Health, Fitness & Personal Growth Tips for Women in Midlife: Asking for a Friend

Ep.171 Thyroid Cancer & Midlife Women: Why Normal Labs Don’t Mean You’re Safe

• Michele Henning Folan • Episode 171

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 Hashimoto’s, Hormones, Neck Checks & the Future of Thyroid Screening 

Thyroid cancer is on the rise among midlife women—and most don’t even know they’re at risk. In this eye-opening episode of Asking for a Friend, Dr. Rashmi Roy, Director of Thyroid Surgical Services at the Clayman Thyroid Center and one of the world’s most experienced thyroid surgeons, explains why traditional blood work often misses thyroid cancer completely—and what women can do about it.

You’ll learn:
 ✅ Why thyroid cancer rarely shows symptoms and often doesn’t appear on routine thyroid labs
 ✅ The difference between thyroid disease (hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s) and thyroid cancer
 ✅ The life-saving power of a simple 2-minute self-neck check you can do today
 ✅ How Dr. Roy’s groundbreaking mobile screening program is catching cancers at a higher rate than mammograms and pap smears
 ✅ Why she’s advocating for thyroid ultrasounds to become routine preventive care for women over 30

Dr. Roy also shares patient success stories, her journey into thyroid surgery, and practical steps you can take now to protect your thyroid health. Plus, discover her educational YouTube channel, Goiter Guru, where she empowers women with knowledge about thyroid disease and surgery.

👉 If you’re a woman in your 40s, 50s, or beyond, this is a must-listen conversation. Early detection can save lives—and it starts with knowing what to look for.

https://www.thyroidcancer.com/

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💌 Have questions about 1:1 health and nutrition coaching or Faster Way? Reach me anytime at mfolanfasterway@gmail.com

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🎤 In addition to coaching, I speak to women’s groups, moderate health panel discussions, and bring experts together for real, evidence-based conversations about midlife health. If you’d like me at your next event, let’s connect!

OsteoCollective osteoporosis resources and community link: https://app.osteocollective.com/invitation?code=BE98G9

Transcripts are created with AI and may not be perfectly accurate.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional healthcare services. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your qualified healthcare provider with any questions regarding a medical condition.

Michele Folan:

Looking for a speaker who actually gets midlife women. I'm Michele Folan, midlife health coach and host of the Asking for a Friend podcast. Whether I'm speaking to women's groups or moderating health panels, I bring straight talk, humor and science-backed strategies that motivate women to take action From bone health to hormones to staying strong for the long haul. I make complex health simple and inspiring. Want me at your next event. Reach out through the email link in the long haul, I make complex health simple and inspiring. Want me at your next event. Reach out through the email link in the show notes Health, wellness, fitness and everything in between. We're removing the taboo from what really matters in midlife. I'm your host, Michele Folan, and this is Asking for a Friend.

Michele Folan:

September is Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month, a time to shine a spotlight on a cancer that affects women in midlife more than any other group. The tricky part Thyroid cancer usually has no symptoms. It doesn't show up on routine blood work and even thyroid labs can look completely normal. My guest today, Dr Rashmi Roy, is on a mission to change that. She's one of the world's most experienced thyroid surgeons and the director of thyroid surgical services at the Clayman Thyroid Center in Tampa, Florida. She performs more thyroid surgeries each year than nearly anyone else in the US and has helped detect countless cases of thyroid cancer through her innovative thyroid ultrasound screening program. She's now advocating for thyroid ultrasounds to become routine for women over 40, just like mammograms, and today she'll share why a simple two-minute neck check could save your life.

Michele Folan:

Dr Rajmi Roy, welcome to Asking for a Friend. Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure. I was telling Dr Roy before we started that she's going to teach me a thing or two today. Despite all the years that I had in the medical world and health field, I know very little about the thyroid, so I really appreciate her being here today. And you are one of the most experienced thyroid surgeons in the world and I would love to know what drew you to this specialty.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Yeah. So ironically I actually decided pretty late in my residency training. You know I did. I started out.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

I always knew I wanted to do surgery, I just didn't know what type. And so I did a five-year general surgery residency and usually people know by their second or third year you know what type of fellowship or what they want to specialize in. And I didn't. I just loved everything. I didn't know what I wanted to commit my life to. Nothing really stood out until I did my what's called an endocrine surgery fellowship in my fourth year. So my fourth year out of five year residency is when I was introduced to it and just fell in love with it. It was how delicate the surgery is, how fine. You needed to meticulously dissect everything and the patient population. So thyroid disease, endocrine disease, is usually hit patients that are women and they're in the prime of their lives. They're young, they're middle-aged, they're busy, they're moms, they have their whole life ahead of them and they are in the prime of their lives. But then all of a sudden they get hit with something and I knew that I could help these women.

