Cancer Survivors - any users wish to tell story

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Long Story Short:
47 year old male, recently went in for a routine ENT appointment on 4/18. Exam found an irregularity and followed up with soft tissue ultrasound of head and neck. TIRADs score was high on two sights. Went through a fine needle aspiration biopsy guided by ultrasound. Two areas biopsied, one positive for Papillary Carcinoma (1.1 cm). The other, they couldn’t confirm.

This all happened in a final build week for a multi-race weekend event in Ohio (4 triathlons/3 days). I was fit, health, asymptomatic.

Now, my journey is this fight. I have a surgical consult Friday with very good specialists in this area (Chicago), if not the best. I am wondering what the road looks like for me. Is my season gone? I was going to race a few gravel events and then do Madison 70.3 with a sprint the week after.

I am being open about my case because this came out of nowhere, and have been sulking into a pit of despair (mentally). We have 3 kids, 9,7,4 and my heart has been breaking everyday knowing I will not be my best for a while.

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I’m sorry to hear this. I’m not a cancer survivor, but I have survived some heart surgeries. I know progress and recovery are slow. I’ve found the key is to do something active every day, even if it was a walk or recovery yoga.

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My heart is going out to you. Mine is also not cancer, but I did spend over a year dealing with concussion/brain/heart issues and several surgeries, not know if there was light at the end for fitness and lifestyle.

Totally not the same I know, more echoing and adding on to what @SimpleEnduranceCoach shared: doing something active, taking it one day at a time, trying to remember to appreciate what you DO have and CAN do without wishing too far ahead, can make a big difference in the experience. Less fitness ironically meant more time with my spouse and was a positive, and we celebrated little moments - the first walk to the mailbox with the dog was a happy and celebrated milestone! The first walk 90 steps / run 10 steps was huge!

We’re here for you too. Keep us updated, reach out to vent and/or share and/or ask questions.

As to if your season is gone, how are you feeling? Did the doctors recommend keeping active or pausing? Do they have concerns about intense efforts going into this? I’d ask them what they recommend, and perhaps it’s ok to race, or at least still get out there and participate while treating like an easy training day.

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Dude, I also just realized who this was. You bring your best every day.

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Not a cancer survivor but as you know I’m here for you my great friend, competitor and mentor. From some injury/sickness experience I would say stay positive and as other said keep moving even if its a walk or simple play day with kids. One thing I was able to focus on when I couldn’t train for 2 months was the food especially concentrating on protein/fat and low carb (it improved my health). I know it is going to be hard fight my friend, but I have seen you racing and you are tough competitor and I know you will beat that and come back stronger. I can’t wait to see you again racing (Hopefully Lake Geneva in September) and probably as usual see your back :slight_smile:

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So on the clinical side, and from other friends I would say that the idea is to keep doing what I am doing, because 2 months ago, I didn’t know I had this. However, to deep dive into this Prof has kindly reached out and I think I will discuss a rough “plan”.

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Ironically, we were just discussing, “health first”.

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Knowing myself, I feel like the following has to happen

  • Be methodical in approach

  • Let negative thoughts just run through me - they pass eventually.

  • Focus on the what, in present, not the why in the past. I can’t change it.

  • Mental game is important.

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Dear friend, we are all here for you to spar ideas, listen and give a shoulder to cry on if needed.

We take each day as they come with you in this new journey, and will help you find one positive thing each day.

Because if I have learned anything in life it is this: even on the darkest days, there’s a light somewhere around the corner.

Onwards my friend :heart:

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Hey mate. I’ll chime in, now 49M, cancer at age 30, non-hodgkins lymphoma. Was fit, healthy had just done my first triathlon. Had never smoked, didn’t drink, but overworked and a new parent with a 1.5 year old.

My advice, keep moving, be ok with lowering expectations for a little while. I didn’t, 6 months of full-time chemo (it was an aggressive cancer, and so we had to be just as aggressive with treatment), put me in a “if I can’t do what I used to do, I’ll do nothing” mindset, and so I stopped everything thinking I was broken (I wasn’t but it felt like it), gained 30kg, and so my kids knew nothing else.

