“It is very survivable.”
It’s an encouraging prognosis from one of the nation’s leading experts on thyroid cancer for the Dancing With the Stars cohost Brooke Burke-Charvet, who revealed her current battle in an emotional video to fans.
“There really is not a good type, but if you had to choose one (type of cancer) in some crazy scenario, this is one that I would probably choose,” said Dr. Alan Christianson, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease.
“Today, our five year survival rate at most ages, range from in the 99 percents.”
Burke, 41, said in the emotional video that she’s going to undergo a thyroidectomy — the removal of all or part of your thyroid gland.
She said, “I’m going to have a have a nice big scar right here across my neck and I don’t get to just walk around and pretend like nothing happened or not follow up or not share it because it’s going to be pretty much dead center.”
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of one’s neck. It produces hormones that regulate every aspect of your metabolism, from your heart rate to how quickly you burn calories.
“She will be back to 100 percent,” Dr. Christianson told The Daily Buzz about the prognosis for Burke’s recovery.
“There are a couple of steps that go on in which they let her become low in thyroid hormone to make sure they can kill all the cancer cells. That can make you feel down during that process. That is usually four to six weeks.
“It is possible she will have a little lag of energy or her zest during that timeframe… but long term she will be as good as anyone who makes their hormones.”
Burke’s work schedule will not be affected by her thyroidectomy, her rep said Thursday.
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