Mark, I agree about the pre-treatment blood test - it is so simple. I was disappointed that the specialist unit which treated me mentioned many possible side effects, some of which didn't occur, but not the thyroid. In the end it was my vigilant general practitioner who picked it up when my blood cholesterol reading suddenly went sky high to the extent that I also temporarily have to take a drug to control that. The problem with the hypothyroid symptoms for us, is that many of them are so similar to what we experience anyway post radiation. How long after radiation until you found you were hypothyroidic, Mark? Helen