Chicago’s First Support Group for Thyroid Cancer Survivors Begins Meeting February 20.

Released by: ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. 
Web site: http://www.thyca.org
Media Contact: Chicago_IL@thyca.org
Information # 877-588-7904 (toll-free) 
Address: ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. 
PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545 
Toll-Free Survivors’ Information Number: 877-588-7904 
Fax: 503-905-9725 
E-mail: thyca@thyca.org

Greater Chicago’s first support group for thyroid cancer survivors will begin meeting at the Cancer Care Center in Park Ridge, Ill., on February 20, 2001. Organized by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., ThyCa Chicago is free and open to all thyroid cancer survivors and their families.

Support groups for thyroid cancer survivors are organized across the United States by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. ThyCa is a nonprofit, volunteer organization providing services and Resources to thyroid cancer survivors and their families at no charge. For more information call toll-free 877-588-7904, write to PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545, e-mail to thyca@thyca.org, or visit the web site at http://www.thyca.org.

New Hampshire’s first support group for thyroid cancer survivors will begin meeting at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua on January 6. Organized by
ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., ThyCa Nashua is free and open to all thyroid cancer survivors and their families. ThyCa Nashua meets from 10:30 a.m. to noon on the first Saturday of each month in Conference Room A on the fifth floor of the hospital, which is located at 172 Kinsley Street in Nashua. For information about ThyCa Nashua, call Beth Moksu at 603-465-2900 or 603-465-7509 or writeNashua_NH@thyca.org. After January 1, 2001, you may also call MedCall at 1-800-210-9000 for directions to the hospital.

This is the third support group for thyroid cancer survivors in New England and one of 20 in the United States. ThyCa Merrimack Valley meets from
10:30 a.m. to noon on the second Saturday of each month at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center in Lawrence, MA. For directions to ThyCa
Merrimack Valley contact: Michelle Santarelli at 978-682-8885 or write Lawrence_MA@thyca.org. ThyCa Boston meets from 10:30 to noon in the
Wallcott Rooms at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on the 3rd Saturday of the month. For more information call Ric Blake at
603-434-4932 or write Boston_MA@thyca.org.

Support groups for thyroid cancer survivors are organized across the United States by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. ThyCa is
a nonprofit, volunteer organization providing services and resources to thyroid cancer survivors and their families at no charge. For more information
call toll-free 877-588-7904 or write visit the web site at http://www.thyca.org.

Massachusetts’s second support group for thyroid cancer survivors will begin meeting in September 2000. Free and open to all thyroid cancer
survivors and their families, ThyCa Boston will meet for 90 minutes one Saturday each month (day and times to be announced in July). Organized
by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., ThyCa Boston will meet at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (meeting room to be
announced in July). For details write ThyCaBoston@thyca.org.

Support groups for thyroid cancer survivors are being organized across the United States and Canada by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’
Association, Inc. ThyCa is a nonprofit, volunteer organization providing services and resources to thyroid cancer survivors and their families at no
charge. Organized following the first annual conference for thyroid cancer survivors held in Massachusetts in October 1998, a national steering
committee incorporated the association in March 1999 and received designation as a non-profit organization by the IRS in November. During its
first year, ThyCa established a permanent address (ThyCa, PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545) and a survivors’ information toll-free
telephone number (877-588-7904). Its web site <www.thyca.org> has more than 100,000 visitors a month. All ThyCa services are free.

ThyCa’s web site <www.thyca.org> includes a description of types of thyroid cancer and its treatment, news releases, history of the association,
listing of local support groups and facilitators in the U.S. and Canada, information about future national and regional conferences and links to other resources. The site also includes a membership application and advance electronic registration for conferences.

CONFERENCE DETAILS
Event 3rd Annual Thyroid CAncer Survivors’ Conference
The ONLY conference in the world for survivors of this rare cancer.
Name ThyCa 2000
Dates 8-10 September 2000
Place National 4-H Conference Center, Chevy Chase, MD
7100 Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Case, MD 20815
Cost $40 per person for nonmembers; $35 per person for members; $30 for lifetime members
Organized by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.
Web site <www.thyca.org>
Media Contact Ric Blake : <Rblake@thyca.org>
Address ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.
PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545
Toll Free Survivors’ Information Number: 877-588-7904

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
From September 8-10, thyroid cancer survivors from across the United States and Canada will meet in Chevy Chase, Maryland, for the world’s third annual meeting for the survivors of this rare cancer. The conference is organized by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to survivors’ issues. Sponsors include the American Cancer Society, Knoll Pharmaceuticals and Genzyme Company.

