4 years in remission, now I have low T and a new cancer...

[MJR]

Hello everyone. I first joined up here 4 years ago just before I was diagnosed with TC (you can read about my experience here: http://www.tc-cancer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7673).

Anyway, I was in remission up until a few months ago when I started having some issues again. Daily headaches, chest pains and fatigue like you wouldn't believe. Doctor ordered a full barrage of blood tests and did a full body U/S. My testosterone came in low (170), my iron and vitamin D levels were really low and he found a tumor in my neck. This time around it's thyroid cancer, but I think the fatigue is due to the testosterone issue related to the TC ordeal.

I'm going for a pre-op consultation on Tuesday to get a surgery date, and I'm worried that with the fatigue from the testosterone issue along with the fatigue that will be caused by all the harmonal changes after my thyroid is removed will just leave me zombified. Doc doesn't want to treat the testosterone until this is taken care of first.

Has anyone else with low T had to deal with multiple medical issues similar to this simultaneously? I'm wondering how complicated it'll be to treat low T and out of whack harmones at the same time, and I'm worried they'll never find a balance that works....

[Paul54]

I hate this %&#@*! disease and I'm so sorry you have to deal with it again. I don't have experience with either issue but wanted to let you know you are in our thoughts and prayers for successful surgery and getting back to normalcy.

[Nut of Mordor]

I'm sorry for it man dealing with cancer twice is not fair. But as far as I know thyroid cancer has a stellar cure rate, even more than TC if I'm not wrong. Stay strong !

[Piskot]

I am so sorry for your situation... I know perfectly how you feel just now. My hubby had TC twice (you see my signature) and last year he was diagnosed with cancerous polyp in colon (it pick up on his regular PET/CT), so early colon cancer was stopped by simple polypectomy. He is under surveillance (PET and colonoscopy) and is fine until today (blood work at Thursday, so we are nervous again) but I hope that you will fine too. I wish the best for you... My prayers are with you!!

[MJR]

Thank you all. I know I'll be alright, I'm just tired of being tired all of the time!

I am so sorry for your situation... I know perfectly how you feel just now. My hubby had TC twice (you see my signature) and last year he was diagnosed with cancerous polyp in colon (it pick up on his regular PET/CT), so early colon cancer was stopped by simple polypectomy. He is under surveillance (PET and colonoscopy) and is fine until today (blood work at Thursday, so we are nervous again) but I hope that you will fine too. I wish the best for you... My prayers are with you!!

Piskot, sorry your hubby had to go through all of that and I hope the blood work comes back ok. Did he have radiation treatment the first time for his TC? I'm curious because that's what I did and it's possible it may have ended up being the underlying cause for my thyroid cancer.

[Fed]

I'm curious because [radiation treatment is] what I did and it's possible it may have ended up being the underlying cause for my thyroid cancer.

It is very unlikely that adjuvant XRT (such as what I think you received) is to blame for the thyroid cancer.

[Piskot]

Hi MJR,
yes, my hubby had radiotherapy for his first seminoma. I have heard that this therapy may cause colon cancer but no in so short time (5 years for my husband, but in fact his polyp was not cancer yet, only polyp with cancerous cells). My husband´s oncologist said that radiotherapy as well as chemo may cause some other cancers in future but only in very small percentage... Someone more experienced can offer better opinion than mine - I am only amateur....

Market

[mahalomom]

Hi Mike,

I am so sorry you now have to deal with this. I hate cancer!!!

I have thyroid cancer too. And as you can see from my signature, I know a couple of things about TC as well.

You may be tired from your thryoid as it's kind of like the computer chip in your car. It's responsible for making alot of things run smoothly. Once you have your surgery they may have you take radioactive iodine to kill any left over thyroid/cancer cells. (If this is the case then I can help direct you with lots of patient pointers). You may also have to go on a low iodine diet prior to the radioactive iodine. After all of this they will put you on thyroid replacement and in a couple of weeks you should be feeling much better.

Thyroid does have a high cure rate but it's still crappy to have.

I'm here if you ever want to chat. I'll pm you my email address. I'm not on here often but Fed gave me a heads up you were dealing with this.

~Mary Ann

[MJR]

Thanks Mary Ann. The surgery is about 2 1/2 weeks away and I'm a little anxious. I just want to get it over with and feel "normal" again.