Michele Folan:

Okay, what is it about this little, tiny little gland that causes midlife women in particular, such strife?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Yeah, so the thyroid itself. There's different things to think about the thyroid, but thyroid disease or thyroid hormone disease, that's what most patients, most women, feel if something's wrong with their thyroid. So the thyroid is I call it a small but mighty gland. It's small, it's a butterfly shaped organ, right above your collarbone, in the middle of your neck, and it's responsible it's like the thermostat for your body. It's responsible for your energy, your metabolism, your temperature tolerance and hair nails. So that little gland is in charge of all those things.

Michele Folan:

How has the field of thyroid surgery and awareness changed since you started? Because I have to imagine things have kind of morphed and changed.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Yeah, so you know I don't like to use the word epidemic, but thyroid cancer has become almost an epidemic. It is so common now. It's more common in women than men, three times more common. And we're just finding it all the time because we're doing so much more diagnostic tests and more doctors are becoming aware when they see women to feel your neck and feel for the lumps and bumps, and so we're finding it much more, much more common than we used to be.

Michele Folan:

You know. I will say this because I told you that I was at the doctor last week and she did feel around my neck and I assume that's what she was, that that's what she was looking for, but I can say that was probably not so, maybe even six, seven years ago I think this is more recent Right, absolutely. What are the symptoms, though that often get dismissed as just midlife, that could actually be thyroid related.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Yeah, so it's pretty vague, and that's why they get dismissed, and they can also be confused with perimenopausal symptoms. So this we're just talking about thyroid disease and not thyroid cancer. But you're tired, you have to take a nap in the day when you didn't used to, or you're cold when other people aren't, so it's weight gain when you're doing everything the same, you're eating the same, you're exercising the same, and so those are all kind of symptoms that could be related to something being wrong with your thyroid gland. And if your thyroid function hasn't been tested, then you be an advocate for yourself and you ask your primary care doctor to check your thyroid levels.

Michele Folan:

I know that there are different thyroid blood tests that we can get Just a regular old thyroid test. Is that going to pick this up, or do we need to dig a little deeper into free T3 and free T4?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Yeah, it's a great question. I think the most common thing is that the common test is everyone just gets a TSH. The TSH is a pretty broad range, you know, and so just because you're in the normal TSH level doesn't necessarily mean that your thyroid is good. So, yes, free T3, free T4, tsh, and I also think you should get thyroid antibodies checked because that could be a symptom of an autoimmune disease of your thyroid gland. So that's what I would consider a full thyroid panel. There's many more intricate little tests that you can get done if those are abnormal, but I think that should be. That's a good, thorough exam of your thyroid function.

Michele Folan:

My next question hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's. I have no clue what Hashimoto's is. I hear it all the time. I know there's coaches that coach women to help them with their weight loss and things with Hashimoto's. Can you define the difference?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

So Hashimoto's is the most common cause of hypothyroidism and so Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease of the thyroid gland where your body essentially attacks your thyroid and it decreases the function of your thyroid gland and Hashimoto's. For the most part, 85% to 90% of patients can be treated with thyroid hormone replacement and they feel well. But there is a small subgroup of patients that has just recently been focused on and found that some patients those 10% patients where surgery is beneficial for you, which is not the case if your hypothyroidism is for some other reason, how would surgery benefit somebody?

Michele Folan:

with Hashimoto's.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Yeah, so it's a great question. So there was a great study that came out of Norway and Sweden now, maybe about seven years ago, where they looked at these particular patients, and the subgroup of patients that benefit are patients that are on thyroid medication or they've tried lifestyle changes. So the best diet for Hashimoto's is a gluten-free diet. So they've done lifestyle modifications. They've done a thyroid hormones replacement and exercise. You know, living the healthiest life you can and you still feel awful. So these are patients that have essentially failed medical management. Or there's a group of Hashimoto's patients where their thyroid function is normal and we can't put you on medication because if we put you on medication now you're going to be hyperthyroid. So again, you've failed medical management. So those patients once you remove the offending organ that's producing these antibodies, then you now have a chance for the thyroid hormone to work because it's not fighting against the organ.

