| | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,219 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) |  Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,219 | I refuse to discuss your sleeping habits, Jim.
Jerry
Retired Dentist, 59 years old at diagnosis. SCC of the left lateral border of the tongue (Stage I). Partial glossectomy and 30 nodes removed, 4/6/05. Nodes all clear. No chemo no radiation 18 year survivor.
"Whatever doesn't kill me, makes me stronger"
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | I estimate that it will take weeks of sleepless nights to get that picture out of my head!! Thanks for sharing that Jimbo.
David
Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 5,260 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 5,260 | LOL.. but I am so cute when...
Last edited by Gary; 04-08-2010 08:46 PM. Reason: inappropriate and off topic
Since posting this. UPMC, Pittsburgh, Oct 2011 until Jan. I averaged about 2 to 3 surgeries a week there. w Can't have jaw made as bone is deteroriating steaily that is left in jaw. Mersa is to blame. Feeding tube . Had trach for 4mos. Got it out April.
--- Passed away 5/14/14, will be greatly missed by everyone here
| | | | | Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 | Back on topic. Thyroid could be one but IMO weight loss is the biggie. Having a wife that weighs barely 100 lbs and is cold all the time, i didn't appreciate what lack of body fat did until I was cold all of the time. We kept the thermostat at 82 degrees for quite a while.
Gary Allsebrook
***********************************
Dx 11/22/02, SCC, 6 x 3 cm Polypoid tumor, rt tonsil, Stage III/IVA, T3N0M0 G1/2
Tx 1/28/03 - 3/19/03, Cisplatin ct x2, IMRT, bilateral, with boost, x35(69.96Gy)
________________________________________________________
"You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14 NIV)
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2008 Posts: 3,082 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Mar 2008 Posts: 3,082 | I agree with Gary that losing that protective layer of fat is big factor in being cold. My wife is also very slender at 104 lbs and 5'4" and like Gary, I never really understood just how cold she found "regular" air conditioning until I had to wear a full winter coat inside AC chilled places. I had never really been cold before the Cancer even though I was slender also.
But it became abundantly clear that weight loss just did not account for how cold and weak I continued to feel until I started on the thyroid pill. I don't weigh even one pound more than when I finally got thyroid medication yet I am now warmer than my wife. If my doctors had not all been so quick to blame weight loss for being cold, I could have started being warm and energetic much earlier.
I think there is a synergistic relationship between weight loss and thyroid damage that amplifies the negative effects of each. Like in Math quizzes, both factors of the equation need to be balanced to solve this problem
Charm
Last edited by Charm2017; 04-09-2010 06:10 AM. Reason: typo
65 yr Old Frack
Stage IV BOT T3N2M0 HPV 16+
2007:72GY IMRT(40) 8 ERBITUX No PEG
2008:CANCER BACK Salvage Surgery
25GY-CyberKnife(5) 3 Carboplatin
Apaghia /G button
2012: CANCER BACK -left tonsilar fossa
40GY-CyberKnife(5) 3 Carboplatin
Passed away 4-29-13
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 10,507 Likes: 6 Administrator, Director of Patient Support Services Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Administrator, Director of Patient Support Services Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 10,507 Likes: 6 | If your white count is 2.8 thats probably why you are cold.
ChristineSCC 6/15/07 L chk & by L molar both Stag I, age44 2x cispltn-35 IMRT end 9/27/07 -65 lbs in 2 mo, no caregvr Clear PET 1/08 4/4/08 recur L chk Stag I surg 4/16/08 clr marg 215 HBO dives 3/09 teeth out, trismus 7/2/09 recur, Stg IV 8/24/09 trach, ND, mandiblctmy 3wks medicly inducd coma 2 mo xtended hospital stay, ICU & burn unit PICC line IV antibx 8 mo 10/4/10, 2/14/11 reconst surg OC 3x in 3 years very happy to be alive  | | | | | Joined: May 2009 Posts: 1,412 Patient Advocate (1000+ posts) | | OP Patient Advocate (1000+ posts)
Joined: May 2009 Posts: 1,412 | Love the math example. You must of known I teach math to middle school special ed kids. UGH. When I have more blood work done, I will ask them to check the TSH levels if they will. They may not since it was not ordered. I go back to one of my many Drs in May and will ask about it then as well, if I remember. darn chemo brain. I even wrote down a list of questions to ask and forgot that at home too. UGH. Both sides of my equations are not balanced yet. Sometimes I wonder if they ever will again.
