ThyCa JOURNEYS NEWSLETTER – Summer 2003 (PDF)

On Saturday, May 3, the third annual New England regional workshop for thyroid cancer survivors and families will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Carl Amelio Room at St. Joseph Hospital, 172 Kinsley Street, Nashua, New Hampshire.

The workshop is FREE and is open to people at all stages of testing and treatment for thyroid cancer, as well as their families, friends, and caregivers.

The day will begin at 8:45 a.m. with registration, a continental breakfast, and an opportunity for survivors with thyroid cancer, the most common endocrine cancer, and their families to meet informally with other survivors and family members.

From 9:30 to 11 a.m., speakers will focus on thyroid cancer testing and treatment.

Colleen Conley, Thyrogen Clinical Science Associate with Genzyme Therapeutics, will review the use of Thyrogen in whole-body scans for papillary and follicular thyroid cancer. Jack M. Monchik, M.D., Chief of Endocrine Surgery at Rhode Island Hospital and Clinical Professor of Surgery at Brown University School of Medicine, will discuss “Thyroid Carcinoma: Current Therapy and Recent Advances.”

The further morning and afternoon sessions will focus on coping skills and complementary approaches for well-being, including massage therapy, spirituality, acupuncture for nausea and pain relief, and other approaches.

The workshop is sponsored by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association. ThyCa, a nonprofit, 501(c) (3) organization, provides support services and resources, free of charge, to thyroid cancer survivors and their families.

Transportation directions and further details about the workshop are on the ThyCa web site. For more information about the workshop, e-mail to Nashua_NH@thyca.org, or phone 978-251-4769 or 603-465-2900.

For information about ThyCa’s other free workshops and other support services and special events, e-mail tothyca@thyca.org, call 1-877-588-7904, or visit the ThyCa web site at www.thyca.org.

On Saturday, April 19, 2003, from 11 a.m. to noon, Gilbert H. Daniels,
M.D., Endocrinologist, will be the guest speaker at the ThyCa Boston Support Group for thyroid cancer survivors, families, and friends. Dr. Daniels is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Co-Director of Thyroid Associates at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The Ask A Doctor program will take place in the Wallcott Rooms in the Wang Building of Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston. Dr. Daniels will discuss current research, management, and treatment of all types of thyroid cancer in an informal question and answer format.

The support group meeting and the presentation by Dr. Daniels are free and will begin at 10:30 a.m. The event is open to thyroid cancer survivors, their families, and their friends.

For more information about the program or for directions, call the support group facilitator Ric Blake at 603-434-4932, e-mail to Boston_MA@thyca.org, or visit the web site of ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association at www.thyca.org.

Free services and resources for thyroid cancer survivors are organized by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. ThyCa is a nonprofit, volunteer organization providing person-to-person and e-mail support groups, a free low-iodine cookbook, a free newsletter, and other educational services and resources to thyroid cancer survivors and their families at no charge.

For more information about ThyCa’s free support services and annual conference, visit the web site atwww.thyca.org, call toll-free 1-877-588-7904, write PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545, or e-mail tothyca@thyca.org.

On Saturday, March 15 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., ten public health officials from Belarus will take part in the Thyroid Cancer Support Group Meeting sponsored by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.

The meeting takes place at the Hennepin County Southdale Library, 7001 York Avenue South, Edina, Minnesota.

The meeting free and open to people at all stages of testing, treatment, and follow-up for thyroid cancer, as well as their family members and friends.

The Belarussian delegation is part of a month-long Community Connections program funded by the U.S. Department of State and sponsored by Connect/US-Russia of Minneapolis. The delegation is particularly interested in learning about coping mechanisms that thyroid cancer survivors find helpful.

“Thyroid cancer has been a major health concern in Belarus ever since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster,” noted Charles Maynes of Connect/US Russia. “Our delegates are doctors and health administrators who serve one of the region’s most contaminated by the nuclear fallout. Care for children, in particular, is major concern: studies estimate that thyroid cancer in the younger population has increased 200 fold and an estimated 20,000 more children are at an increased risk to develop cancer in the near future.”

