Vancouver broadcaster Jennifer Thomson battles with cancer Jennifer Thomson
My agonizing battle with thyroid cancer has taught me what it means to beat pain and be truly alive
By Jennifer Thomson The Province September 27, 2009
I know that in the future, I will look back at the summer of 2009 as probably the worst of my life. Sure, I bought my own townhouse and was thrilled, even with all the stress that comes with that, but in the same week the sale went through, I was laid off from my job at TALK 1410, where I hosted the Jenn and Joe morning show. I went from being elated to devastated and extremely stressed out, as I bought the townhouse alone. I had saved and saved and had finally done it on my own.
I've been down the unemployment route before. I spent five years at CKNW with Frosty Forst before they cleaned house one morning but I bounced back nicely at TALK 1410 and was happy. Needless to say, when you buy a house and lose your job all in the same week, it’s a little stressful! In an industry that’s hard enough, in an economy that’s currently suffering, what the hell was I going to do? And just when I thought it couldn’t get worse…..
I found out I had cancer.
I had spent Christmas and New Years, sick with, I thought, the same bug that everyone else had: low energy, sore throat, coughing up gunk. I went to the clinic and was told “Your glands are just swollen; here are some antibiotics”. A few weeks later, I still wasn’t feeling any better so I went back and was given more drugs. This happened four times. Meanwhile, I had noticed a lump on the side of my neck, but I assumed it was just the swollen glands. My throat infection cleared up but the lump was still there. My mom, a retired nurse, told me to get it checked out. But I was tired so I didn’t go. (Hosting a morning radio show means a four am wakeup call and sleep deprivation is all part of the job.) One of my girlfriends told me to get it checked out but my son had hockey practice that day and I was tired, so I didn’t. I kept making excuses until finally I caved and went to my family doctor. He immediately sent me to an oncologist, Dr. Sasha Smiljanic. He sent me for a series of tests – blood, urine, chest and pelvic x-rays, ultrasound, CT scan and I was then told “Jennifer, I'm sorry, it looks like you have lymphoma”.
Cancer.
Are you serious? How can someone like me have cancer?!? I’m young, I'm healthy, I don’t smoke. Really?? Are you sure??
I researched all I could about lymphoma and prepared for my surgery. Meanwhile, I was a basket case. And although I knew there’d be pain and recovery down the road, the worst part was having to tell my young son. He took it hard and I did everything I could to reassure him that I was going to beat the cancer and that I’d still be there to yell at him to clean up his room.
I proceeded to Lions Gate Hospital, where Dr. George Chang was my surgeon. In our first meeting, I had many questions and was very unsure of what to expect. He had the patience to take the time to explain everything thoroughly. My biopsy surgery was performed and while I was in the recovery room, Dr. Chang came to tell me some news - I didn’t have lymphoma at all. When he opened my neck to take the sample, he noticed that the lump (tumour) was actually 3 ½ centimeters in size and that it had a blue-ish colour to it, which meant only one thing – I had papillary thyroid cancer. He had another colleague confirm it on the spot. He removed the tumour, as well as a few of the lymph nodes in the surrounding area and, in the process, had to really dig deep into my neck and use retractors. I ended up in a lot of pain but it was worth it to finally have the right diagnosis. But as I prepared myself for my upcoming thyroidectomy, I was told some more bad news. The cancer had spread into my lymph nodes and covered a huge portion of the left side of my neck. The entire left side muscle would most likely have to come out and I'd have a scar from the bottom of one ear, down across my throat and up to the other ear. And then I got the worst news a broadcaster can hear – there was a chance I would lose my voice, as two of the tumors were attached to my vocal cords and were going to be difficult to remove without causing damage.
Even though papillary thyroid cancer patients have a high survival rate, I imagined the worst and started writing goodbye letters to people and leaving notes around my house. I remembered one girlfriend who was envious of my Sex and the City DVD box set so she was getting that. Another friend had always liked my ladybug mixing bowls - I'd leave those for her. I wrote my son a letter about trying to understand and to not be sad about growing up without a mom, and about being nice to girls, even if they weren’t so nice to him down the road.