Angelia
31 at Dx.
DX: 4/30/09, 10/21/09 SCC on floor of mouth,
T1NOMO, T2N1M0
TX: 39 IMRT, 8 cisplatin 11/30/09
PET/CT: 11/03/09: Lymph node involvement
PEG/PORT: 11/09
TX end: 02/01/10
PET Scan: 04/05/10 clear
PEG Out: 06/21/10
Biopsy: 12/23/10: fibrosis
HBO: 01/04/11 - ORN
Baby girl born 11-30-12
| | | | | Joined: May 2002 Posts: 2,152 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: May 2002 Posts: 2,152 | Most labs keep the blood samples for a week. If it is less than a week, the doctor's office simply needs to call and request the thyroid test INCLUDING TSH level. They must specify TSH because most thyroid tests do not include it.
Take care,
Eileen
----------------------
Aug 1997 unknown primary, Stage III
mets to 1 lymph node in neck; rt ND, 36 XRT rad
Aug 2001 tiny tumor on larynx, Stage I total laryngectomy; left ND
June 5, 2010 dx early stage breast cancer
June 9, 2011 SCC 1.5 cm hypo pharynx, 70% P-16 positive, no mets, Stage I
| | | | | Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 188 Likes: 1 Senior Member (100+ posts) | | Senior Member (100+ posts)
Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 188 Likes: 1 | I too had a doctor who thought that getting the TSH level into the normal range (<4.0) was sufficient despite my complaints of symptoms.
After several years,I finally self referred to an Endocrinologist and he increased my Synthroid dose to get me down to 2.0. I feel great now.
My hands are no longer like ice, I'm comfortable, my LDL cholesterol has dropped 25 points, dry skin has cleared up...it's pretty amazing.
My oncologist is not an endocrinologist, and neither is my GP.
See someone who handles thyroid issues professionally if you think you have a thyroid issue and your Rad/Onc team isn't addressing it.
Good Health,
Chuck
SCC Stage IV right tonsil T3N3M0. Dx 08/03. Clinical Trial:8 weeks Taxol, Carboplatin then Hydrea, 5FU, IMRT x's 48, SND, Iressa x 2yrs. Now 20 years out and thriving. Dealing with a Prostate cancer diagnosis now. Add a Bladder cancer diagnosis to all the fun.
It's always something
"Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it."
| | | | | Joined: Nov 2009 Posts: 212 Gold Member (200+ posts) | | Gold Member (200+ posts)
Joined: Nov 2009 Posts: 212 | angelia, I live is southern calif and I was VERY cold for a while. I use to put a space heater in the bathroom just to take a shower. I did not have a thyroid problem, I just lost so much meat, I was skin and bones (almost)I still rarely wear shorts, and always sleep with a long sleeve tee where as I use to sleep "sans chemise". It is getting better. Glad I live here, I would have frozen solid if I lived in the cold country!
Steve
Last edited by tristeve; 04-15-2010 07:18 AM.
70 male, athlete...again
SSC of undetermined orgin , early july 09
40 tx radiation, 8 chemo cisplatin and ebuterx
finished TX in mid Sept 09
Clear at the 6 year mark!
Back to swimming, biking and running! just a tad slower
never regained my weight, even when I eat lots and lots, just a skinny guy now
Just way glad to be seeing the green side up!
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