Journalist finds out she has thyroid cancer thanks to female viewer
“I just saw your subject. What worries me is the lump on your neck. Please have your thyroid checked. (…) It reminds me of my own neck. In my case, this turned out to be cancer “. That’s the alarming message a viewer sent to Victoria Price, investigative reporter for WLFA-TV in Tampa, Florida, USA.
Thyroid cancer: “Without this email, I would never have called my doctor”
Worried and shaken by this warning message, the 28-year-old journalist followed the advice of this benevolent viewer. A week after receiving this email, Victoria Price visited her doctor. She first performed blood tests and an ultrasound, which she said were “suspicious”. According to the American daily The New York Times, the reporter was then referred to a thyroid specialist. The diagnosis fell on July 21: the viewer was right. On that date, Victoria Price learned that she had thyroid cancer and that it was spreading to the lymph nodes.
The journalist was to be operated on Monday, July 27 to remove the tumor, her thyroid and some nearby lymph nodes. She shared her diagnosis and some photos of her neck this week on Twitter. “The tumor is in the middle of her thyroid, pushing the gland up and out”, she explained to curious Internet users who asked her for details. The reporter said she had “felt bad” and tired over the past few months, but attributed this to stress and the fact that she had worked hard to cover the coronavirus pandemic.
Victoria Price expressed her gratitude to this viewer. “If I hadn’t received this email I would never have called my doctor. The cancer would have continued to spread. It’s a scary idea.”, she told the New York Times. “I will be eternally grateful to this woman who thought to send me an email when we didn’t know each other. She had no obligation to do so but she did it anyway.”, can we read in his publication.
A bit of ~personal news~ to share.
Turns out, I have cancer. And I owe it to one of our wonderful viewers for bringing it to my attention.
I’ll be off work for a bit after tomorrow, but I’ll see y’all soon ?
— victoria price (@WFLAVictoria)
Thyroid cancer: the symptom that should alert
Thyroid cancer is a malignant tumor that develops in the cells of the thyroid. This disease usually causes few symptoms and often progresses silently. This condition manifests itself primarily as a painless, non-bothersome nodule, which can be detected by palpation of the neck or imaging examinations.
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