Michele Folan:

Okay, and then my other question would be how young do people get Hashimoto's?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

So usually it's midlife, 30s to 50s, but there are patients that can get it earlier, but it's usually 30s to 50 years old where you get diagnosed with it, all right.

Michele Folan:

And then, why do thyroid nodules form? Are they always a cause?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

for concern. So we don't know why thyroid nodules form, but it's super common. As we get older we're more likely to find thyroid nodules. You know, to put everyone kind of at ease a little bit, 95% of thyroid nodules are actually benign. So just because you have a thyroid nodule you don't panic. So they're not always a cause for concern. But certain characteristics on an ultrasound make it suspicious. And if you have those suspicious characteristics then your next step would be a needle biopsy of that nodule to see if it's something to be concerned about or that needs further intervention.

Michele Folan:

What is the family heredity connection with thyroid disease?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

So you know, patients that have autoimmune diseases in their family are more likely to get a Hashimoto's disease or Graves disease. So Graves disease is kind of the opposite of Hashimoto's. It causes hyperthyroidism. So if autoimmune disease is running your family you're more prone to getting those types. If goiters run in your family, so enlarged nodules, then you're more prone to get it. Thyroid cancers there's only one genetic thyroid cancer that you can actually test for with a genetic mutation. That's a thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid cancer. It's rare. The most common thyroid cancer, which is papillary thyroid cancer, there's no genetic mutation that you can get tested for. It's rare that it really runs through generations of your families, but it can happen. So you just need to be aware of you know what is your family thyroid history.

Michele Folan:

All right, you brought up goiter. I have to ask what the heck is goiter and what would your symptoms be, and why would it be problematic for someone so?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

a goiter is essentially an enlarged thyroid. So you can have a goiter for different reasons. Hashimoto's you can get what's called a Hashimoto's goiter because the inflammation just makes it so big. But most commonly it's caused by large nodules. So symptoms of a multinodular goiter mainly are what we call compressive symptoms, where you have trouble swallowing. So if you're eating, you know, bread or meat, you kind of have an increased effort to swallow. When you lay down, you kind of you have tightness in your neck, or sometimes with women they feel like their necklace is getting tighter. So it's a kind of a feeling of tightness in your neck and you can get something where I call it you're clearing your throat a lot but you're not sick and that's the irritation of the thyroid on your trachea or your windpipe.

Michele Folan:

So compressive symptoms are the most common side of a goiter. Ooh, okay, now that's interesting because I know people that have had that happen and I don't think that they say allergies or GERD. You know for the constant clearing of the throat, but I had not heard goiter. And I didn't mean to laugh about goiter, but it's one of those things you know, you hear, but it's like, oh, I don't know what that is. Yeah, okay, we're going to take a quick break and when we come back, I want to talk about thyroid cancer specifically.

Michele Folan:

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Rashmi Roy, MD:

When patients come into my office they say Dr Roy, how is this possible that I have thyroid cancer when my thyroid function is completely normal? And it's true. So there is no tumor marker for papillary thyroid cancer, the most common thyroid cancer? There's something called thyroglobulin, which is a tumor marker for papillary thyroid cancer, but that is only after your thyroid has been removed. So that is a marker for tumor recurrence if it comes back. But with your thyroid in place you have thyroglobulin. So there's just no way to test for it. And having thyroid cancer, you could have a full neck of thyroid cancer and have completely normal thyroid function. So there's just no blood test to check to see if you have thyroid cancer.

Michele Folan:

So you had mentioned before that we're seeing more thyroid cancer. Are we to say we're recognizing it more quickly, or the fact that there may be some environmental or lifestyle factors involved here?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Yeah, I think it's a great question. I think the answer is both. I think we're finding it more because of all the scans that we're doing. I think people are more aware of it and there's something going on that we don't know yet in the environment that's causing it, and I think there's also an estrogen link. There has not been a scientific causative link that's been detected yet, but there's got to be, because if it's three times more common in women than men, then there has to be, in my mind, an estrogen component.

