In the spring of 2010, Emily Haase-Overstreet was living a typical life for a 24-year-old recent college graduate. She worked at a restaurant and had recently moved from her parents' home and into an apartment she shared with a roommate in southern New Jersey.
Then life threw her a curve ball. Out of the blue, Emily was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. "I really didn't have any symptoms," she describes. "But I could see this lump in my throat,"
Like Emily, many people do not experience many thyroid cancer symptoms. She went to a doctor who ordered an ultrasound but told her not to lose sleep over the lump in her neck.
The ultrasound showed nodules on her thyroid, the gland that controls metabolism. That finding led to a biopsy of a nodule, which led to her diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer. "It was scary. I was really young at the time, and I felt extremely overwhelmed," Emily says.
Thyroid cancers account for about 44,000 new cancer cases a year in the U.S., or about two percent of all new cancer diagnoses. The optimistic news is that the five-year survival rate for early thyroid cancer is over 98 percent.
The Journey to Penn Medicine and Lessons Learned
"My primary care doctor told me, 'You're going to Penn'," Emily recalls. That is when she connected with Susan Mandel, MD, now Penn Medicine's chief of endocrinology, and Rachel Kelz, MD, a surgeon specializing in endocrine and cancer surgeries.
The day before Emily's scheduled surgery, Dr. Kelz called. Emily needed to have another biopsy to reevaluate her neck lymph nodes for cancer spread. This meant she would need to postpone the surgery. Emily was upset by both pieces of news. Dr. Kelz talked with her for a long time on the phone that evening.
"I was thrown over the edge, not only to find out that it (the cancer) had spread to my lymph nodes, but that my surgery which was so close, was postponed," Emily says. "I just wanted to get the cancer out."
During the rescheduled surgery, Dr. Kelz removed Emily's thyroid along with some lymph nodes. This procedure is known as a thyroidectomy with neck dissection. Fortunately, her cancer was stage 1, which is the earliest stage. To help prevent the cancer from recurring, Dr. Kelz removed 29 lymph nodes during the thyroid cancer surgery.
"I am so grateful for being so close to a great facility and a great team of doctors and am so thrilled with Penn," Emily says. "Even when you walk into the Perelman Center, there's someone there asking if you need directions. They are so friendly."
Shortly after surgery, Emily was scheduled for radioactive iodine treatment, an oral medication that helps destroy cancer cells. For a few days before and after the treatment, she needed to low-iodine diet. This required significant dietary juggling. "Iodine is in…everything," she recalls.
Immediately after taking the pills, she had to quarantine for five days because her body would give off radiation after the treatment. During that time, Emily stayed at her mother's house, but she was isolated in her childhood bedroom. She describes it as a difficult and lonely time. But when the COVID-19 pandemic struck a decade later, she found that experience had become a source of emotional strength. "I do think it made me stronger," she says.
During the initial COVID social isolation period, one of Emily's friends went through a rough emotional time. Emily shared some of the advice that Dr. Kelz gave her while she was sequestered after radioactive iodine therapy. Emily says, "She emailed me, 'Take this time just for yourself. Read a book. Take a nap'."
Sharing Gratitude and Insights
Now, more than a decade later, Emily and her husband live in southern New Jersey with their cat. Emily does administrative work in her mother-in-law's business and enjoys cooking, traveling and spending time with her family and friends.
Emily sees Gayle for most of her follow-up appointments. Her routine monitoring includes neck ultrasounds, which were initially done every three months, then six. She now has a yearly ultrasound and lab work to check for any cancer markers.
She is grateful to continue her follow-up care at Penn Medicine. "They are the best team. They're a family, and they treat you like family, too," Emily says. "If someone asks me the question, 'If you could have lunch with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?' It would have to be all three of my doctors, Dr. Kelz, Dr. Mandel and Gayle."
As a self-described private person, it is a new step for Emily to share her story. She says she recognizes that her experience and perspectives might help someone else. "When someone is reading this, they're probably going to be newly diagnosed and needing something," she observes.
What insights does Emily offer to anyone who finds themself where she was 12 years ago — a frightened and newly diagnosed patient? "Give yourself grace. You don't need to be strong at every moment. Take notes when you have appointments. Accept help from others. Create routines that calm you. Celebrate each and every small victory and milestone." she says.
Meet the Thyroid Cancer Specialists at Penn Medicine