We were shocked to learn that most of the money raised for cancer, including government funding, only goes to breast, lung, bowel and skin cancer research. But many lesser known cancers (like thyroid) are swept under the rug. That’s why we’re raising money for Imperial Health Charity, for their Endocrine Research Fund.

THE PARTY

On the 19th of November 2022, we'll be holding a fun event at Moo Gastropub, who are kindly giving us the venue for free for the evening.

We’ll have a DJ , live band, performances, and more entertatinment soon to be announced! We've also applied to various places for donations for an auction and a raffle on the night.

TICKETS AND DONATIONS

• If you'd like to come on the 19th, you can buy a ticket for the event at Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kick-thyroid-cancers-arse-katies-faundraiser-tickets-421257371137 
• If you can’t make it on the 19th, you can just make a donation on this page. Every little helps!!

KATIE'S STORY

I was diagnosed with Hyperparathyroidism on 21st June 2021.

Following a couple of years of not being able to put my finger on why I didn't feel well and every time I spoke to my doctors, they just did blood tests for Thyroid Function & Low Vitamin D; each time the tests came back with normal thyroid levels but low vitamin D which, they said explained the lack of energy.

One day at work in May 2021 I almost nodded off at my desk and just knew this wasn't right. I had brain fog and a thirst which I could not quench and often had a sore dull ache in throat and my glands were swollen; I just assumed it was due to me being run down and also having suffered since I was young with tonsilitis.

My Aunty Susie had always remarked about a ridge along my neckline, she kept mentioning this and said about thyroid problems, but I just assumed it was where I had lost a lot of weight and that is how my neckline now looked; although I never really had a 'hollow' in my neck like other females I always jokingly referred to the centre of my neck as my Adam's apple! 

I was finally referred to Dr Florian Wernig at the Cromwell Hospital to be treated with a condition called Hyperparathyroidism. At the consultation he arranged for several tests to be done and explained I would need to see his colleague surgeon, Dr Aimee Di Marco to have the parathyroid removed and then to be on Calcium tablets. At the end of this meeting as I was due to leave the room, he called me back to feel my neck and advised that he wanted me to have an ultrasound as my thyroid felt rather low down and swollen. 

I had a bone density test, various blood test and had to do a 24-hour urine sample and return to the hospital once the 24 hours were up. I then had an ultrasound scan which showed up a 4/5cm lump which caused some concern to the doctor. Following on from the scan they immediately organised me to have a needle aspiration biopsy, this was when I had a feeling something else was wrong as when I was leaving the room the doctor advised me that they will be calling consultant with the findings, and he would be in touch as soon as possible.  I must admit a wave of worry came over me; however, I put it to the back of my mind deciding that worrying will not change the outcome and having researched a bit of this condition on a trusted website found that most lumps were benign, only in rare cases is there anything untoward. 

On 15th July 2021, I went back to see my consultant, Dr Wernig and my Mum, Fiona accompanied me to the London Clinic.  Dr Wernig advised me that biopsies they took from me had been reviewed at Imperial College and confirmed they were consistent with cancer.  My concern at that point was how and when can I get rid of this cancer, what happens next, and why I do not know, if I would lose my hair! 

Everything else went past very quickly. I had my Thyroidectomy on 3rd August 2021, which took a bit longer than expected as part of the lump was stuck to my muscle, so it had to be shaved off. The lump was sent for testing which confirmed I had medium risk cancer with some spreading to the 4 of my 6 lymph nodes on one side of the thyroid (easily visible in the picture). My lump was then sent for testing to show the type of cancer I had.  It was confirmed as Papillary Cancer which is a slow growing cancer but with a small part of the lump being an aggressive form and that I would need Radio Idoine treatment (RAI) to complete my treatment and take Levothyroxine for the rest of my life. 

RAI took place on 25th October 2021 with the two weeks prior to that I had to go on a low iodine diet and Thyron injections being administered 2 days prior to raise my TSH levels to allow the treatment to kill the "C word".

Once the RAI was completed, I had to wait 9 months to be reassessed to see if the treatment had been successful; during this period of waiting, I had 3 monthly checkups with my surgeon Dr Di Marco and Oncologist Consultant, Dr Kate Goodchild.  I had a hiccup in March where my blood levels were not at a level they should be; it was decided that my medication should be switched from taking them in the morning to the evening to see if I felt any better as I had not felt "normal" since the operation. 

On 18th July 2021 I had my reassessment of a scan and blood test with my ultrasound of my neck looking normal. 

On 4th August 2021 I attended with my Mum an appointment with
my Oncologist, Dr Kate Goodchild; she advised me that I still had detectable Thyroglobulin (C word marker) in miniscule form and was hiding; all said in a very matter of fact way!  Dr Goodchild said I would need to make a decision between further treatment of RAI but at the highest dose level or take the "Wait & See" approach to see if the C word reared its ugly head (in other words to grow) so they could see where it is and treat it. I decided there and then I wanted to go ahead with RAI as that was what was recommended, and hopefully put this all behind me once and for all; it was also recommended that I have a chest scan to ensure the C word has not spread to my lungs as, apparently, it is usually the first-place thyroid cancer would spread to. The scan was carried out and it was confirmed I had a 4mm module in the centre of my left lung.

I started the low iodine diet again on 5th September 2022 with the Radio Iodine to be administered on 19th September.  Sadly, whilst I was following the diet the Queen passed away and my treatment was rescheduled for 21st September with my discharge date being Friday 23rd September (there is a 6-day isolation for adults and 9 days for children & pregnant women).

My 'exit' full body scan took 1.5 hours, and it was hoped the iodine would highlight the remaining cells that were causing my Thyroglobulin (TG) levels to be raised and also confirm if the nodule in my left lung was Thyroid Cancer. The results of this have been given and nothing has been highlighted which does not seem to indicate if these are reoccurring cancer cells or another reason(s). It also means that the nodule in my left lung is not thyroid cancer. However, this is something that will now need to be monitored on a yearly basis to ensure that it does not grow.  I was also informed these modules can be very common possibly caused to my having Covid twice since having my operation and again just before my reassessment! 

THE CHARITY

Katie's chosen charity is the Imperial Health Charity, and specifically their Endocrine Research Fund. More about the fund below:

"As the UK’s largest unit for thyroid surgery, we continue to try and push to improve the treatment for our thyroid patients including those with cancer. The research projects that we undertake are mainly clinical (rather than in the laboratory) and revolve around practical applications that can improve patient care. This has included using special forms of cameras during surgery to assist with distinguishing parathyroid from cancer tissue. We are due shortly to review our experience for example in medullary thyroid cancer. Additionally, we are the first UK unit to look at molecular testing (the DNA changes) on thyroid biopsies of cancer patients before surgery and are looking to expand this as it has implications for predicting the prognosis of cancer patients and choosing targeted therapies (used if iodine treatment ceases to work).

We also have a NICE thyroid cancer rep for molecular testing which is something we are looking to expand on. We are also currently looking to evaluate our treatment of patients with rare thyroid cancers such as medullary - as we have more surgical experience of these than other UK centres. The scope of our research is of course affected by the funds that we have - the more resources that we have the more ambitious we can be."

Hope to see you there!