Michele Folan:

Would you suspect a decline in estrogen is prompting a surgeon diagnosis. No, I think more estrogen would be causing Okay Interesting. Is there a way that I can self-diagnose if I have suspicion that something's going on?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Yeah, so you know, I think that the best thing that women can do is really two things. Number one be aware of your body. Just like we know to do self breast exams, you can do your own self neck check and really all that is is taking your fingers circular motions on your neck, in the middle of your neck to the sides of your neck. You know circular motions around your on your neck, in the middle of your neck to the sides of your neck. Just feel for any lumps and bumps, feel what your neck feels like on a normal basis and then, if you detect an abnormality, then you go further. So I think that's the first thing is being aware of your body and doing a neck check, and the second is ask your primary care doctor for a thyroid ultrasound. If you've never had one, then get one to see what a baseline, what your thyroid looks like at baseline.

Michele Folan:

Oh, could you have thyroid cancer and not feel anything, though?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Absolutely, and so, and that's another reason why I think you know being an advocate for yourself to doing these things is so important, because I would say 90% of my patients that come in have no symptoms, so they can't see it. On blood work they have no symptoms and then it was just found.

Michele Folan:

Incidentally, you know this kind of reminds me of osteoporosis. I mean, we're not. A lot of women are not proactively getting DEXA scans and they don't know they have osteoporosis until they have a fracture. Right, you're right. Until it's a little too late, yeah, and we're not typically really recommending a DEXA scan until people are 65. Well, that's, you know. The horse is way out of the barn by then. So you know, it's just. This is great awareness. If you catch thyroid cancer early, can it be cured? Absolutely.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

So thyroid cancer in general has an excellent prognosis and can be cured. You know, even if it has spread to lymph nodes in your neck it can still be cured with surgery, possibly postoperative radioactive iodine treatment if needed. But the key is early detection is early cure and hopefully less surgery and maybe not even needing thyroid hormone replacement afterwards. So that's the key, just like with any other cancer.

Michele Folan:

Yeah, that was going to be my next question. So what does treatment typically look?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

like yeah, so treatment is surgery. Surgery is the only option for definitive cure for thyroid cancer and then, if it's more advanced and there's extensive lymph node involvement, then a radioactive iodine pill. So you know, most patients. There's no chemotherapy or radiation that's needed, it's just a one-time, one-dose pill of a radioactive iodine that patients may need to take.

Michele Folan:

What other cancers would you be able to use a radioactive iodine?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

would you be able to use a radioactive iodine. So this is that's. What's so perfect about the radioactive iodine pill is that it's only goes to thyroid cells in the body. Oh, wow, Okay. That's why science is very cool.

Michele Folan:

I told you you're going to teach me something. Today. I'm like I'm asking you way more questions than I thought I would because I'm like okay, this is okay, I get it. Okay, this is really good. You started a thyroid ultrasound screening program in Florida. What did you discover through this process and what makes it?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

unique, yeah, so I started this in 2022, kind of out of nowhere, really and then the results kept me going and now it's my passion, so I so, basically, it's a free ultrasound screening program and it's mobile.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

So if a if there's a group of people or a company that wants to be screened, I take my team, I take my mobile ultrasounds and I go and I screen women for free, let them know what they have, let them know what their next steps are, and we have diagnosed and cured many women in the Tampa area that had no idea that they had it, and so that's been really, you know, just gratifying for me to know what an impact that this program has had. But what's even more so is the data that's been collected. And so this program has a malignancy detection rate of 2.4%, which may not seem high if you don't know much about detection rates, but mammograms and pap smears, which are standard of care screening devices, have a less than 1% malignancy detection rate, and it's standard. So my program has a 2.4% malignancy detective rate and no one gets thyroid ultrasounds Wow. So my goal is to try to have it be protocol that women over 30 get a thyroid ultrasound done. It's non-invasive, it takes two seconds. You know why not All right?

Michele Folan:

I need to ask this what's the mortality rate of thyroid cancer?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

So it's not high, it's not, you know so, this standard. So papillary thyroid cancer, you know you have a 98 to 99% five-year survival rate and they only go to five years because once you've hit five years you're going, you're surviving, so it's not changing your lifespan. But there are more aggressive thyroid cancers that again could be detected with ultrasounds. There's medullary thyroid cancers, follicular thyroid cancers and then thyroid cancer that is the emergency and is the most fatal is something called anaplastic thyroid cancer. And how common is that? Very rare, but if you have it you have less than six months to live. Oh gosh.

