[sophiedb]

hi all,

I have an appointment with my oncologist on Friday, mainly just a check up and feedback on my latest blood test.

I'm planning to ask him how he rates my chances of recurrance (thyroid cancer) statistically, i.e. is it less than 10%. If so, and hopefully he'll be willing to write a letter to that effect at some point, our journey can really begin. With any luck the medical assessor will accept or agree with his conclusion too!

Hmm.. lots of "ifs" and "hopefullys".. but that's life :)

Soph :bluebanana

[marybelle]

Best of luck!! Will keep my fingers crossed for you!!

Marybelle

[adacakes]

Soph
Wishing you all the luck in the world, fingers crossed from me too
ada

[JandM]

+++++++++++++++++++++

[willow]

hoping that the medical assessor gives you the thumbs up!

be prepared for a frustrating few sessions of submitting and more submitting information for the MA:wah. if you get that sorted in your head and are prepared for it then there will be no surprises and maybe even a bonus:clap!

good luck

[Tui2too]

Sophie, good luck! We should compare notes, pm me if you want! I had thyroid cancer as well, and hope its just a formality with the MA (there is always hoping!) ... I haven't booked medicals yet, as we still have our house to sell, so we are really living in the land of 'IF' at this point. There was someone else on this forum whose wife had thyca and they had to get a waiver I believe. I've been 'cured' for five or more years so I'm hoping the sailing is smoother..
I'd love to hear how it works out for you! Best of luck!:)

-----------------------------
Job offer in negotiations since July 08
Contract arrived Dec 31 08
eoi submitted and selected Jan 14
ITA received Jan 27
Have to sell house to arrive in Wellington for June
12 viewings/no offers...

[clairelouise]

Good luck Soph, will be keeping everything crossed for you too. ++++ :D

[dusk]

Good luck with the appointment.

From my experience specialists are more than happy to write up your condition for the immigration MA (usually in the most positive terms they can manage without crossing the line to fibbing!)

[tea drinker]

Hope it is positive news

[sophiedb]

Thank you all! :cheers


Sophie, good luck! We should compare notes, pm me if you want! I had thyroid cancer as well, and hope its just a formality with the MA (there is always hoping!) ... I haven't booked medicals yet, as we still have our house to sell, so we are really living in the land of 'IF' at this point. There was someone else on this forum whose wife had thyca and they had to get a waiver I believe. I've been 'cured' for five or more years so I'm hoping the sailing is smoother..

Hello, and much luck with the medicals to you too!

My thyca was only diagnosed Nov 07, but last December (after TT and 2 RAIs) the oncologist was adamant that I have nothing left to worry about, so we'll see how strongly that holds up. I might be lucky enough to get a waiver either way though, as hubby is Kiwi and on the shortage list (mechanical design engineer).

I'm sure you'll sail through the assessment if it's been 5+ years :)

[Tui2too]

I'll be thinking of you!
Here's to an undetectable Tg for life!

:-))

[sophiedb]

Whee! All blood test results fine and the onco reckons I have less than 10% chance of recurrence and is happy to sign that off, so I should be ok for my medical.. whenever we go for that, which may not be RIGHT NOW, but at least we know we CAN!

And in a freak coincidence, the onco then asks "where in NZ will you go?", I say "Chch" and it turns out he used to work there and still has contacts. :cheers

P.S. How old can a medical test thingy be when applying for a visa? I presume they have a "best before" date.

[Flutterby]

yay for good news.

if you mean the medical for the visa it has to be less than 3 months old when you submit your application, and the police cert's have to be less than 6 months old.

[JandM]

Congratulations, and all the best. :nice1

[Tui2too]

That is GREAT news Sophiedb! Wonderful he'll put it in writing too!!
And reassuring that you may have some contacts on the other side. I often lie awake at night wondering what nz follow-up protocol is after thyca, as it differs so widely region to region just in my own country! If you ever need to do a re-scan or stimulated tg test (in hypo mode for accuracy) I heard you can get thyrogen brought in by special request (I emailed gemzyme in Oz and then they very kindly explained it to me). Its not otherwise listed in nz. Just thought I'd mention it in case you were wondering (lol) Good luck with all the plans to move!! :-))

[sophiedb]

Thank you very much for all the congrats *boing*


if you mean the medical for the visa it has to be less than 3 months old when you submit your application, and the police cert's have to be less than 6 months old.

Thank you very much, that'll help us come up with a good plan of attack :)


And reassuring that you may have some contacts on the other side. I often lie awake at night wondering what nz follow-up protocol is after thyca, as it differs so widely region to region just in my own country! If you ever need to do a re-scan or stimulated tg test (in hypo mode for accuracy) I heard you can get thyrogen brought in by special request (I emailed gemzyme in Oz and then they very kindly explained it to me). Its not otherwise listed in nz. Just thought I'd mention it in case you were wondering (lol) Good luck with all the plans to move!! :-))

Here in the UK the treatment & follow-up is fairly standardised, but whether you can get thyrogen is a postcode lottery - I only made the list as an exception, as I was my daughter's primary carer (she was 9 and then 15mo) and me going hypo-wacky might have risked her safety.

As far as follow-up goes, I had a clear WBS (I-123 with thyrogen) last December, blood tests this month and now that's all I'll have (every 6 months) unless TSH or Tg levels go awry. From what I've read on some of the international mailing lists that's pretty basic compared to the US norm, but that's the NHS for you. At least I get free prescriptions for life though :) ..but that isn't the case in NZ.

I haven't heard of anyone in NZ being given thyrogen at all I'm afraid, though the Kiwi thyca mailgroup (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThyroidCancerNZ/?yguid=70066088) is pretty small. Follow-up sounds pretty similar to the UK. Hope that doesn't sound too terrifying!

[Tui2too]

Thanks for the link (only 9 members!!) No that followup doesn't sound scary, its rather reassuring it means hopefully they won't feel the need to request a bunch more tests! Prescriptions sound very reasonably priced in nz. I'm aware that to get name brand we'll have to pay more though. Relieved the thyroxine scandal appears over and done with...

I found my email from gemzyme and thyrogen can be brought into nz for a patient who requests it (through their doctor/pharmacist) through a program called: 'Named Patient Program', it costs about $1825 (Aus) plus dispensing fee. They said an endo in Auckland was using it. I don't plan on ever needing it again, but its reassuring to know it can be brought in!

After my surgery I went nine weeks hypo in prep for the I131 treatment dose and scan, luckily I had Cytomel to help me out of it at the end....(can't imagine kiwis not having access to Cytomel either!! I'd certainly be willing to help advocate to change that). I had a clean scan then, and another clean scan using thyrogen a couple of yrs later. Here they also do yearly neck ultrasounds and chest xrays for the first five yrs. I feel done with it all, I'm good with yearly blood tests at this point, as long as nz labs will also do ft4's.

Good luck with the process! I look forward to hearing how it turns out.
:cheers :-))

[sophiedb]

NINE WEEKS OF HYPO? That sounds horrible!! May it never happen again *shudder*

(it's bad enough laying off the dairy and seafood for 3 weeks :) )

[Tui2too]

(it's bad enough laying off the dairy and seafood for 3 weeks :) )


LOL now that WOULD be extra tough in nz!!

I still stock up on kosher salt just in case I ever meet someone on the 'lid' I can gift it to, lol. Its rarer than hen's teeth, and I imagine no easier to find in nz, so I'll bring it with us if we ever get there! lol

[alancoll]

Sounds like good news in the end, congrats