Subtopic	Posts		Updated
	Archive through July 29, 2025	25		11/11 09:08pm
	Archive through May 19, 2026	25		05/31 08:23pm

I was diagnosed with Medullary Thyroid Cancer 3 years ago. It's a pretty rare form with only about 1000 cases a year in the US. A year on drugs and then surgery to remove the thyroid and a bunch of lymph nodes. But it's been two years and I'm still clean.

Thanks to the Pact Act this is considered a presumptive service connection has been fully covered by by the VA with the sugery and care by the Univ of Virginia cancer center.

Ya'll get through this, of the cancers to get the thyroid is one of the better ones.

BTW, the cancer was discovered by my dentist.

By Steve Stewart (Stevestewart) on Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - 12:19 pm: Edit

Fingers crossed for you and your other half Jessica.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Friday, May 29, 2026 - 09:02 pm: Edit

Apologies for not posting sooner, but my better half's surgery went exceedingly well yesterday. Everything appears to have been very much limited to a small portion of the right lobe, and it appears unlikely that radiation will be necessary.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, May 29, 2026 - 10:31 pm: Edit

Prayers continue

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, May 31, 2026 - 08:23 pm: Edit

Much appreciated!

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, June 10, 2026 - 05:00 pm: Edit

"Up gets farther away"

I will pass this on because where I am you are all going. I discovered something last night and tests today proved it was right, so I'll pass it along even if it makes me think I was stupid not to figure it out.

As I get older, and suffer more broken bones and artificial joints, I get weaker, and exercise is harder to do and has less effect. It's harder and harder to just stand up out of a chair. I have noted that bar stools are easy since I am higher and just slide down. I have noticed that standard toilets are very very hard as my rear end is lower than my knees and the leverage is backwards. I can get out of some cars easily by sliding down while some cars are so low that I have to have help getting out of them.

For a variety of reasons I have always put my office chairs at their lowest setting. Leanna says "Steve likes to sit on the floor when he works". It got harder and harder to get up at my home office computer desk. To be helpful, Leanna ordered a "lift seat" which one puts in the chair and sits on. When you want to get up, you push a button and it lifts you up and throws you out of the chair, slowly. It works.

The lift seat means I'm sitting three inches higher than usual. Last night I wasn't thinking and "just stood up" without using the lift seat or grabbing hold of anything I could reach to pull myself up. I got up easily, smoothly, steadily. Turns out, those three inches were all it took.

So I removed the lift seat and cranked the office chair up to the highest setting and found I could still get my knees under the desk. Better, I could easily stand up with no difficulty, no grabbing things and pulling. I adjusted the chair in my office office when I was there today and shucks, I no longer have to grab my desk and pull myself up. I just stood up in the office office for the first time since I broke my hip.

So when it comes your turn, try cranking the office chair up a few inches. It might help.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Thursday, July 02, 2026 - 03:39 am: Edit

The good news (which I forgot to post here): the biopsy of my better half's thyroid found that the needle biopsy was wrong: no cancer!!! There's no better outcome than that!

The bad news: I've a herniated disk between the L4 & L5 (possibly from doing the happy dance over the good news). Doing the steroids/flexeril/lidocaine-patch routine to see if I can get the sciatic pain back to a manageable level. Rather hoping so, as I'd prefer not to have to go under the knife with a microdiskectomy.

By Steve Stewart (Stevestewart) on Thursday, July 02, 2026 - 07:22 am: Edit

Great news Jessica!

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Thursday, July 02, 2026 - 12:33 pm: Edit

Glad to hear there was no cancer. Being healthy is good.

Regarding the back problem, I've done the L4/L5 thing. There's a couple of options short of surgery. You can get steroid injections directly into the affected area, and they might help. They didn't for me, but then I had the largest herniation my surgeon had seen where the patient was still walking (sort of). There's also physical therapy.

I ended up having no choice but to have a laminectomy performed to remove the exploded cartilage pressing on my spinal cord. All the surgeon did was remove the burst tissue outside of the spinal column, and otherwise left the spine alone.

That worked out well, after a lot more physical therapy. That surgery was in 2011 and I'm still doing great with the back, though of course the price of freedom is eternal vigilance (i.e., back/core exercises).

YMMV, of course, and ultimately it's between you and your doctor. So take my story for whatever it's worth to you.

By Burt Quaid (Burt) on Thursday, July 02, 2026 - 03:37 pm: Edit

Happy for your partner.
Get well soon for you.

burt