The cost is only $35 for members of ThyCa, $40 for nonmembers.. Survivors may register online at ThyCa’s web page at <www.thyca.org>, by e-mail at <conference@thyca.org> or by writing to ThyCa 2000 Conference Registration, PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545 until August 1,
1999..

This an informal, nuts ‘n bolts conference where survivors will have a chance to talk face-to-face with other survivors and with leading thyroid cancer
specialists in small, intimate group settings. For many, this will be the first time since their diagnosis they have met someone else with this cancer. This is not a disease that effects large numbers as does breast and prostate cancer. In the United States, fewer than 16,000 are diagnosed with thyroid cancer annually. Of the estimated 200,000 survivors in the United States, fewer than 1,500 will die of the disease this year.

Professional facilitators include leading physicians and other health care professionals from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Johns Hopkins
University, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, National Institutes of Health, North Shore
University Hospital, University of Kentucky, Washington Hospital Center and Washington University at St. Louis.

Workshop topics include: Future Trends In Thyroid Cancer Care, Self-care for Comfort and Well Being, Support During the First Year After Diagnosis, Tests and What They Mean, Treatment and Follow-up, Managing the Low Iodine Diet. Special sessions will include: Ask A Doctor and Ask A Pharmacist. Throughout the three day international conference, volunteers will be available in a special research room with Internet access to help participants learn to use the Internet to research medical issues.

Conference organizers are committed to help other survivors because thyroid cancer is a disease that impacts everyone from the time of diagnosis for the rest of their lives. They must learn to cope with a strict regimen of daily medications plus the impact of periodic tests and treatments that can significantly affect the quality of their lives. ThyCa’s annual international conference is only one of the resources the newly incorporated non-profit volunteer organization has created to help survivors around the world.

“Talking with other survivors and learning from their experience,” says Gary Bloom of Olney, MD, Chair of the ThyCa Board of Directors and Facilitator of the Washington, DC ThyCa Support Group, “is an important part of living with this disease. Until 1997, when a group of survivors began to build a worldwide network of free services for survivors, we lived in complete isolation. Now we have four mailing lists, a weekly chat room on the Internet dedicated to survivors’ issues and a newly formed Survivors’ Information Help Line. Our award winning web site at <www.thyca.org> has guidelines for radiation and other treatments and receives more than 40,000 visitors each month. Now, within a few minutes, someone newly diagnosed can access information about their disease, learn about treatment options and find links to the best medical information in the world.”

Conference details are available on ThyCa’s web site at <www.thyca.org>, by mail at ThyCa 2000, PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545 and through the ThyCa Survivors’ Toll-Free Telephone Service (877-588-7904). Queries may also be sent by e-mail to <conference@thyca.org>.

The world’s only organization for thyroid cancer survivors has been granted tax-exempt status by the United States’ Internal Revenue Service. “We
are pleased to have been granted 501(c)(3) designation as a not-for-profit organization,” says Gary Bloom a thyroid cancer survivor in Olney, MD,
and Chair of the ThyCa Board of Directors. “Tax exempt status will help us seek funding to carry out the mission of the Association. As a volunteer organization, we depend on donations, educational grants and membership fees to reach survivors around the world.”

ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. provides services and resources to thyroid cancer survivors and their families around the world. 
Organized following the first annual conference for thyca (thyroid cancer) survivors held in Massachusetts in October 1998, a national steering
committee incorporated the association in March 1999.

“In just the past year,” Bloom adds, “we have established a web site, created a permanent mailing address and toll-free telephone service for
survivors, organized local support groups in the U.S. and Canada. Plus we are now in the midst of planning our third annual conference for survivors and their families. Tax-exempt status will help us secure the financial support we need to expand these free services.”

ThyCa’s web site has proven to be an invaluable resource for survivors, especially those newly diagnosed with this rare cancer. Since starting in
early 1999, the site has grown rapidly, now getting more than 40,000 visitors a month. The site includes a description of types of thyroid cancer
and its treatment, news releases, history of the association, listing of local support groups and facilitators in the U.S. and Canada, information about future conferences and links to other resources. The site also includes an electronic membership application and advance electronic registration for conferences. The address for ThyCa’s web site is <www.thyca.org>.

Florida’s second support group for thyroid cancer survivors has begun meeting in West Melbourne. Free and open to all thyroid cancer survivors
and their families, the ThyCa: Space Coast Florida meets from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month. Organized by ThyCa:
Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, ThyCa Space Coast meets at the West Melbourne Public Library, 2755 Wingate Blvd., West Melbourne,
FL.

