Thank you everyone for sharing your experience and offering your input. I love that each and every comment was gentle and kind. I want to share more of why my ID and I are hoping for the surgery. I have been fighting thyroid cancer for almost 2 years now. I had my first surgery to remove my thyroid and any cancerous lymph nodes, thankfully only 2 were cancerous. I then did a high dose of radioactive iodine treatment to kill any remaining thyroid tissue. We thought everything was good. This is normally a cancer that is easy to treat with a 98% cure rate. When I was diagnosed I was stage 4 but my doctor was still optimistic that we could kill it. Then, less than 6 months after my surgery and treatment it was back! This meant another surgery and "maybe" treatment, dependent on outcome of pathology. Well, pathology came back and they found it in the soft tissue of my neck. This now meant 6 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week! I had my last treatment on September 29, 2022. Neck radiation causes swelling of the esophagus which means it is difficult to swallow even water. It also causes lack of saliva so the mouth is very dry, and also taste changes (everything tastes either metallic or salty). Because of this, I have lost 30lbs since September. My surgeon said because my cancer has acted aggressively and fast growing, there is a very high chance that the cancer will come back within the next 5 years. They don't know when or where but feel that it will rear it's ugly head again. If I do treatment for the MAC, I know that some of the side effects are nausea, diarrhea, and weight loss. I do not want to feel bad for another 1-2 years and also cannot afford to lose any more weight. IF the cancer comes back, that means targeted drug therapy which is a type of oral chemo. I would HAVE to do treatment for the MAC at that point because of being immunocompromised. My thought, as well as my husband and my ID is to consult with NJH and push for the surgery which will give me time to fully heal and be rid of the MAC and bronchiectasis. We are still waiting for NJH to get back with my ID and possibly set-up a consult with me. Many prayers have been and are being said to get over this next hurdle.