Actress Sofia Vergara Underwent Total Thyroidectomy for Thyroid Cancer

Actress Sofia Vergara , best known for her role in the TV hit comedy Modern Family, had her entire thyroid removed for thyroid cancer when she was 28 in 2000. This was followed by radioactive iodine therapy and now takes a daily thyroid hormone replacement for her hypothyroidism. Image by  Jenn Davis  from  Wikipedia Thyroid cancer is typically first suspected on a routine examination if a  neck mass  consistent with a  thyroid nodule  is palpated. An ultrasound of the neck is typicall…

5/04/2013 0

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Pop Singer Nathan Sykes Undergoes Vocal Cord Surgery

Nathan Sykes, singer for the boy band The Wanted , underwent vocal cord surgery on April 18, 2013 for a "hemorrhaged nodule" according to media reports . Rather than a nodule, I am suspecting he actually suffered from a hemorrhagic polyp which makes more medical sense. And along with surgery ... he is now on voice rest for an indefinite period of time. This condition is the same reason Adele underwent vocal cord surgery in 2011 which mandated a several month period of voice r…

4/29/2013 0

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Miss Oregon 2013 has Thyroid Cancer

Miss Oregon Gabrielle Neilan revealed that she had thyroid cancer for which she underwent a total thyroidectomy 2 weeks before winning the Miss Oregon beauty competition on 11/25/12. [ link ] She first felt the thyroid mass in September 2012. This was soon followed by a thyroid ultrasound and a biopsy (presumably via an ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration). The biopsy came back cancerous (unclear exactly what type of thyroid cancer). Given the thyroid cancer diagnosis, she un…

1/03/2013 0

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Julie Andrews and Her "Botched Throat Surgery"

It has already been well-publicized that the former singing sensation Julie Andrews underwent some type of throat surgery in 1997 after which she never regained her phenomenal 4-octave voice thus relegating her to more conventional roles of being an actress without the singing. This "botched throat surgery" per Julie Andrews lead to a lawsuit that was ultimately settled . It is unknown precisely what type of (presumed) vocal cord pathology was present as well as what type of su…

12/13/2012 1

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Brooke Burke Has Thyroid Cancer

Brooke Burke , TV personality best known for winning the 7th season of Dancing with the Stars and later co-hosting the show starting in 2010 announced in a self-published video the fact that she has thyroid cancer and will soon be undergoing thyroid surgery . Apparently, on a routine physical exam, a  neck mass consistent with a thyroid nodule was appreciated in July 2012. This was biopsied (presumably via an ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration) and came back as "atypical&qu…

11/08/2012 0

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How do Vocal Cord Cysts, Polyps, and Nodules Form?

There are MANY theories as to how vocal cord  cysts ,  polyps , and  nodules  form. However, one theory that seems to make the most sense to me deals with how the vocal cord heals after a traumatic event (ie, screaming, yelling, coughing, etc). With a cyst , the mucosal vocal cord lining breaks down and during the healing process a cyst develops due to entrapped cells meant for creating lining. A polyp , however, is in essence a blistering of the vocal cord lining. Vocal cord nodule for comp…

10/23/2011 0

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