Thyroid Cancer for Beginners

Welcome to my website. My name is Glenda Shepherd and I am 52 years old. I have been married for nearly 30 years and have two grown up sons and two granddaughters. I found a lump in my neck in November 2004, and I was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer in June 2005 after undergoing a total thyroidectomy. I then had three doses of radioactive Iodine at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge; the first dose in August 2005, the second in January 2006, and the last in November 2006. In July 2007 I was found to have secondary metastases in the lungs and cancerous lymph nodes in the left side of the neck, for which I underwent a neck dissection in August of the same year. 

Currently I am in remission; the lung metastases do not grow whilst the thyroid stimulating hormone is suppressed with enough Thyroxine, and the neck dissection removed the remaining cancerous lymph nodes. I am well and enjoy life. I have not long returned from a South American cruise which took in the Rio carnival, and I am looking forward to the summer when I shall be attending lots of music festivals with my family. I work as a Medical Secretary, and enjoy reading biographies, going to the gym, and walking in the countryside to keep fit. I live in a picturesque village near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk UK.

I hope this site is helpful to anyone newly diagnosed. I have also written a book about my experiences entitled 'Thyroid Cancer For Beginners' which is available through various outlets including Amazon and ebay.

Glenda Shepherd
May 2009

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