The Thyroid can be misdiagnosed
By Mireya Toy
A pale scar resting on the center of her neck is a grave reminder to Estela Casas of how frail life can be. Beloved news anchor, Estela Casas was diagnosed with Minimally Invasive Follicular Carcinoma, or as Casas describes it “pretty word for Cancer,” earlier this year.
“I freaked, I cried, I sobbed,” recalled Casas.
Last summer, the once aspired and trained singer, noticed a few small changes with her voice while singing along to Carry Underwood in her car, and also her neck became very sensitive to mild temperature changes.
“I brushed it all aside until one night in August I was applying my make up and that’s how I found a lump and freaked,” said Casas. “That’s when I realized something was going on.”
She got it all checked out and everything came out fine, negative to cancer and relief set in.
Casas was advised to have the nodule taken out and part of the thyroid but decided not to have the nodule removed.
But only after a few women warned her to get it removed, she decided that those were enough signs and she didn’t need a bus to run her over to realize what had to be done.
Two weeks later, she received the results, positive for cancer.
After her diagnosis and surgeries Casas was surprised that there was little to nothing to help those that suffer from thyroid disease or any type of thyroid cancer.
Casas asked herself what she could do to help and she helped organize the first Thyroid Support Group meeting, along with the El Paso Cancer Treatment Center.
“It’s amazing how many people are affected by thyroid disease,” said Casas. “There are so many people out there that need some help. We don’t need wigs because out hair doesn’t fall off, we don’t need transportation because we don’t get chemotherapy, but we need other services.”
Casas has shared her life with the community and what she tries to achieve is to educate other on their health and how important it is to stay healthy. So this experience is no different.
“A lot of women get miss diagnosed because thyroid disease does wreak havoc with your emotions and women are misdiagnosed as being depressed, pre-menopausal and menopausal when they are not,” Casas said. “So I want to get the word out on have your Thyroid checked. If there’s anything that’s not quite right with you, get your thyroid checked.”
Today Casas is cancer free but has to take medication that replicates the duties of the thyroid.
The butterfly-shaped gland sits on the lower front part of the neck and it produces hormones that control the body’s metabolism.
According to the National Cancer Institute there are about 37,000 new cases reported in the U.S. and it seems to be more likely in women of any age group, but most common after the age of 30.
The reasons of why this cancer occurs is unknown but Dr. Mark M. Landeros, MD, General Surgery, advises that the best prevention is to get routine examinations and regular visits to the doctor.
Some of the symptoms of thyroid cancer include, a lump on the neck, pain in the neck that may extend to the ears, hoarseness, trouble swallowing, breathing problems, or a persistent and unexplained cough.
While all or some these symptoms may not be certain to be cancer they should be checked by a doctor to be on the safe side.
Dr. Landeros is the only surgeon in El Paso that is currently working on a new surgery that will prevent scars on the neck due to surgery, called the Da Vinci Robotic Surgery.
“The incision is done through the arm pit and with a camera and very fine instruments it is easier to remove and dissect tissue”, said Landeros.
Through Da Vinci Robotic Surgery the surgeon maneuvers robotic arms that are handling the patient.
The procedure is fairly new and while Dr. Landeros has yet to perform that type of surgery in El Paso he is confident that it will come to El Paso with in a few years. But the procedure is not for everyone.
“The tumor has to be relatively small and not cancerous,” explained Landeros.
For further information on the Da Vinci Robotic Surgery go to http://www.davincisurgery.com/davinci-surgery/.
