Surgery

During this episode, the following topics are discussed: 1. Financial burden of surgery versus total cost of active surveillance over ten years.  2. Stretching Exercises for Neck 3. Setting patient expectations prior to FNA to manage anxiety 4. When the laryngeal nerve is severed during thyroid surgery, it can and should be repaired, with proper surgeon skill and training.  5. The most common question asked to Dr. Miyauchi by surgeons from around the world. 

Dr. Shaha specializes in head and neck surgery, with a particular interest in thyroid and parathyroid surgery. He uses an algorithm of selective thyroid tumor criteria (the size, location, stage and type of cancer, along with the patient's age), to tailor therapy to each individual's circumstances. In this interview, topics include: * The first question a surgeon should ask and why. * When talking active surveillance or observation, changing the language to deferred intervention,  'we are going to defer'. * Understanding the biology of the cancer * The biology of thyroid cancer is a friendly cancer.

Dr. Douglas Van Nostrand, MD is the Director of Nuclear Medicine and the Program Director of the Nuclear Medicine Residency Program at Washington Hospital Center and Professor of Medicine, Georgetown University Hospital Center.