Background: Why is Katy in Colorado again?

Katy lives in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, so why is she back in Colorado, USA?  It started out as a bad cold, maybe strep throat.  The doctors in Hobart put her on antibiotics, but she did not get well.  Next, they thought maybe glandular fever was to blame, but the test came back inconclusive.  Whatever was wrong with Katy, everyone agreed, a bit of R&R would do her a world of good.  Plus, she was too sick to do her laundry or make her own meals, and needed some extra support. 

Three weeks ago, Katy flew to San Fransisco, where her parents met her and drove her back to the family cabin in Lake Tahoe, CA.  If nothing else, a couple weeks of sleeping in the sun would feel good!  When two weeks into her stay Katy was still getting sicker, they took her to Urgent Care.  The doctor suspected something else was going on, and ordered an ultrasound.  The ultrasound revealed what looked like two nodules on her thyroid.  Hypo- or Hyperthyroidism would explain her symptoms, and if the nodules were responsible they could do a simple procedure, aspirate the nodules, and Katy would get better quickly! 

Unfortunately, the biopsy revealed that it was one big nodule instead of two.  The pathology report suggested papillary carcinoma, the most common type of thyroid cancer.  With the big "C" word suddenly thrown in their faces, Katy and Karen threw everything in the car and hurried back to Colorado to figure out what to do next!

The good news is, papillary carcinoma is considered curable, with a 10-year survival rate of 98.5% for women (100% for patients under 45 years old).  Treatment is black and white: The thyroid is removed, and a few weeks later a dose of radioactive iodine (radioiodine) is administered to kill off all remaining cells.  No tissues except the thyroid can metabolize iodine, so only thyroid tissues will uptake the radioiodine and thus only thyroid tissues will be affected by this treatment.  Since any metastases will also be made of thyroid tissue, no matter where they are in the body, the radioiodine will destroy all of these secondary tumors as well.  There is very little chance of her have any metastases to begin with, but if there are any this treatment will deal with them!

The bad news is, thyroid cancer is usually asymptomatic and Katy is still sick!  So, there are some more doctors to be seen before the cancer can be treated... Luckily this is a very slow-growing cancer and there is no rush!