Daughter, 45 anaplastic thyroid cancer. Had surgery, chemo, radiation.

I hope your son’s treatment is successful. I was diagnosed with ATC in February 2022. I had a complete Thyroidectomy and neck dissection at that time and a tracheostomy was done because the tumor was wrapped around the trachea. Unfortunately there was still cancer left after surgery because my surgeon stopped short of doing a laryngectomy. I am extremely grateful for that because i can speak with the use of a passy muir valve. After recovering i underwent radiation and chemo (doxorubicin). The radiation was extremely grueling. The treatment was very successful however. All that was left of the cancer was one lymph node in my neck! I just started taking Dabrafenib and Trametinib as my cancer has the BRAF mutation. I am hopeful those drugs will be successful in treating the small amount of disease that was left after the chemo radiation. I am also hopeful that I’ll be able to have the trach removed as the swelling from the radiation subsides. This whole process has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Unfortunately there isn’t a lot of positive info out there. I just want to offer others in the same situation a ray of hope. Luckily there are treatment options now for this ruthless disease.

Thank you, will follow both. He was found to have metastatic carcinoma upon removal of his thyroid.

Thank you, will follow both. He was found to have metastatic carcinoma upon removal of his thyroid.

My 38 year old Son is having surgery the Friday 11/11 for papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, would be curious to hear others experience with same.

@av8r525, I hope your son's surgery went well last week. Here are a couple of discussions where you can connect with others who have papillary carcinoma of the thyroid:

- Life after total thyroidectomy after papillary cancer https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/papillary-thyroid-cancer/
- I have Papillary thyroid cancer that has spread: Is there help? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/life-after-total-thyroidectomy-after-papillary-cancer/

My 38 year old Son is having surgery the Friday 11/11 for papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, would be curious to hear others experience with same.

Hi Colleen. Thank you for the reply. She doesn’t have a symptom nurse. I didn’t know about that. The doctor didn’t tell us yet what type of chemo and radiation she’ll be getting. They’re waiting for us to make the decision. They suggested not to wait too long. They told us radiation is 5 days a week, 30 minutes each day for 7 weeks. Chemo is once a week for 7 weeks also.

Hi,
I had chemo (doxorubicin once a week for 6 weeks) and 33 days of radiation for anaplastic thyroid cancer. This was after Thyroidectomy and neck dissection during which a tracheostomy was done due to the tumor infiltrating the trachea. I could have had the trach removed prior to radiation but the doctors recommended leaving it in in case of swelling. I am very happy I left it in because the swelling from the radiation was very extensive. I think I would have had trouble breathing had it not been in there. I’m six months post treatment now and there is still some swelling. Luckily I have had no problem with swallowing other than discomfort when eating while going through treatment. I can’t predict for you whether the treatment will affect your mom’s ability to swallow but radiation definitely can cause swelling. I hope this information helps and I hope whatever treatment she receives is successful!