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June 28, 2009, 11:19 pm
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It had grown to the point that he looked like he had no neck and it was hindering his breathing by reducing his windpipe. He was operated on this morning and the doctor says he got it all. They had to take his thyroid gland while they were in there as it was too involved and the doctor said something about lymph nodes but we're not positive on that. Next will be a biopsy because the way it grew has a high possibility of being a malignant growth. If that turns out to be the case, will he need chemo or radiation since the doctor says they did remove it all?

Many times, even though the doctor feels they removed all the tumor, they will go ahead and administer a round of chemotherapy. If they feel that the lymph nodes may have been involved, chemotherapy is even more likely because cancer can spread rapidly to any area of the body through the lymph nodes.

Yes, in addition to the chemo he will have to have radiation on the affected areas, as well. There are many different kinds of chemo, though. It may be that he can take it in the form of a pill instead of intravenous therapy. They will need to give him some time to heal, before starting therapy.

A cancer can start to spread by sending out metastatsis in the blood without having set up growths in the lymph nodes-hence the precautions. However it might simply be a massive goitre given the thyroid involvement-maybe he'll be lucky.

I hope it goes well for him. The biopsy will tell them a lot. A round of chemo is often given because cancer can metastasize very quick. Basically cancerous cells detach themselves and can implant in different places in the body. One of the first places they will show up is in lymph nodes. Let us know what his prognosis is once they have completed the tests.

A family member of mine is about to go through something similar, though the spot they found was between his legs so its a little different. I am trying to research as best I can now but it all seems so confusing.

He doesn't need the chemo if doctor removed it all. But doctors usually prescribe some chemo just to be sure it will not come back.

Ouch, Mikey; his is between the legs. Let us know if we can help you with your research. Christy, please keep us posted on your uncle. We hope all goes well.

Thank you, guys. I spoke to my mother last night and he's doing really well so far. He's even speaking already and the doctors had said he wouldn't be able to for about a week. I think he's relieved to finally have it gone.

Good for him. These occurrences are not that uncommon. My grandmother had the same thing ten years ago. She also had success with treating it. I guess there are also happy stories out there.