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Diagnosis of hope Thyroid cancer is rising dramatically, particularly among women. STORY: JAMES COMBS
Mary Jo Zylowski
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≈ PHOTO: NICOLE HAMEL nxious. Afraid. Overwhelmed. Those emotions hit Mary Jo Zylowski like a ton of bricks as three dreadful words came out of her doctor’s mouth eight years ago. “You’ve got cancer.” A tumor had reared its ugly head on her thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland in the neck that produces hormones to regulate heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and weight. It was a paralyzing moment. Things that consumed her life minutes before suddenly receded far into the background as she faced completely new and terrifying territory. “When you get that diagnosis, you cannot help but to think the worst,” says Mary Jo, a resident of Fruitland Park who was 39 at the time of her diagnosis in 2012. “I instantly started wondering if the cancer had already metastasized. Could it be in my voice box or other parts of my body?” Fortunately, the cancer was localized. Her thyroid gland was surgically removed, and she never underwent chemotherapy or radiation. Today, Mary Jo lives a normal life, working full-time as an environmental service technician at UF Health Leesburg Hospital and spending quality time with her husband, Tom, and 16-year-old son, Conner. “I’m proud to say I’m a thyroid cancer survivor,” she says. These days, countless other females are battling to earn that same title. While many women schedule mammograms each year to be screened for breast cancer, some do not realize that thyroid cancer is on the rise. In fact, it is the fastest-growing cancer in women as measured by number of new cases each year, according to the American Thyroid Association. The American Cancer Society expects 52,890 new cases in 2020— 40,170 in women and only 12,720 in men. The disease typically occurs in females who are in their 30s and 40s. Nobody can say for certain why women are more suspectable to thyroid cancer, but theories exist. “We do know women are more prone to autoimmune diseases, and that could precipitate an inflammatory state,”