Took me 3 years to try triathlon again after treatment, I came last, like actual last, and another 15 years to try again after that (I did some other social sport in that time).

Now, in the last 2 years I’ve lost that 30kg, done 9 triathlons all the way up to 70.3, two half-marathons, and in training for two full marathons in the next 3 months.

I’m very very middle of the pack (at best), but I don’t care. I’ve learned to be amazed at what my body can still do considering what it went through.

Don’t fall into my trap, keep moving, keep positive (sometimes, the hardest part), plenty come back full strength, I didn’t give myself that chance, and know that whatever you are capable of doing during/after treatment is more of an achievement than when it’s easy and you feel seemingly bulletproof.

I don’t know your specifics, but it sounds like the outlook is positive, and your kids will be even more amazed at what you can do when they learn the context of how you did it.

Your kids will just want love, treatment doesn’t have to stop that, your partner will be the one that could benefit from a good support network to help take up some of the physical slack.

Head up, chest out, amazing is not a time on a watch or place on the podium.

Good luck mate.

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Hey there, thanks for chiming in and sharing your story. This is very amazing. I was in the same mindset as you were - just wanting to stop moving because the emotional stress was very high. These days, you get the news in apps, emails, etc. And, it’s quite heartless the way the medical industry works.

I had 7 races scheduled this year (triathlons) and did a few running races earlier this January. I just felt off, was training to expectations but just didn’t have the extra gear. Now, today, I am fully at peace with just letting go of all the race expectations and just training and working out for health. It took me a while to come to this.

My diagnosis. It’s quite positive, although clinical data on males in their 40s with Thyroid cancer is a bit scarce. I basically went into a routine ENT visit for an ear cleaning and he felt what turned out to be a benign lump in my lower left thyroid area. An ultrasound followed, then those results came back alarming and suggested a fine needle aspiration. Then those results confirmed dread. Fast forward, I had one surgical consult so far, next one this Friday.

Prof and I talked yesterday and we hit on some good points - that the immune system is very important in the repair and control. While I feel I can make big improvements in this, I feel training is still important too.

I also think that I was focused on performance and optimization for so long, trying to win my age group at every race, trying to get to where people told me I could get to. It’s nice to have those motivational things, but the key thing that I feel is important is HEALTH first. Performance is a byproduct of that.

Thanks for your time! I enjoyed reading your story.

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Just sent you a Private Message.

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Awesome I’ll check it out. Thanks again and I hope to discuss further.

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Hey all,

Thanks again to all for the time and thoughts. Planned Sx on Tuesday with an overnight stay. The last few weeks have been interesting to ride the wave of emotions. For now, this is my last training session for a few weeks. I don’t have any races planned and for once, I am ok with that feeling.

I will return, a new person.

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Sending you all the healing energy and will be thinking of you!

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Thanks for the update Ben! Will be thinking of you and sending you those healing vibes. I like your trainer set up by the way :heart:

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Hey all -

Back again. Thank you so much for the support and the generous gifts! They will come in handy feeding our kids during the next few weeks.

I can share some of the details of how it unfolded. Kind of a like a post race report =)

*July 15: surgery date. Delay of 4 hours, finally prepped and dressed for the OR by 4pm. The plan was reviewed with my surgeon. She was amazing and I consider them an elite team performing in our area.
*Planned surgery was a left thyroid lobectomy with parathyroid auto transplant. Two nodule locations (see below).
**UNPLANNED surgery intraoperatively was a EGD Flexible transoral EGD due to a rare Zenker’s Diverticulum. This “outpouching” in my esophagus was what ultimately was what the felt on exam. This diverticulum was mistaken for a second, benign nodule. Looking back, this is what they first felt by hand on exam. Crazy how that you go in for a routine, they find something, then they find something else that is very suspicious, then go through surgery to finally uncover what it really is. It has been there since birth.

I received the pathology report a few days ago: and all looks very promising with a low risk of recurrence.

The team here has been really supportive.

It takes a village.

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