After four agonizing weeks of waiting, the day for the operation finally arrived. My surgery was eight and a half hours long. It went better than expected. The left side muscle that Dr. Chang was positive he’d have to take out - he managed to twist and manipulate it in order to remove approximately 30 tumors, leaving it intact. And the tumors on my vocal cords? Both came off without a hitch.
I was placed in the SCO (Surgical Close-up Observatory) unit, a step above the ICU, where I had wonderful care, in particular from nurses Colete and Rosie. The pain was unbelievable but my voice was untouched. It wasn’t even scratchy or a whisper. Man, was I lucky.
A few days later, I was moved down the hall to recovery where I was placed in a room with another cancer patient, who was also recovering from surgery. We started talking and quickly became friends. Frieda is about my age, with two small children and, like me, had cancer spread through her lymph nodes in her neck. Mine from my thyroid, hers from cervical cancer, which she was battling for the second time. She also had breast cancer. We talked about our kids and our families, about dying and the fear of leaving our children motherless. I was struck by the thought that here I was feeling sorry for myself, while this woman is in much rougher shape with perhaps a bleaker outcome. I was in awe of how she could do it and stay so positive. She became my inspiration and I know I’ve made a new friend.
Now that I have gone through this, I am reminded of what is really important in life. We often belly ache about such trivial stuff - the person making your coffee at Starbucks takes too long, that paper cut on your finger is killing you - when really, there are people like Frieda who are truly suffering.
I’ve written this article to implore you to please not put off going to the doctor to get that strange lump looked at. Or that weird pain you’ve been having. In my case, it turns out that constant throat clearing and a three yearlong bout of insomnia are clear indicators of papillary thyroid cancer.
Jennifer Thomson with son Bailey
I would like to thank my doctors, Dr. Sasha Smiljanic and Dr. George Chang, for their wonderful care, the nurses at Lions Gate Hospital, my wonderful friends and family, my son, Bailey, for being my main inspiration to get better, and to the listeners and readers who have always been so supportive of me throughout my career.
I still have radiation treatments ahead, but at the end, I will have beaten this cancer and I will be alive.
Jennifer, as I have come to know you since you lost your job and your health issues, I have come to know how inspiring you are. Writing this article and sharing your battle just confirms this. You have given a wake up call to a lot of people and I thank you for that!
Keep up the good fight and all the best to you and your son! And next time, listen to your mom - they are always right !
Jennifer, I moved out of town and never caught your most recent radio gig but really enjoyed your banter with Frosty on 'NW. Take it one day at a time all the best of luck. On those bad days remember 'this too will pass'.
Just a quick note to say thank you so much for the outpouring of love and support I've received this week. It's been overwhelming. I cannot believe how many people have called, texted or emailed me - everything from people I went to school with, to listeners, media colleagues, hundreds of stories of cancer survival and people thanking me for being brave to write it and a reminder to stay strong to beat it. Let it serve as a reminder to all of us that life can change pretty quickly!
Like I said in the article, I have some more treatments to go through, (including a few days stay in an isolation chamber after having to drink a radio active drink to zap the rest of it), but the worst of the worst is over and when it is, I am looking forward to seeing many of you.
It's been a couple of weeks and I guess no news is good news but I hope you are doing better. I won't pretend to know what your going thru but I'm pulling for you to get it over with fast.
Just to let everyone know, we've been keeping intouch with Jennifer, infact we just heard from her a few minutes ago.
Last week was a big week for Jenn, having to down the 'Radio Active Iodine Coctail', which she reports didn't taste as bad as she'd anticipated. Although prepared to stay in seclusion for three days after drinking this mix, (this allows the liquid to go through her system) but after being scanned, she was released from the chambers after a day and a half.
Although her voice sounds strong, she's still weak and tired after this ordeal, and hopes to provide us with a more detailed update over the weekend.
You're in our thoughts and prayers for a full recovery, Jennifer!
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