ThyCa News Notes – December 2014
- Thank You to all our Volunteers!
- Thank You to our Medical Advisors
- Letters from a Parent
- Raising Awareness and Support
- Local Support Groups Grow to More Than 120 Groups in 7 Countries
- Support Groups Offer Many Benefits
- ThyCa Online Support Communities Grow
- Free Thyroid Cancer Publications for Patients, Caregivers, and Medical Professionals
- Free Seminar with Endocrinologist on December 16 in Brockville, Ontario
- ThyCa to Award New Research Grants in 2015, Open to Researchers Worldwide
- Use AmazonSmile To Support ThyCa When You Shop Through Amazon
- ThyCa Friends
- Free Information Packets Go Around the World
- If You’re Preparing To Receive Radioactive Iodine, Here Are LID Tips
- Follow Us
- Give the Gift of Hope
- About this Newsletter and ThyCa
Thank You to all our Volunteers!
During 2014, hundreds of dedicated volunteers helped people around the world —
- In our local thyroid cancer support groups, online groups, and one-to-one support
- Through our educational seminars, workshops, and the 17th International Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference
- By raising awareness of thyroid cancer in their communities
- By expanding our web site and our handbooks, videos, and other helpful free resources in 7 languages
- By supporting our Pediatric Backpacks for children and teens with thyroid cancer
- By raising funds to support ThyCa’s thyroid cancer research grants, on all types of thyroid cancer
… and in many more ways
Thank you, one and all!
Thank You to our Medical Advisors
ThyCa is fortunate to have a distinguished Medical Advisory Council of 47 members, who are world recognized experts in the field of thyroid cancer.
Our advisors provide valuable counsel and support ThyCa’s goals in education, treatment and research.
More than 50 distinguished specialists provide ongoing review and input for our web site and materials.
ThyCa is grateful for the outstanding contributions and leadership of our advisors to our educational programs.
Click here for more about these outstanding experts.
November 2014 — My teenage daughter was recently diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer, and I was just on your website reading about Tim’s backpack project…I thought that would be something my daughter would enjoy receiving as a resource.
You have already sent us the information packet, which was such a great help!
Follow-up Note — I am so happy to have found ThyCa and all of its wonderful resources. At the stage we are at, we just need lots of information and we are finding it through the site. I just signed up for the e-mail support group; thanks for the link to that.
Another Note — I just wanted to let you know the backpack arrived today; wow that was fast! My daughter is not home from school yet but she will see it when she gets home.
Thanks so much!
(Editor’s Note: For more about the backpack project, Read This Page.
As reported previously, Lauren was diagnosed with thyroid cancer earlier this year. Because of her experience, she and her friends are now raising thyroid cancer awareness and support at Bradley Central Middle School in Illinois. Thank You!
Local Support Groups Grow to More Than 120 Groups in 7 Countries
The world’s first face-to-face thyroid cancer support group started meeting 18 years ago, in Massachusetts. Ric Blake, ThyCa Volunteer and Co-Founder, started this group in 1996.
Today, there are more than 120 local ThyCa Support Groups, all started and led by ThyCa volunteers. They’re available around the United States and in Australia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Philippines, and our newest group in the United Kingdom.
Find a group near you, or help start one in your community. We’re happy to help new groups get started.
Each group has its own page on our web site, with contact information for the facilitator, and meeting locations, dates, and times.
Visit our Local Support Groups pages for details.
Support Groups Offer Many Benefits
At a support group meeting you will find people with challenges similar to yours. You will meet and talk face to face with others in your community.
Participants in a support group share personal experiences with thyroid cancer, offer practical tips to help you cope with your situation, and provide emotional comfort and moral support.
Some of the benefits of taking part in support groups may include:
- Improved coping skills
- Clearer understanding of what to expect with your situation
- An opportunity to talk openly and honestly about your feelings
- Feeling less lonely, isolated, or judged
- Gaining a sense of empowerment and control
- Getting practical information about treatment options and local resources
ThyCa Online Support Communities Grow
In 1995, ThyCa Volunteer and Co-Founder Karen Ferguson reached out over the Internet, and started the world’s first online support group for people with thyroid cancer.
More than 14,600 people now give and receive support and information in our ThyCa Inspire Online Community.
Our 11 E-Mail Support Groups for different types and situations with thyroid cancer have grown to over 13,000 participants.
Free Thyroid Cancer Publications for Patients, Caregivers, and Medical Professionals
One of our goals is free education and support for everyone touched by thyroid cancer.
In addition to our web site, support groups, one-to-one support, and educational events and webinars, we provide dozens of free thyroid cancer publications.
The medical information is all reviewed by numerous thyroid cancer physician specialists and researchers. We thank all these distinguished medical professionals for their wonderful support.
Our handbooks, awareness brochures, low-iodine cookbook, fine needle aspiration booklet, and more are all free to people worldwide. The free handbooks include Thyroid Cancer Basics, Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer, and Medullary Thyroid Cancer.
Materials are available in 7 languages: English, Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese Russian, and Spanish.
Our publications are available in single copies and in bulk to medical professionals to give to your patients.
You can obtain our handbooks and Low-Iodine Cookbook in any of three convenient formats: downloadable PDFs, as ePubs through these links:
and in printed form mailed anywhere in the world. top of page
Free Seminar with Endocrinologist on December 16 in Brockville, Ontario
Clara Irobi, M.D., Endocrinologist, will speak and answer questions about the types of thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases on Tuesday, December 16th, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the meeting of the ThyCa Ontario, Canada, Support Group. Judy Fielding and Lee Ann Irwin, R.P.N. facilitate this group. Details are on the group’s web page.
