Hi Karri, I didn't see this post until today. I had thyroid cancer 9 years ago and had WLS this past September. I was afraid that being hypo would slow down my weight loss post op, but it hasn't. Most thryoid cancer patients do gain some weight after their thyroid is removed, but not a tremendous amount (I was difference and gained quite a bit but this was PRE gastric bypass). Are you still gaining now? One thing to keep in mind is, if you are on synthroid, take it on an empty stomach and do not take any other medications with it. Also, do not eat or drink for a minimum of a half hour (preferably an hour) after taking the meds. Food and other drugs will keep the synthroid from absorbing properly. Also, limit soy products as they can also affect your synthroid. I still use soy products, but will see how my labs on Thursday turn out and decide if I should back off on soy after that. I am 4 months out and 73 pounds down. I am right on track according to my surgeon, so my hypothyroidism hasn't slowed down my weight loss. It will take a while for your meds to stablize, so try not to worry. If you have any questions or want to talk, just PM me. Heather

Hi, Harry. I too am a breast cancer survivor. I was diagnosed in November 2005, stage 1, grade 1, premenopausal, Her2-, ER/PR+. I elected not to have chemotherapy because the tumor was grade 1, less than 2cm, and I took a test called Oncotype Dx and got a score of 7, which is very low and indicates that there is not a high likelihood that the cancer will return. That was my choice based on my own information, and against all the doctors *****commended chemo because I'm young (I was 37). Does she have another surgery coming up--a partial or full mastectomy? If so, that gives you more time do to the Oncotype Dx if she is considering not having chemo. She may also want to consider doing genetic testing to get information that can help her with other decisions she'll need to make. Just thinking out loud, my own two cents would say go ahead with chemo because of the tumor grade and because she's triple negative, which means she won't have the option of hormone therapies as adjuvant treatment. There are very few cut-and-dried decisions for this condition: whatever decision she makes is the right one, because it's the right one for her. Please please please refer her to www.youngsurvival.org, which is a website for women diagnosed under age 40 (or women who were premenopausal at diagnosis). We are a very informed and extremely supportive group of women and would love to offer her support and information. I'm telling you, the women on these boards have more information than many oncologists! :-D My prayers are with your wife. This is treatable and beatable!

Hey everyone, For my third year in a row I am having my head shaved for St Baldricks Day. This is a fundraiser held every year by members of my Fire Department to raise money for childhood cancer research. If you would be interested an making a small donation to help out you can click here and it will direct you to the right spot. http://www.stbaldricks.org/ShaveePhoto.asp?SolNumber=1534019 3 Our annual event will be held on March 14th 2007. If you would like to sign up to be a Shavee go ahead. It has always been a night full of fun and laughs. Thanks for your support, Joshua

I had gastric bypass 3/24/2005. Lost a great deal of weight. Very happy with my results. October 9, 2006, I had my thyriod removed because of cancer. Since I have had vocal cord parlysis (could not speak for 2 months), calcuim defincies, iodine 131 radiation treatments, all kinds of complications. To add injury to my current status, I have lost my job and began to regain some weight. The job thing does not bother me as I have been on medical leave for three months already and I understand that they had to replace me and once I am well again I will have no problem finding another position. What is bothering me is that I have been gaining weight at a rate of about 10 lbs every week and 1/2 because of the hypothyriodism I have experienced throughout the many procedures that were necessary to fight the cancer. How do I stop the weight gain as I am so scared to put back on the weight that I had fought so hard to lose. As it is I eat a high protein diet, my diet has not really changed but the hypothyriodism is the cause. Any else out there had hypothyriod and if so how did you battle the weight gain?

My wife is almost 3 years removed from her surgery. She has lost approx 130lbs. She's upset that not only will she lose her hair (with chemo) but that she may also gain some weight back. I'm sure your bypass surgeon will tell you to do whatever your oncologist advises you to do; ours did. I agree with Kelly's advice:treat the cancer first and worry about the weighloss later.