Hi, thanks for your time and help. About 10-12 or so years ago, my father was diagnosed with medullary thyroid cancer when he was in his early 30s and had his thyroid removed. Over the next few years, he had 2 more surgeries removing lymph nodes (i cant remember what years exactly everything happened) in his neck.
He currently goes to Mayo clinic twice a year for examinations and has blood tested every 3 months. He hasn't had any more surgeries or further treatment for probably 7-10 years now. I overheard my parents say one the phone once that he still has calcitonin in his blood but its stable which I'm guessing means that some of the primary tumor is lodged in a well perfused tissue somewhere and the cancer could return at some point.
I've done a lot of reading on it, and I saw it is often related to MEN syndrome. I don't beleive he has either form, though I may be wrong or misinformed. I know my mother wanted my brother and I to be tested for the gene but his doctor said it wasn't likely genetic. His grandmother also had thyroid cancer, although I'm not sure what form.
Anyway, that all started happening when I was about in kindergarten or early grade school and I'm now in my twenties. I can hardly get my parents to talk about it and I think they just give me BS answers all the time, I was just wondering if I could get an honest assessment of what his prognosis might be, the significance of the calcitonin, and how likely it is the cancer would return as he ages; I know its probably the worst form of thyroid cancer to get. Thank you!