The support group is sponsored by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association. ThyCa, a nonprofit, 501(c) (3) organization, provides support services and resources, free of charge, to thyroid cancer survivors and their families.

For more information about the meeting, e-mail to Tracey Crary or Janelle Waslaski at TwinCities@thyca.org. For information about ThyCa’s other free support services and special events, e-mail to thyca@thyca.org or visit the ThyCa web site at www.thyca.org.

On Saturday, April 5, thyroid cancer survivors and their families are invited to attend a one-day workshop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Inova Health System’s Life with Cancer Family Center, 2832 Juniper Street, Fairfax/Merrifield, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. and Interstate 495.

The workshop is FREE and open to people at all stages of testing and treatment for thyroid cancer, as well as their families and friends.

The four physicians who will speak and answer questions are Monica Skarulis, M.D., Endocrinologist, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD; Jeffrey A. Cooper, M.D., Nuclear Medicine Physician, Washington, DC, and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA; James Oertel, M.D., Pathologist, Washington, DC; and Yolanda Oertel, M.D., Director of the Fine Needle Aspiration Service, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, D.C. Three of these physicians are members of the Medical Advisory Council of ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.

The physicians will discuss all phases of thyroid cancer care, as well as research advances related to thyroid cancer diagnosis, treatment, and long-term follow-up. This educational and supportive day will also include sessions on coping skills and complementary care for well-being, as well as thyroid cancer survivor roundtables.

The free workshop is sponsored by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. An all-volunteer nonprofit, 501(c) (3) organization of thyroid cancer survivors, families, and health care professionals, ThyCa provides support services, resources, and publications, free of charge, to thyroid cancer survivors and their families.

Transportation directions and further details are on the ThyCa web site in the Conferences/Workshops section.

For more information about the workshop, e-mail to thyca_northern_va@thyca.org or toWashington_DC@thyca.org or phone 301-493-8810.

To find out more about ThyCa’s year-round support services and the international conference to be held October 24-26, e-mail to thyca@thyca.org, phone 1-877-588-7904 or visit the ThyCa web site at <www.thyca.org>.

ThyCa; Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has started a second research fund, the Medullary Thyroid Cancer Research Fund.

The Medullary Thyroid Cancer Research Fund will support research focused on medullary thyroid cancer. Medullary thyroid cancer accounts for 5% to 10% of all cases of thyroid cancer and has a number of unique features. Medullary thyroid cancer can present itself as either sporadic or familial.

ThyCa also sponsors the Thyroid Cancer Research Fund to support research on papillary, follicular, Hurthle cell, other variants, and anaplastic thyroid cancer. These thyroid cancer types range from well-differentiated to undifferentiated thyroid cancer.

Earlier this year, ThyCa announced the availability of its first grant for thyroid cancer research, with the awardee to be selected by the American Thyroid Association, the professional association of clinicians and researchers concerned with thyroid diseases.

“We are proud to establish this new fund and know that it will make a difference in progress against medullary thyroid cancer. Research regarding treatment of all types of thyroid cancer is underfunded and in great need of support,” says Joann Eskenazi, Board Member and Fundraising Chair.

Contributions of any size are welcome and are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by the IRS.

Donors to thyroid cancer research may designate the Medullary Thyroid Cancer Research Fund or the Thyroid Research Fund or may contribute to
both funds.

Contributions should be sent to ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., Research Fund, PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545

ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., is an all-volunteer, national nonprofit 501 (c)(3) service organization of thyroid cancer survivors, families, and health care professionals. ThyCa’s mission is education, support, and communication for people at all stages of testing, treatment, and follow-up for all types of thyroid cancer, as well as for their families and friends.

Details on support groups, services, workshops, and the annual conference are on the web site atwww.thyca.org .

Vermont’s first support group for thyroid cancer survivors will meet on the second Saturday each month from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Northwestern Medical Center, Conference Room 2, 133 Fairfield Street, St. Albans, Vermont.

The group will hold its first meeting Saturday, April 12, 2003. The facilitator is Scott Careau of St. Albans.

Organized by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., the ThyCa Northern Vermont support group is free and open to all thyroid cancer survivors and their families and friends.

