A registered nurse and a mother of three in Brighton, Colorado, Annie Parrish was 24 years old when she noticed a golf ball-sized lump in her throat. 

 

Her family physician performed a palpation, in which the doctor feels the gland.  It was enlarged, so the physician did a thyroid panel, a comprehensive type of bloodwork.  The panel revealed Annie’s was hypothyroid, meaning her thyroid-stimulating hromone numbers were too high.  She was put on a regimen of Synthroid, because the thyroid was not functioning as it should, leaving her dependent on the medication. 

 

When Annie’s thyroid did not respond properly, doctors performed two fine needle biopsies, which were inconclusive, as was an ultrasound.  Annie knew something was wrong, but wanted to keep as much of her thyroid as possible, so she had a partial thyroidectomy done.  Doctors removed half of it, but determined that what they removed was cancerous, officially classified as follicular thyroid cancer with a papillary variant.  Annie Parrish would have preferred to have half a thyroid instead of none at all, but she didn’t want the cancer to return, so she opted for a full thyroidectomy along with tonsillectomy because her tonsils were abnormally big.  The procedure left her with a scar below her neck.

 

Annie needed two additional surgical procedures, and when they were done, she had to go back on synthroid.  This was difficult because it affected her mood mental well being, and each time she took it, she got a headache.  She felt “close to normal,” and realized going forward she might never look the same or feel the same, but also realized she was still alive and cancer-free.

 

It wasn’t until about a year after her procedures that Annie felt she had gotten the upper hand on thyroid cancer.  She went in for periodic ultrasounds.  The thyroglobin level is an accepted marker that the cancer has come back, and her thyroglobin level showed that she was free of cancer. 

 

Annie Parrish is active in hiking and other outdoor activities.  She says she can now physically do everything she could do prior to her diagnosis.  However, she is still on synthroid and always will be.  Sometimes it leaves her feeling a bit too hyper and affects her ability to sleep, but overall, she is cancer-free and is happy with that, even if its means she has to be synthroid.

 

By way of advice, Annie Parrish says if anything regarding your health seems abnormal, don’t hesitate, and ask for help.  She urges you to be your own advocate, and to never assume that others are going to step up and help if you stay silent.

 

Additional Resources:

 

Support Group: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association https://www.thyca.org