Hi @cocha, when is your surgery? I remember that wait! I said the exact same thing to my surgeon...lobectomy unless you see something that makes TT the better choice.

I had a sign in my kitchen when my kids were younger that said "Raising teenagers is like nailing jello to a wall," and I have to say that the thyroid CA journey feels very much the same. It is so hard to prepare for something when you don't have all the information.

@lise01 I'm thinking of you too. Please let us know how you're doing.

Hey @cocha and @hopeful23 Sorry for delayed response -- other life stuff/work crazy! @hopeful23 I like your jello analogy!

My recovery has been good -- the surgery was way easier than I had expected and my scar just a month later is very small and faint. Lymph nodes are still a little bit tender (they did not like what he did in there! ) but nothing was ever actually painful. I am not on any medication -- I have an appointment in August to finally see an endocrinologist who will run the blood tests and see if my remaining lobe is producing adequate hormones. I had a blood test a couple weeks ago and levels were normal still. Energy levels are getting a lot better and my neck is

My surgeon said that they don't typically take any lymph nodes or do neck dissection in cases like mine, unless there are any that look suspicious. He also reiterated that it is quite common for some microscopic cancer cells to make their way into the lymph nodes in the central compartment and was surprised that pathology picked it up. He added that even if there are some trace cells, in most cases nothing will come of them, so recommended no further treatment, just the lifelong surveillance.

He also presented my case at his tumor board review meeting, and his colleagues agreed with no more treatment ... so that made me feel a bit better. I've had several doctors agree that my risk is low for any recurrence and if it happens we will catch it. I told him I was paranoid that in between rechecks it could spread -- especially to nearby places like the trachea -- and he said it wouldn't. Pathology revealed that the PTC I have is the most common and unaggressive and the rate of cell division is really slow -- so it just doesn't behave that way. He said, "that is not your disease."

So hard to wrap my head around still -- having this disease. The surgery was really a piece a cake and if I have to go through it again I am not afraid. Learning how to live with this and not let it depress me and consume my waking thoughts -- that's the tough part. It's exhausting. I'm hoping that over the next year my rechecks look good and that I can really accept and trust that I'm going to be okay. In the meantime I think I am going to try to find a therapist who deals with people living with a cancer diagnosis and see if I can evolve my coping mechanisms a little. I'm very uncomfortable with things being out of my control in my life and like having my ducks in a row and this definitely throws a wrench into the works ... so have to work on not obsessing on things I cannot change.

Any updates for either of you?