The support group is free and open to all thyroid cancer survivors and their families. For directions and information about ThyCa Space Coast, call
Leah Guljord at 321-733-0846 or write Space_Coast@thyca.org.

This is the second support group for thyroid cancer survivors in Florida and one of more than a dozen meeting across the United States. A support group in Cape Coral meets at 11:30 a.m. on the first Thursday of each month.

Support groups for thyroid cancer survivors are begin organized across the United States and Canada by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’
Association, Inc. ThyCa is a nonprofit volunteer organization providing services and resources to thyroid cancer survivors and their families at no
charge. Organized following the first annual conference for thyroid cancer survivors held in Massachusetts in October 1998, a national steering
committee incorporated the association in March 1999 and was designated as a non-profit organization by the IRS in November of last year. During its first year, ThyCa has established a permanent address (PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545) and a survivors’ information toll-free telephone number (877-588-7904). Its web site <http://www.thyca.org> has more than 40,000 visitors a month.

ThyCa’s web site includes a description of types of thyroid cancer and its treatment, news releases, history of the association, listing of local
support groups and facilitators in the U.S. and Canada, information about future national and regional conferences and links to other resources. 
The site also includes a membership application and advance electronic registration for conferences.

ThyCa.com, the official web site of ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., has received the StudyWeb Academic Excellence Award
by reviewers at StudyWeb. In announcing the featured site designation, StudyWeb described thyca.org as “one of the best educational resources
on the Web.”

ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. is a nonprofit volunteer organization providing services and resources to thyroid cancer survivors
and their families. Organized following the world’s first annual conference for thyroid cancer survivors held in Massachusetts in October 1998, a national steering committee incorporated the association in March 1999.

StudyWeb is one of the Internet’s premier sites for educational resources for students and teachers. Since 1996, StudyWeb’s reviewers search the Internet and select what they judge as the finest sites to include in its listing of educational links. Each site in StudyWeb includes a detailed review, describing the site’s editorial and visual merits. StudyWeb’s address is http://www.studyweb.com.

ThyCa’s web site was designed by its web manager, Betty Solbjor of Waltham, MA, who is a thyca survivor and founding member of the ThyCa
Board of Directors. She is also a founding member of ThyCa Merrimack Valley, in Lawrence, MA, which was the first support group established for
thyca survivors in the world.

ThyCa’s web site includes a description of types of thyroid cancer and its treatment, news releases, history of the association, listing of local
support groups in the U.S. and Canada, information about future national and regional conferences plus links to other resources. The site also includes an electronic membership application. The address for ThyCa’s web site is http://www.thyca.org.

CONFERENCE DETAILS
Event 2nd Annual Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference
The ONLY conference in the world for survivors of this rare cancer.
Name ThyCa ’99
Dates 22-24 October 1999
Place Boston Marriott, Burlington, Massachusetts, USA
Cost $25 per person / students free with identification. Scholarships are available.
Organized by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.
Web site http://www.thyca.org
Address ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.
PO Box 1545, New York, NY 10159-1545

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

From October 22-24, thyroid cancer survivors from across the United States and Canada will meet in Massachusetts for the world’s second annual
meeting for the survivors of this rare cancer. The conference is organized by ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., a nonprofit 
organization dedicated to survivors’ issues. Sponsors include the American Cancer Society, New England Division, Knoll Pharmaceuticals and
Genzyme Company.

The cost is only $25. Students may attend free. Survivors may register online at ThyCa’s web page at http://www.thyca.org, by e-mail to
registration@thyca.org or by writing to ThyCa ‘99 Registration, PO Box 243, Millersville, PA 17551 until October 1, 1999.. Scholarships will be
provided upon request..

This an informal, nuts ‘n bolts conference where survivors will have a chance to talk face-to-face with other survivors and with leading thyroid cancer
specialists in small, intimate group settings.. For many, this will be the first time since their diagnosis they have met someone else with this cancer. This is not a disease that effects large numbers as does breast and prostate cancer. In the United States, fewer than 15,000 are diagnosed with thyroid cancer annually. Of the estimated 200,000 survivors in the United States, fewer than 1,500 will die of the disease this year.

Professional facilitators include: Arturo Rolla, MD, an endocrinologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, and founder of the ThyCa Mailing List; Gilbert Daniels, MD, Co-Director of the Thyroid Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Donald Margouleff, MD, Chief
of Nuclear Medicine at North Shore University Hospital, Manhassett, NY; Firdosh Pathan, Senior Attending Pharmacist, Massachusetts General
Hospital Pharmacy Department; Lori Fresina, State Advocacy Director for the American Cancer Society, New England Division; and Judy Fleishman, Ph.D., Behavioral Scientist at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, Lawrence, MA.