Michele Folan:

You're working to get this program data in front of the American Thyroid Association and I know you have some goals for women's preventive care. What kind of roadblocks are you running into?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

So you know I'm going against the grain. So you know, thyroid screening is not something that people want to do because of the chance of overdiagnosis, and so if you find a nodule, the fear is that patients will get more tests and really overwhelm the healthcare community. And there are some thyroid cancers that some patients may want to observe, and that's fine. I'm not saying that every thyroid cancer needs to be treated. If it's small and you want to observe it, then that's completely up to you, but I think you should at least know about it. And so the roadblock is that I'm going against the grain and people don't want to do the screenings. But I think that it is, you know, going above and beyond for self-awareness.

Michele Folan:

Yeah, I mean, and I see this becoming a cost issue. You know overall, you know it's, you know we, we, we get our mammograms every year, we're we're supposed to get a DEXA scan, huh, yeah, and there's the additional blood work that we're getting and it's like one more thing to add on to the list. And I can see insurance companies going to Chang, to Chang, to Chang. But on the flip side of that, by being more preventive, which I hope we're moving in, maybe not needing thyroid hormone replacement, not needing the radioactive iodine treatment.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

So there's definitely pros to finding it earlier, you know, than letting it progress.

Michele Folan:

So, as a surgeon who has seen thousands of cases, what message do you most want women to hear about their thyroid health?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

So I just exactly what we're talking about is preventative care is doing your neck check? I'm actually launching a campaign and it's hashtag neck check. Where I have on my YouTube channel, I have a video of how you do your neck check and we're trying to spread the word. So do a video, spread my video, take a picture of yourself and say hashtag neck check, so that we just spread awareness to all the women that we know in our lives about thyroid cancer.

Michele Folan:

Well, and I know, even doing your own self breast exam is sometimes a push. So we really need to get the word out there that you can really do yourself a lot of good by checking this on your own. I mean, it's, it's so simple. It's right here, it's not right.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

And get an ultrasound. You know, ask your doctor for an ultrasound, it's easy. Um so those neck checks and ultrasounds.

Michele Folan:

You mentioned your YouTube channel and it's called the Goiter guru, which is so cute. What inspired you to launch that platform?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Yeah, so I, you know, I did it all for fun. At first I just started doing all these big goiters. So all these goiters that other people weren't able to do or wouldn't even attempt, I it just. It just kind of naturally happened and I said you know what? This is a fun video, this is a fun thing to show patients. And so it just it just kind of naturally happened and I said you know what? This is a fun video, this is a fun thing to show patients. Um, and so it just grew Um.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

So now I have almost 40,000 followers, um, on my channel and I do these big goiters that go down into the chest where other surgeons say they have to crack your chest open. And I use you know I'll be able to take it out of just your neck. Who wants their chest cracked open? Right, obviously. So then I use it as just kind of something fun and then I use it as an educational channel. So not only do I show goiter guru videos about these huge goiters, but I talk about Hashimoto's, I talk about thyroid cancer, I talk about what you should do if you have a thyroid nodule. So it's now become more of an educational thing as well as fun. I talk about myths. You know what are your, what are thyroid myths, and then I have this whole segment on, you know, busting myths and things like that. So it's fun and educational, you know.

Michele Folan:

I don't know if people realize how common hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's are. I mean there are full-on groups on Instagram and other places. We don't talk about it that much, but I mean people that have it are very involved in that community.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Well, they struggle. When patients come into my office with Hashimoto's, I don't even really have to ask them. All I say is tell me how you're feeling, that's it, and it is the same textbook answers and most patients break down crying. I haven't even met these patients and they're just you know, they just are so emotional about it because it really is a devastating disease. If you can't get it under control, what's the most common thing.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

They complain about Just feeling like they're on a roller coaster, that they one day, they you know they really high, highs and really high, lows and really low, lows, and then just their life's been taken away from them. They used to be this active person and they just they're doing life but they're not enjoying life. They feel like they're missing out on things with their kids. Some people have to quit their jobs when it's so severe, so just their quality of life is awful.

Michele Folan:

Do you have a patient success story you can share? So there's so many I bet, I bet, and I didn't tell you I was going to ask you that, but I just thought I was like oh, you know what, I'm sure she's got one that stands out.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Yeah. So I guess there's different types thyroid cancer success stories, goiter success stories, hashimoto's success stories. I actually say some of my most grateful patients are my Hashimoto's patients because they do get their quality of life back and so scientifically you know they patients shouldn't get their feel, start feeling better. For three months. We had a patient actually he was a well-known surgeon and he had he had, he had such devastating Hashimoto's that it affected his neurological state so much he had to quit his job and he was almost comatose. Now this is severe, severe case.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

We took out his thyroid and I tell you that the next day he was communicated with his wife, where he was not able to speak to his wife. That's how bad his Hashimoto's was and it's something that I can't scientifically explain because it takes three months for the antibodies to leave your system. But I mean, talk about getting your life back. He wasn't able to really communicate anymore, let alone, you know, function as a surgeon. So yeah, I mean, the thyroid is a small but mighty gland that can really affect everything in your body.