ThyCa to Award New Research Grants in 2015, Open to Researchers Worldwide
We’ll soon announce details on how to apply for ThyCa’s 2015 Thyroid Cancer Research Grants. This will be our 14th year of our research grants program, with grants open to researchers and institutions worldwide. We have already awarded 47 grants totaling more than $1.3 million to researchers in 5 countries.
Proposals for the new research grants will be due by January 31, 2014, and an independent expert panel of the American Thyroid Association will select the winning proposals.
To find out more about the ThyCa Research Funds, the annual Rally for Research, and how to donate, Click Here.
Use AmazonSmile To Support ThyCa When You Shop Through Amazon
When you shop at AmazonSmile, Amazon makes a donation to ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. Bookmark this link and support us every time you shop through AmazonSmile.
Free Information Packets Go Around the World
Have you received our free Thyroid Cancer Information Packet? It includes fact sheets, the free handbook Thyroid Cancer Basics, a Preview of Thyroid Cancer Events, and more.
Get your packet by signing up through our Guestbook.
Medical professionals can also request our free materials in bulk to give to patients. Visit our Medical Professionals Page for details and the publications request form.
Friends Lee Bard, Joni Eskenazi, Michael Bard, and Norma Huppin (Joni’s sister) recently met up in Palm Springs, California, for their annual get together.
Joni lives near Seattle, Washington, and the Bards live in Tennessee. They first met at the 4th International Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Conference in Los Angeles, California, in 2002.
Joni is a past ThyCa Board Member, and Lee has donated many beautiful handmade garments to our dinner/auction fundraiser.
Share your long-term ThyCa-inspired friendship story—write us at publications@thyca.org.
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If You’re Preparing To Receive Radioactive Iodine, Here Are Tips for the Low-Iodine Diet
To help our fellow thyroid cancer survivors who will be preparing for radioactive iodine treatment over the holidays, or any time, get our Free Low-Iodine Cookbook (more than 340 recipes, plus guidelines and tips, linked on our home page.
Here are suggestions shared by some of our Facebook friends.
- Make bread in a bread machine. – Laura D.
- The cinnamon bread is so good and is great with breakfast or any meal. – Shannon N. and Crystal M.
- Load up on fruits and veggies and such. – Lisa H.
- I lived on almond butter (no salt) and matzo. Amy W. S.
- I ate a lot of nuts and dried fruit. – Tara P-C.
- I made lots of salsa and put it on almost everything – lots of onions, garlic and mushrooms! – Stacey P. B.
- I liked chicken with peppers and lime chicken. Almond milk was fun and easy. – Lissie A. A.
- The pork roast and roasted veggies are an excellent choice for a family dinner. The bread recipe is very easy and can be made into dinner rolls. – Kelley L.
- The Spaghetti sauce was AMAZING. –Alison J.
- Used a variety of recipes for Thanksgiving including chicken with cranberry gravy (chicken in crockpot instead of fried and added sugar to gravy), cornbread muffins, biscuits, apple pie with the oil crust. Also, converted a recipe of cornbread apple stuffing by using unsalted broth and the cornbread I had made before. Mashed potatoes had unsalted broth and non-iodized salt and pepper. Green beans had toasted almonds and garlic and kosher salt and pepper. – Dory J.
- The oatmeal pork chops I make now as a healthy alternative. I will be making them tonight and I am 8 years out. – Nicola P.
The power of joining together online, or face-to-face in our support groups, workshops, conferences, and webinars is immeasurable.
To all of you, our friends, fans, followers, volunteers, advisors, supporters…Thank You!
Our support of each other — whether giving or receiving — is an incredible gift. Thank you for joining us.
Through our thyroid cancer research fundraising and research grants, together, we work toward our dream of cures for all thyroid cancer. So far, we have awarded 47 grants to researchers in 5 countries.
Your donations, small and large, make possible our research grants, free support services, free publications, and Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month and year-round awareness campaigns.
If ThyCa is helpful to you or someone you know, please take a minute to help sustain, strengthen, and extend our services and research support.
Visit our Donations page. Or you are welcome to donate by mail to ThyCa, P.O. Box 1102, Olney, MD 20830-1102.
Thank you very much for your support! Your donations all year long make a difference to the more than 60,000 thyroid cancer survivors we reach worldwide!
About this Newsletter and ThyCa
Copyright (c) 2014 ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.
This newsletter and ThyCa’s many other services and thyroid cancer research grants are made possible through the generous contributions from our donors and volunteers. Thank you!
We invite everyone’s contributions, small or large, financial and volunteer service. Together we make a difference!
Thank you to our writing, editing, and proofreading team for this issue: Kristy F., Leah Guljord, Pat Paillard, Barb Statas, Theresa Wickerham, Cherry Wunderlich, and Gary Bloom.
You’re invited to share this Bulletin with your family and friends. If you would like to suggest further topics or contribute an article, please contact us at publications@thyca.org.The information is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended, nor should it be interpreted, as medical advice or directions of any kind. Readers are advised to consult their own medical doctor(s) for all matters involving their health and medical care.
ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization (tax ID #52-2169434) of thyroid cancer survivors, family members, and health care professionals serving people worldwide and dedicated to education, support, communication, awareness for early detection through Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month and year-round campaigns, and fundraising for thyroid cancer research.
Visit our website for information about thyroid cancer, events, and how to help. Ask us for free materials and information. E-mail to thyca@thyca.org call toll-free at 1-877-588-7904, fax 1-630-604-6078, write PO Box 1102, Olney, MD 20830-1102.