{"id":2706,"date":"2023-03-18T01:29:30","date_gmt":"2023-03-18T01:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thyroidology.au\/thyroid_aid\/?page_id=2706"},"modified":"2025-05-20T04:33:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T04:33:50","slug":"treatment-summary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thyroidology.au\/thyroid_aid\/treatment-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"Treatment summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The information in this table is similar to the table on the back of the paper-based decision aid that you would have been given during your consultation. If you are viewing on a mobile device, rotate your device to landscape mode for best viewing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td>Total thyroidectomy<\/strong><\/td>Hemithyroidectomy<\/strong><\/td>Active surveillance<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
What is involved now?<\/strong><\/td>You will have surgery to remove all of your thyroid gland.<\/td>You will have surgery to remove the half of your thyroid gland containing cancer.<\/td>You will not undergo any surgery at present<\/td><\/tr>
What is involved over the next 5 years?<\/strong><\/td>After surgery you may have check-ups to ensure the cancer has not recurred. 
The chance of needing a second operation is minimised.<\/td>		After surgery you may have check-ups to ensure the cancer has not recurred. 
You may require a second operation to remove the rest of the thyroid. The chance of this is about 1 in 3 (30%)<\/td>		You will have check-ups every 6-12 months with ultrasound.<\/td><\/tr>
What are the benefits?<\/strong><\/td>You remove the cancer right away.<\/td>You remove the cancer right away.<\/td>Avoid surgery for a cancer that might never cause you harm.
You also avoid a scar and effects of a general anaesthesia.<\/td><\/tr>
What is my chance of dying of thyroid cancer in the next 10 years?<\/strong><\/td>Less than 1%<\/td>Less than 1%<\/td>Less than 1%<\/td><\/tr>
What is the chance of the cancer growing or spreading in the next 5 years?<\/strong><\/td>Less than 5%
Can be detected with ultrasound or blood tests<\/td>		5 -10%
Can be detected with ultrasound.<\/td>		5 – 10%
Can be detected with ultrasound.<\/td><\/tr>
How long will I need to take off work initially?<\/strong><\/td>Most people return to work within 1-2 weeks of their operation<\/td>Most people return to work within 1-2 weeks of their operation<\/td>None (you do not have surgery)<\/td><\/tr>
Will I need to take thyroid hormone tablets for the rest of my life?<\/strong><\/td>Yes, in all cases<\/td>There is a 30% chance of requiring.<\/td>No<\/td><\/tr>
What is the chance of needing calcium tablets for the rest of my life?<\/strong><\/td>2-5% chance<\/td>Close to zero<\/td>Zero<\/td><\/tr>
What is the chance of a major change in my voice volume or quality?<\/strong><\/td>2-4% chance<\/td>1-2% chance<\/td>Close to zero<\/td><\/tr>
Can I receive radioactive iodine if required?<\/strong><\/td>Yes, if the surgery finds that the cancer is not a low-risk cancer<\/td>Not until the whole thyroid is removed.
The chance of needing a second operation to remove the remaining thyroid is about 30%. <\/td>		Not until the whole thyroid is removed<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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What to do next?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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To return to review your treatment options, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are ready to think through and process this information<\/a>, with prompts to help you weigh various options, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternately, you have some specific questions that you may want to know about. <\/a> You can find this information on our “Questions” page.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The information in this table is similar to the table on the back of the paper-based decision aid that you would have been given during your consultation. If you are viewing on a mobile device, rotate your device to landscape mode for best viewing. Total thyroidectomy Hemithyroidectomy Active surveillance What is involved now? You will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2706","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"featured_image_src":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thyroidology.au\/thyroid_aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thyroidology.au\/thyroid_aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thyroidology.au\/thyroid_aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thyroidology.au\/thyroid_aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thyroidology.au\/thyroid_aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2706"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thyroidology.au\/thyroid_aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3201,"href":"https:\/\/thyroidology.au\/thyroid_aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2706\/revisions\/3201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thyroidology.au\/thyroid_aid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}