Michele Folan:

Amazing. Wow, see, I told you you were going to teach me so much today. I ask all of my guests this, but in particular, I'd love to ask doctors this, I think because it sets a great example for my listeners. But what's one of your personal non-negotiables when it comes to your own health, as a busy surgeon and advocate for health?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Yeah. So I think it's a great question because it goes in line with everything we're talking about and for me, you know I'm not the greatest at drinking you know so much water in a day because I'm in the operating room all day, so I'm not the greatest at getting you know certain amount of exercise all the time because of how busy I am. But for me it is keeping up with your preventative screenings. So all the preventative screenings that we're supposed to do mammograms, colonoscopies for men, you know your PSAs, things like that that is a non-negotiable for me is to keep up with that.

Michele Folan:

So you are good at that, because I often think that doctors are sometimes the worst patients.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

We are, and I'll tell you that I didn't have a primary care doctor forever because I can just order my own labs and I can just you know. But the preventative screening, I think, is for me, that's what I is at the top of my priority.

Michele Folan:

You know, my dad was a urologist and he finally had to get some urologic procedure done, and he was a little older, it was a TUR, maybe I forget. But anyway, long story short, as he's there in the hospital recovering, I said how'd it go? And he goes. Well, I'll tell you one thing I'm going to tell all my patients they should do this. He goes. I don't know why I waited so long, but the old saying, the cobbler's children has no shoes. It's like the doctor's always telling the patients to go and do these things, but they themselves, yeah, I know it's a real thing. So anyway, yeah, yeah, for sure. Dr Rajmi Roy, can you please tell our listeners where they can find you and follow your work?

Rashmi Roy, MD:

Absolutely, so. I operate exclusively at the hospital for endocrine surgery. So the hospital for endocrine surgery is a hospital that is one of its kind in the country. It is the only specialty hospital where that's all that we do. So we are in Tampa, Florida, so you can find me at the hospital for endocrine surgery, specifically the Clayman Thyroid Center, and you can find me at my YouTube channel, Goiter Guru on YouTube, and get more information about thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer at our website, which is thyroidcancercom.

Michele Folan:

You know, being this dedicated center, do you get a lot of patients from other countries, other states, yeah, so actually 55% of our patients are out of state, Wow, yeah.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

And so what's so special about our hospital is, and especially the thyroid center, is I can diagnose you and operate and cure you in a single day. So if you think about that, think about going to schedule an ultrasound, okay. So now it's taken three weeks to get the ultrasound. Now you need a biopsy that's three weeks. Now you need to meet a surgeon that's three. Ultrasound Now you need a biopsy that's three weeks. Now you need to meet a surgeon. That's three weeks. Now you need to get the surgery. That's another three weeks, and that's, you know, being optimistic.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

So basically, what happens is the patient fills out a form, an online form, at thyroidcancercom. They get a personal call from a surgeon. If you're out of state, you'll actually get the phone call from me. If you're in the state of Florida, one of our other surgeons will call you and I will tell you exactly what you have, what you need, and then you come in. We do our own ultrasound in the morning. Whatever else we need to do a biopsy, a CAT scan, whatever your surgery is that afternoon, and if it's just half your thyroid, you're in the hotel the same day. So it's a pretty remarkable place where we're able to do all of that.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

That's incredible, and that's why it's so special that you know the hospital for endocrine surgery.

Michele Folan:

That is so neat. I wonder if that'll be a model that we'll start to see more of.

Rashmi Roy, MD:

That's what we're. You know, we thought we would be a model and it's hard to replicate, but it's also easy to replicate if you use us as the model.

Michele Folan:

Yeah, fascinating, Dr Rashmi Roy, thank you so much for being here today. Oh, thank you for having me. It was a pleasure. Thank you for listening. Please rate and review the podcast where you listen and, if you'd like to join the Asking for a Friend community, click on the link in the show notes to sign up for my weekly newsletter, where I share midlife wellness and fitness tips, insights, my favorite finds and recipes.