Hurthle Cell Thyroid Cancer

It wasn’t really known what type of Thyroid Cancer I had at the appointment, so I had another wait whilst the cells were sent off to Leeds again.  I had already been sent away with a pile of booklets and leaflets, which is what they do when you get Cancer.  I’d also been given a DVD…which looked like a night in front of the TV from hell! Let’s make some popcorn and watch a DVD about Thyroid Cancer this Saturday night...ooh rock n roll!

When the phone call did come a week later confirming the diagnosis and the type of cancer, I had it was all a bit of a blur.  It’s very unreal and I think because I had already convinced myself that it was Cancer, it wasn’t as shocking as I thought it would be.  I made sure I sat with a notebook and a pen and asked as many questions as I could think of, I then wrote down every answer I got.  I sat with Janne for a long time and then I got all my leaflets out and read through them.  I’ll admit that I googled…don’t google!! I felt like I had to as for one I didn’t know how to pronounce Hurthle (apparently, it’s HEERT-luh) I just call it “Bitch Face!” Hurthle Cell Cancer is a type of follicular thyroid cancer, it’s a rarer type of cancer that affects the thyroid gland. I felt very overwhelmed by this, so I contacted the Butterfly Thyroid Cancer Trust after reading about its founder Kate.  She filled me with confidence, because throughout this all I could think about was Lily and how she is 4 and needs her Mum.  I read about Kate who had been a similar age to myself with a 12-year-old Son when she was diagnosed. Her picture showed her collecting an MBE with her family and her now grown-up son years later.  There was hope.

Less than an hour later the Butterfly Thyroid Cancer Trust emailed me back, not just anyone either but Kate herself.  Her words, although brief made me feel better…she told me that she knew it was a shock and that it had been 20 years since she had it, she asked me a few questions and then told me over 95% of young people with thyroid cancer are cured.  She encouraged me to watch the DVD, but I wasn’t ready to watch it yet. The plan now was more surgery to remove all my thyroid and then radio-iodine treatment, which Kate had told me was exactly the same treatment she had following surgery and that it was straight-forward. Reading about it the treatment didn’t sound straight-forward or rather it did but all I could think about was Lily, how she would manage without me, how Janne would, how would I get her to and from school? Who would do her hair in the morning? I had Cancer but all I could think about was Lily and the impact this would have on her.  Then I went and collected her from the childminders…she shouted at me in the car because I put the wrong song on and she got really upset about it, tears, snot, the works, and this put things in perspective.  Get diagnosed with Cancer and things carry on regardless but don’t put “Chillin’ Like a Villain” on in the car and the whole world comes crashing down.