[stormie]

Hi Mike,
I am so sorry you have to go through thyroid cancer now. I'm not sure if I can be of any help, but my son has very low testosterone due to Klinefelter's Sydrome and yes, low testosterone can make you tired. He hates the Androgel, patch, and shots for testosterone, so forgoes those. He also has hypothyroidism. He takes Synthroid, and that helps a little with the fatigue, but not much. He does get irritable if he takes his Synthroid too late in the morning. He has other health issues but he finds that his one mug of coffee in the morning helps his tiredness a little.

[Osaka_23]

I'm sorry you have to flight/battle this disease again, hope you recover quickly so you can get your life back. My mum had breast cancer twice within three years and then three years later I was diagnosed with TC so I can relate to your situation.

All the best!!!

[mahalomom]

Hi Mike,

I'm still not back to 'normal'...not sure if I ever will be after my son's cancer and then mine.

Are you on a low iodine diet? I can help you with that. The surgery itself is not hard.


I private messaged you my email address.


Take care.
Mary Ann

[MJR]

Hi Mike,
I am so sorry you have to go through thyroid cancer now. I'm not sure if I can be of any help, but my son has very low testosterone due to Klinefelter's Sydrome and yes, low testosterone can make you tired. He hates the Androgel, patch, and shots for testosterone, so forgoes those. He also has hypothyroidism. He takes Synthroid, and that helps a little with the fatigue, but not much. He does get irritable if he takes his Synthroid too late in the morning. He has other health issues but he finds that his one mug of coffee in the morning helps his tiredness a little.

Hi Stormie. Was your son taking both the low T treatments and Synthroid at the same time at one point before he stopped the low T? I'm curious to how he might have felt then. Although the cancer itself is asymptomatic, it's effect on the thyroid has been giving me symptoms of hypothyroidism as well, and I know it'll be full fledged once my thyroid comes out. I'll probably be on Synthroid also.

I started taking Ultra Iron 65 and Vitamin D-3 5000 supplements about a week and a half ago, since those levels were low in my last blood test (also take vitamin B-12 1500 which is essential for metabolism and energy production). Surprisingly, it has helped quite a bit with my fatigue (and I'm not an all natural kind of guy...give me the strong stuff). Although I still don't feel as energetic as I did before, I'm not sleeping 12+ hours at any given opportunity like I was before the supplements. I actually feel a little refreshed after 8 hours of sleep now even though I'm not taking anything for the low T or hypothyroidism at the moment. I'm guessing there might have been an additional issue of iron anemia adding considerably to my fatigue. Has your son had those levels checked recently? Might be worth a look.

[MJR]

I'm sorry you have to flight/battle this disease again, hope you recover quickly so you can get your life back. My mum had breast cancer twice within three years and then three years later I was diagnosed with TC so I can relate to your situation.

All the best!!!

Thanks, Osaka. I just hope this is the last of it for all of us.

[MJR]

Hi Mike,

I'm still not back to 'normal'...not sure if I ever will be after my son's cancer and then mine.

Are you on a low iodine diet? I can help you with that. The surgery itself is not hard.


I private messaged you my email address.


Take care.
Mary Ann

They don't have me on one right now since they're not 100% certain RAI is necessary, but the odds are pretty good it'll come to that. They said RAI will probably be pushed out further than usual (8 weeks rather than 6) because I recently had CT scans with iodine injections, so they'll need to allow more time for it to get out of my system. So, it might be a while before they put me on the diet. I'll certainly have some questions for you when the time comes. I have your email. Thank you!

[Dan2012]

I don't have a great deal of advice I can give on low test and thyroid problems, but you should know that for any low or heightened hormone or chemical we rely on - the docs have medical options for you to solve your problems. If your test/thyroid function is too low - they'll give you HRT or whatever it takes, you won't be left to feel awful.

[stormie]

Hi Stormie. Was your son taking both the low T treatments and Synthroid at the same time at one point before he stopped the low T? I'm curious to how he might have felt then. Although the cancer itself is asymptomatic, it's effect on the thyroid has been giving me symptoms of hypothyroidism as well, and I know it'll be full fledged once my thyroid comes out. I'll probably be on Synthroid also. ....

Has your son had those levels checked recently? Might be worth a look.

Sorry I just saw this post! Matt started taking the testosterone supplements (shot, then Androgel, then Androderm) back when he was about 15 when he was dx'd with XXY chromosome (Klinefelter's Syndrome) and continued treatment for a few years. He stopped taking any testosterone supplements because he just didn't like the way they made him feel. Hypothyroidism was dx'd only last year when he was 26 and put on Synthroid. He gets his thyroid levels checked every two to three months and they've remained normal.