The free support group welcomes people at all stages of testing, treatment, and follow-up for thyroid cancer. For more information, contact Scott Careau by phone at 802-527-9868 or by e-mail at Northern-VT@thyca.org.

Support groups for thyroid cancer survivors are organized across the United States by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. The ThyCa web site lists all the support group meeting dates and locations. ThyCa is a nonprofit, volunteer organization providing person-to-person and e-mail support groups, a free low-iodine cookbook, a free newsletter, and other educational services and resources to thyroid cancer survivors and their families at no charge.

For more information about ThyCa’s free support services and annual conference, visit the web site atwww.thyca.org, call toll-free 1-877-588-7904, write PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545, or e-mail tothyca@thyca.org.

Saturday, March 8, from 10:30 a.m. to Noon 
FREE

Matt Kim, M.D., Endocrinologist and faculty member of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will speak about thyroid cancer treatment and long-term follow-up, as well as the use of thyroid hormone replacement in thyroid cancer patients on Saturday, March 8, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon at the Baltimore thyroid cancer support group meeting.

The presentation takes place at the The Cancer Institute at Sinai Hospital, 2401 West Belvedere Avenue, located in suburban Baltimore, Maryland, north of the city, inside Interstate 695, just west of Interstate 83, and near Northern Parkway.

This free presentation and question-and-answer session is open to people at all stages of testing, treatment, and follow-up for thyroid cancer, as well as their families and friends. Dr. Cooper was also a speaker at the 5th International Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association Conference in October 2002.

For more information, call the Cancer Institute at 410-601-4688 or contact Marion Hammond, the thyroid cancer support group facilitator, by e-mail at Baltimore-MD@thyca.org.

Free services and resources for thyroid cancer survivors are organized by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. ThyCa is a nonprofit, volunteer organization providing person-to-person and e-mail support groups, a free low-iodine cookbook, a free newsletter, and other educational services and resources to thyroid cancer survivors and their families at no charge.

For more information about ThyCa’s free support services and annual conference, visit the web site atwww.thyca.org, call toll-free 1-877-588-7904, write PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545, or e-mail tothyca@thyca.org.

The first-ever thyroid cancer research grant to be sponsored by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. (ThyCa) will be awarded in early 2003, ThyCa Board Chair Gary Bloom has announced.

The American Thyroid Association (ATA), the professional association of clinicians and researchers concerned with thyroid diseases, will select the recipient of the ThyCa grant.

“This grant is an important first step in ThyCa’s growing effort to raise funds for research to improve the treatment of thyroid cancer, the most common endocrine cancer. More research on this challenging disease is urgently needed. We are grateful to everyone in the ATA for their concern and support for people dealing with thyroid cancer,” says ThyCa Board Chair Gary Bloom.

“We are proud and excited to support advances in thyroid cancer research,” says ThyCa Board Member and Fundraising Chair Joni Eskenazi. “The funds for our first-ever grant are the result of the dedicated volunteer efforts and generous contributions from thyroid cancer survivors, families, and friends.”

The ATA web site <www.thyroid.org> and professional journal Thyroid have announced the availability of the research funds and the eligibility guidelines. Applicants may be physicians or Ph.D.s involved in thyroid cancer research. The application deadline is January 31, 2003.

ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., is an all-volunteer, national nonprofit 501 (c)(3) service organization of thyroid cancer survivors, families, and health care professionals. ThyCa’s mission is education, support, and communication for people at all stages of testing, treatment, and follow-up for all types of thyroid cancer, as well as for their families and friends.

Free support services and resources include ThyCa’s award-winning educational web site, seven e-mail support groups, local support groups coast to coast, a Person To Person Network, a toll-free survivors’ telephone number, a free online newsletter, a free downloadable low-iodine cookbook, and regional one-day workshops.

In addition, ThyCa’s annual international conference brings together thyroid cancer survivors, families, and experts in thyroid cancer treatment and research. The 6th International Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference will take place October 24-26, 2003 in Houston, Texas, at the Wyndham Greenspoint Hotel.

Information about thyroid cancer, ThyCa’s free support services, and the annual conference is available by writing to PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545, e-mail thyca@thyca.org, or the ThyCa web sitewww.thyca.org.