We have created this go fund me for our beautiful and dear friend Lety, who sadly in October was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Lety is a fighter and luckily it was found in Stage 1. Her surgery is now scheduled for Dec 27. Although insurance is fortunately going to absorb a large portion of the costs, between the 3 weeks or so she will be taking off work and her co-insurance responsibility, there’ll be quite a gap to make up. We are hoping to raise money in order to help her cover the medical bills and living expenses while being out of work during the recovery.

Any donations would be greatly appreciated but even if you are not in a position to do so, just sharing this with family, friends, or your social media platforms would be very helpful! Of course, we welcome prayers, positive vibes or keeping her in your thoughts during this time ❤️

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Please read below from Lety in her own words on how she found out.. We are hoping to also raise awareness on just how important your annual check ups are!

“Early October, just before coming back to California, I got a mammogram (my first) as I had just turned 40 a couple of weeks before. They went ahead and did the imaging portion of it, then I was told there would also be an ultrasound done. From what the doctor told me, this is rather standard practice in Latino countries as you cannot always see through certain dense glands. After everything ‘looked good’ he stated that he was going to check my thyroid, something his mentor had taught him to do as a common occurrence.

After scanning around a bit, he went ‘hmmm’ which is hardly ever a good thing..he mentioned seeing a nodule that he was going to measure. Typically, nodules that are under 1 cm do not get biopsied as they are too small to sample. It turns out mine was just at that borderline measurement and that because of that as well as its composition, he would recommend me getting a biopsy done. That way I could rule out if it was cancerous but to not worry, that there was only a 15% chance it was malignant and no rush (he apparently DOESN’T know me AT ALL). I got the biopsy done the very next day!

After following up time and again awaiting my results, about a week or so later, I got the unfortunate news that the nodule was malignant, 97-99% malignancy (the highest level there is). It was odd as I was on a break during a hearing but somehow everything just stopped for a minute and it was profoundly overwhelming. After getting a chance to process a bit what the implication of this was, I got to work! I went back to Mexico, saw an endocrinologist who ordered blood work to the nines, who then referred me to the surgeon. They both said (and I’ve now heard from several doctors) that for all intents and purposes this was a noble cancer, caught at a good time, and that I would likely die of anything else at old age. I wasn’t certain if my new insurance here and doctors would be able to move swift enough in order to make sure we get this cancer out of my body ASAP, so I needed to make sure I could have all my ducks in a row should I need to have surgery done in Mexico.

I was able to get in to see my primary care physician shortly after my insurance kicked in and luckily he understood the severity of moving rapidly and helped me get the ball rolling (go HOAG medical group). I then had to make my own moves as Endocrinology appointments for new patients were 4 months out and I could NOT wait that long (for my mental health). I was able to go in touch with medical Oncology who then moved quickly and involved the surgeon.

I went in to see the surgeon pretty quickly after that and during that appointment he did another ultrasound. He found another tumor in one of my lymph nodes near the jugular. My heart sank when he said he was going to do another biopsy then and there. I was certainly not prepared for that, if you know anything about me, you know I’m horrified of needles. These biopsies happen with not initial anesthetic going into your neck :( although some is applied later through that needle, it’s still crazy scary, at least it was for me.

Thankfully (after delayed results due to my sample being sent to the wrong lab) turned out that tumor was benign which hopefully is an indication that the cancer has not spread and is still contained in my thyroid. We will know more post surgery but for now I’m keeping the hope that this thyroidectomy is the end of my caner journey!

I appreciate you having read this far but if NOTHING else, please make sure to get your regular check-ups done! I was going about life, traveling and doing just about anything I could conjure up, with cancer in my body and having absolutely NO CLUE! It’s possible as it was for me, that you can be completely symptom and ailment free, while having a serious condition roaming around. Even though this was an incidental finding and luckily one that was caught at what seems to be early, timing is KEY in these situations.

Thanks again to every one for your support!