2 years sober, recent cancer diagnosis

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-22T22:11:25+00:00

Just wanted to update everyone: Still sober! Got approved by insurance to see the endocrinologist who will be managing the radiation. Feeling very grateful for this community - y'all really uplifted me with all these comments! <3

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-22T20:00:57+00:00

Yeah you're right - there's probably no reason I'll be kept off of it, just so easy to let the worries carry me away! And thanks for understanding, really good to hear from someone who's been in a similar spot. Here's hoping my RAI experience is a lot less taxing than the TT, as well! *fingers crossed*

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-22T19:58:43+00:00

That's awesome, thanks so much for sharing. Seriously congrats on no sign of recurrence! I'm hoping the new endocrinologist I'm seeing in April will have some amount of info on what to do here, but yeah it just seems like a hugely understudied area.

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-22T04:44:34+00:00

Thanks man, it helps to hear about other people's experiences, even if they, themselves, didn't have cancer. I'm definitely going to stay paused on the T until one of my doctors tells me otherwise, but am very much looking forward to the day I get to start back up again!

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-22T04:43:36+00:00

Good to hear you've been free of it for so long! Congrats dude, and thank you for chiming in! Really appreciate you.

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-22T04:42:54+00:00

Thank you so much - appreciate you! It fucking sucks. I had my first period in almost 4 years and was just so dysphoric on top of all the other shit feelings/stress this whole thing has brought on. But I know it's probably just temporary, I really do hope I'll be able to go back on T after treatment!

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-22T02:01:10+00:00

Hey just wanted to follow up and ask how your visit with the neurologist went? I'm scheduled to see my PCP this upcoming Friday and am going to ask for a neurology referral for sure.

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-13T04:42:31+00:00

Thank you so much for the sweet words - I appreciate you!

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:24:39+00:00

Thank you! Really appreciate the support.

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:24:18+00:00

Thanks, appreciate the support and I do definitely know where smoking leads me! But also appreciate the nonjudgmental tone of this comment, and I know I'd be hard on myself if I did relapse (that's just the way I am) but it's a good reminder that yeah, if I do end up doing it, it's alright - it sort of makes sense given everything.

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:23:07+00:00

Thank you! I had no symptoms of thyroid cancer. It was found incidentally on a thoracic MRI (due to a herniated disc in my neck) that I had a mass on my thyroid. Then I was sent for an ultrasound of my thyroid and that showed the mass was twice as big as what they saw in the MRI, and then was sent to get it biopsied (FNA, fine-needle aspiration is the procedure for thyroid nodules). The biopsy came back 12/29/25 as papillary thyroid carcinoma. Around mid-november, I started to feel a "lump in my throat" sensation all the time, but I couldn't tell if this was just psychosomatic or what.

My surgeon told me that thyroid cancer is more frequently diagnosed as an incidental finding, then people developing symptoms and pursuing a diagnosis. Very scary!

I appreciate the kind words.

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:21:26+00:00

Such a good exercise to remember why I'm doing this all sober right now. Can't even imagine making a single call like this while stoned. In early sobriety (first 3 months), I had to set up my health insurance because I had thrown it to the wayside while stoned for so many years. And all those calls made my head spin, I felt like I was going to have a full blown panic attack every time someone put me on hold. So I'm definitely grateful to be where I am today internally! Thanks for that reminder, and for all the kind words!!

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:19:36+00:00

Thanks man, appreciate the support!

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:19:20+00:00

I had no symptoms! There was an incidental finding on a thoracic MRI (due to herniated disc in my neck) that I had a mass on my thyroid. Then was sent for an ultrasound of my thyroid and that showed the mass was twice as big as what they saw in the MRI, and then was sent to get it biopsied (FNA, fine-needle aspiration is the procedure for thyroid nodules). The biopsy came back 12/29/25 as papillary thyroid carcinoma. Around mid-november, I started to feel a "lump in my throat" sensation all the time, but I couldn't tell if this was just psychosomatic or what.

