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Hello and happy Father's Day! Jesse and I just got home from a fun trip to Roche Harbor where we took my dad to lunch with my brothers and Madi.

Sorry I've been MIA, it's taken me a few days to process everything enough to be able to write about it. I had my appointment with Dr. Mankoff on Friday, and like the first scan, the second one showed a lot more activity in my neck than anticipated. The thing about this type of scan is it is vague, it shows the activity but since it doesn't really show other tissues, it's hard to see exactly where the activity is more specifically than 'the neck.'

The most concerning finding was actually in my bloodwork. My thyroglobulin (Tg) level (this is the tumor marker for thyroid cancer, similar to PSA for men for prostate cancer) was 262, which is very high. My TSH was 58. These results mean there is a lot more cancer remaining in my body than we want, probably in the lymph nodes and hopefully no where else.

So here's our plan. We are going to give the RAI a few months to work, and then in September I'll have an ultrasound to determine if I need a biopsy and more surgery. In the meantime my bloodwork will be monitored and I'll stay on my thyroid hormones for suppressive therapy.

So, the good news is, I have the whole summer free of treatment besides swallowing a tiny pill every day. I'm looking forward to lots of long Seattle summer days. Seattle summers really are the best, although much too short. I'm happy to be able to finally make plans for the summer, though, because until now I've been cautious to plan much because of not knowing my treatment schedule.

I won't have much news of my treatment to share until September, but I will still write about life and other goings on :)

Love,

Lisa