What my Doctor had to say!
Posted August 15, 2009 It’s been two weeks since my last treatment. Unfortunately, I’m already showing signs of relapse. My eyes are drooping more, and it’s getting harder to keep them open when I yawn or smile. On Tuesday, the numbness in my right leg returned—though thankfully, it hasn’t affected my ability to walk. On Thursday I met with my neurologist for the first time since treatment. She was shocked at how much I’ve improved since she last saw me. She told me that, because of the progress I’ve made and the likelihood that I still have thyroid cancer, what I’m dealing with is probably Paraneoplastic Syndrome —a condition caused by the immune system’s response to cancer elsewhere in the body. In other words, my immune system is producing thyroid antibodies to fight the cancer, but those same antibodies are attacking my nervous system. I asked if that meant I have Hashimoto’s Encephalopathy. She said that since my immune response has a known trigger (the cancer), it’s tech...