183: Bethany Smith has survived lymphoma and thyroid cancer | bleomycin | vinblastine | levothyroxine

Bethany Smith is a fighter.  Almost immediately after surviving Hodgkin lymphoma, she was diagnosed with metastatic follicular thyroid cancer.  In addition to having her thyroid removed, she also underwent total hip replacement.  All this while raising three small children.  Treatment of her lymphoma included a chemotherapy regimen of adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbzin.  Her treatment for thyroid cancer featured radioactive iodine.  Bethany credits oxygen therapy for helping her to become free of thyroid cancer and these maintains her health with levothyroxine.   Bethany cannot tell you exactly when she first detected in the vicinity of her thyroid.  It had been there for years when her mother visited, saw the lump and insisted she seek medical attention.  This led to a series of scans and the discovery of a second lump near her clavicle.  A biopsy of the lump on her collarbone resulted in a diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma in the Autumn of 2022, while the biopsy of the lump on her thyroid came back as "indeterminant."  Bethany's care team said it would turn its attention to the thyroid lump after addressing her lymphoma diagnosis.   She was placed on a six-month regimen of ABVD chemotherapy, which included adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine.  Bethany suffered many of the usual side effects tied to chemo, including fatigue, nausea and hair loss.  The latter forced her to cut her hair short and then the purchase of a half dozen wigs of different colors.    Bethany attained survivorship from Hodgkin lymphoma, but halfway through her chemo, she underwent a PET scan, which showed two lesions, one on her C5 vertebrae and one on hip.  She underwent a biopsy on the lump on her thyroid in the Spring of 2023, which not only indicated follicular thyroid cancer, but that it had metastasized to the bones in her vertebrae and right hip.    Bethany had to undergo a thyroidectomy and because was eating away at her right hip, it, too, had to be removed.   In September 2023, she began a three-dose regimen of radioactive iodine, which forced her to be kept in isolation.  She was given another CT scan that revealed that cancer was in twelve places in her bones.   Bethany said the pain of her hip replacement exceeded that of three times giving birth without painkillers.  She says she is able to walk just fine these days, walking that includes her love for hiking, and her lack of a thyroid is successfully addressed with levothyroxine, which replaces the hormones lost when her thyroid was removed.   Bethany Smith has experienced the physical toll of her two cancer journeys, but then and now, she deals with everything that has come her way with her natural and boundless sense of optimism.   Additional Resources:   Bethany's app: https://www.stillcancercompanion.com   Bethany's YouTube channel: Bethany Smith Cancer