Unlike last year, when workshop topics were limited to surgery, radiation, nutrition, medication and caring for care givers, ThyCa ‘99 will add
complementary treatments including Yoga, Reiki, Healing Meditation and creative self-expression. Friday and Saturday survivors’ art from around
the US and Canada will be on exhibit. And throughout the three day event, volunteers will be available in a special research room with Internet
access to help participants learn to use the Internet to research medical issues.

Conference organizers are committed to help other survivors because thyroid cancer is a disease that impacts everyone for life from the time of
diagnosis. They must learn to cope with a strict regimen of daily medications plus the impact of periodic tests and treatments that can significantly affect the quality of their lives temporarily. The conference is
only one of the resources the newly incorporated nonprofit volunteer 
organization has created to help survivors around the world.

“Talking with other survivors and learning from their experience,” says Gary Bloom of Olney, MD, Chair of the ThyCa Board of Directors, and
Facilitator of the Washington, DC ThyCa Support Group, “is an important part of living with this disease. Until 1997, when a group of survivors
began to build a worldwide network of free services for survivors, we lived in complete isolation. Now we have two mailing lists and a weekly chat
room on the Internet dedicated to survivors’ issues. This year we created a web site at http://www.thyca.org with guidelines for radiation and other
treatments. Now, within a few minutes, someone newly diagnosed can access information about their disease, learn about treatment options and
find links to the best medical information in the world.”

Those who join ThyCa before the end of ThyCa ‘99 will be a charter member of the Association. Membership costs $25 annually; a lifetime membership is only $225. Membership fees, Bloom says, pay for the cost of maintaining the resources available to survivors such as the web site and the toll-free telephone number that will be available this fall.

ThyCa ‘99 CONFERENCE FACILITATORS
Diane Blake, American Cancer Society, New England Division
Ric Blake, ThyCa Board of Directors, Londonderry, NH
Gary Bloom, Chair, ThyCa Board of Directors, Olney, MD
Teresa Campama, ThyCa Philadelphia Support Group Facilitator, Mullica Hills, NJ
Gilbert Daniels, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
Judy Fleishman, Ph.D., Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, Lawrence, MA
Karen Ferguson, ThyCa Board of Directors and Online Chat Room Co-host, Charlotte, NC
Lori Fresina, American Cancer Society, New England
Cherie LeClair, ThyCa Merrimack Valley, Portsmouth, NH
David Margouleff, MD, North Shore University Hospital, Manhassett, NY
Firdosh Pathan, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Judy Regan, ThyCa Online Chat Room Co-Host, Lowell, MA
Arturo Rolla, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
Reese Shamansky, ThyCa Board of Directors, New York, NY
Betty Solbjor, ThyCa Board of Directors, Waltham, MA

In May, two new free support groups for survivors of thyroid cancer will begin meeting in the United States.

On May 15, ThyCa Washington will meet from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the Physicians Dining Room at Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring, MD. The group will meet at the same time on the third Saturday of each month. The contact person is Gary Bloom, who can be reached at 301-260-0352 or by e-mail atWashington_DC@thyca.org.

On May 22, ThyCa Maui, Hawaii will meet from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in Room Two of The Cameron Center at 95 Mahalani Street, Wailuku, Maui. ThyCa Maui will meet at the same time on the fourth Saturday of each month. The contact person is Nina Geiger, who can be reached at 808-572-4826 or by e-mail atMaui_HI@thyca.org.

Later this spring, additional support groups for thyroid cancer survivors will begin meeting in New York City and Philadelphia. All ThyCa Survivors’ Support Groups are free and open to anyone diagnosed with thyroid cancer, their families, friends and colleagues. Groups are also under development in Charlotte, NC, Chicago, IL, San Diego County, CA, and Boston, MA.

These survivors’ support groups and annual conferences for survivors are organized by the ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc., the only thyroid cancer survivors’ organization in the world. For more information about ThyCa, Inc. and it’s survivors’ network, visit its web site at
http://www.thyca.org

Anyone interested in forming a local support group for thyroid cancer survivors and their families, should contact Ric Blake, ThyCa Support Group Coordinator at Rblake@thyca.org.

• Fewer than 15,000 are diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the U.S. annually.
• There are about 200,000 survivors living in the U.S.
• Of these, about 1,000 will die from thyroid cancer.
• With early detection, most thyroid cancer can be cured.