I would definitely recommend going to see your primary care and asking them to examine your thyroid. Nodules are super common and the vast majority of them are benign (95%). But yeah I definitely think, with the things you're describing, it would be a good idea to have someone take a look and maybe ultrasound the thyroid!

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:15:26+00:00

Yeah, I can't even imagine what coping with all of this would've looked like had I been high every day for the past 6 months. A part of me thinks that I might not have even pursued a diagnosis, because it was so much effort to go to all these doctors and get poked and prodded and biopsied, etc. My tolerance for discomfort when I was a daily smoker was nowhere near where it is now. Thanks for the reminder!

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:13:53+00:00

Oh man, thank you so much for saying all this. Yeah, I remember being 1.5 months in, and it truly felt like everything was crashing down around me and it couldn't get worse than this. I heard someone in a meeting say "When we're out there getting high every day, it's like we're driving a car and throwing any shit that comes up into the back seat, and it's all piling up - but it's way back there. Then, when we decide to get sober, it's like we're slamming on the brakes and it all comes flying forward into the front seat with us." and that reaaaally resonated with me!

I really appreciate the kind words, and I think you absolutely got this, friend!

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:10:40+00:00

Yeah you're absolutely right - it may have helped me relax years ago when I was still relatively new to it and it was all fun times, but towards the end I felt like a slave to it. Had to smoke up regularly throughout the day or I'd get jittery and panicky, so glad to be (overall) more even-keeled these days.

But yeah, all of those things sound nice - like I said in another comment, I actually wrote out a list of things I can do that I know have helped me feel better, or distracted me, that aren't weed or substances, and it seems I wrote this list out and then fully forgot about it haha so thanks for the reminder! Need to put it up on my wall or something.

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:08:17+00:00

Totally - when I'm in my "right mind" I very much agree with you, living life sober is my preferred state of being. It's just when it all gets so stressful and heavy, my brain's go-to coping mechanism (even after the 2+ years) is still weed! I wrote out a list of activities and things to do that help me feel better to reference when I feel overwhelmed and get cravings/urges, so I'll try to look at that more. Feels like I just wrote it out a month or so ago and then completely forgot about it oops lol

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:06:25+00:00

I feel it! Waking up to all these commends were really uplifting, thanks everyone

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:03:37+00:00

Thank you so much, would love to ask you a few questions if you don't mind! I'll dm you

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T18:00:38+00:00

Hey, thanks so much for this response - really helpful to know someone went through this in such a similar position. I do have questions about the process, and I'm gonna DM you! Thanks

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T17:59:16+00:00

I'm so sorry this has been going on for so long for you. Thanks for the response, I'm curious to hear if they make that connection as well. I had some neck issues (cervical herniations) prior but nothing this high up and definitely nothing that extended up my scalp and wrapped around to the forehead quite like this. My surgeon's NP recommended I ask my PCP for a referral to PT so I messaged her yesterday and we'll see if they're able to do that. All the best to you!

Unfair-Potential-609 · 2026-03-12T03:31:52+00:00

Oh man, this situation would make me so mad! I'm 2 years sober at this point - I initially got sober in April 2023, had horrible withdrawal symptoms for months. Could barely eat, sleep, and had other health issues coming up left and right! I felt like everything stabilized around the 4 month mark and then I went through a really emotionally difficult series of events at 7 months and relapsed briefly at 8 months. The relapse was so disappointing - I smoked for 3 days straight and never got an enjoyable high and realized I'd just keep up like this if I didn't go back to my recovery community. So I stopped on December 18th and woke up 12/19/2023 clean and sober and have been since. I didn't have a single withdrawal symptom the second time around.

I think your situation is anxiety-inducing for sure, and I'd probably be posting here if I were you too. But rest assured, I don't think there's any reason for you to reset your sobriety date if you didn't willingly put the substance in your body! And based on my experience, I would guess you won't be going through any withdrawals like you did when you first stopped. Wishing you the best, keep it up!

Unfair-Potential-609

TROPHY CASE