 of which had cancer). My doctor told me to go to PT for my shoulder pain, but I had already been through everything for it. I was dismissed until I called my OBGYN and they got me in for an exam the same day. My mammogram had missed the breast cancer and it showed up on subsequent ultrasound and MRI. I had a DMX with immediate reconstruction (that surgery outcome is a whole other story). They put off my RAI until I was recovered from my surgeries for the breast cancer.
I had the RAI in 8/2022 and they have monitored me ever since as my tumor levels never fully dropped. They monitored me for 4 years with blood work and ultrasounds until a lymph node in my right neck was showing growth. I had the second PTC surgery at the end of June. Again, my surgery outcome was not ideal, just like my breast cancer surgery. The staffing is short and the patients are the ones who truly suffer. My surgeon accidentally severed a nerve, repaired it, and took out 27 lymph nodes, this time 6 were positive and 2 with extra nodal extension (breaking out of the lymph node into healthy tissue). They went in through my previous neck incision and made a longer version of that. The scar is healing fine. The severed nerve wasn't a major one in their eyes, but it has left me with nerve pain, numbness across my neck and chest and a much longer path to recovery. This is my case, and not like others, and I seem to be the outlier. I had no idea that hospital staffing all switches over on July 1, when the new residents and interns start. That and short nursing staff also lead to a less than ideal hospital experience. My next steps are in my hands as my endo is very hands off/too busy to give each case the proper attention. I am just very dismayed at the care I have received over the years.
Sigh, not all of Mayo is like this, other departments are much more involved and give their patients the time they deserve. Just write all your questions down and make sure they answer them all and set your level of expectations. Monitoring is the way to go-all the blood work and ultrasounds. Do what makes you comfortable!