Support through thyroid cancer Jessie Larson-Wu

In this episode, Jessie talks with Carmen, who has been through 3 surgeries related to her thyroid cancer diagnosis. She talks about her experience of having to self-advocate in order to get diagnosed (with papillary and follicular thyroid cancer) and then experiencing lymphedema and nerve damage from surgery. She talks about the improvement she has been feeling after her most recent corrective surgery and what she found helpful throughout the process. Carmen talks about asking for help from ...

Happy thyroid cancer awareness month! Becky Johnson and Daria Jerauld join Jessie for this episode where they discuss the low iodine diet (LID) and radioactive iodine treatment (RAI). Becky and Daria lead a LID support group through ThyCa and discuss resources they recommend such as the LID cookbook. Becky and Daria provide an overview of LID, numerous tips around how to navigate the LID period, and discuss their experiences with RAI. Daria went through RAI in 1996, Becky in 2010 and Je...

Listen in to Thomas's story this month, as he shares about being diagnosed with stage 4C medullary thyroid cancer in 2020 after having not been to the doctor in about 6 years. He shares about the difficult process of diagnosis, along with being told that he has metastasis in his spine/hips and that he has the HRAS mutation (which doctors have told him impact the ability for them to treat him). He is honest about continuing to have difficult emotional days, but has also found ways to cope with...

Maya, who happens to be the medical provider who discovered Jessie's cancer, joins Jessie for this episode. Maya shares about her story of being diagnosed with thyroid cancer over 8 years ago shortly after giving birth to her second child. She talks about the grief her family experienced with her cancer diagnosis coming only 2 years after her husband's diagnosis with his own cancer, coupled with her own grief of having to end her breastfeeding early in order to go through RAI treatment. She s...

Join Jessie and Helga for this episode as Helga tells her story of being diagnosed with papillary and tall cell thyroid cancer 6 years ago. Helga is an engineer and cyclist with a sense of humor and a love for storytelling. She talks about some of the bumps in her road of experiences with muscle weakness for several months after RAI and difficulty with bone healing after a bike crash (which her doctors told her was likely due to her thyroid hormone levels). She also shares about the supportiv...

In this episode, Brittany shares her story about being diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer at age 13 after losing her voice and then going through a full thyroidectomy followed by 2 additional surgeries for an implant to create a functioning voice for her. She shares about what it felt like to be given this diagnosis at such a young age for both her and her parents, with the added challenge of not knowing any other teens with this diagnosis. She also shares about the impact of being told ...