After having been diagnosed by the country's top doctors with thyroid cancer, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez underwent surgery to have her thyroid removed. Following the procedure, her doctors realized that preliminary tests indicating she did have cancer were wrong--she didn't have thyroid cancer after all.
Unfortunately, with her thyroid gland now removed, President Fernandez will have to take a hormone replacement pill for the rest of her life in order to compensate for her absent thyroid.
Typically, patients undergo a fine needle biopsy of a sample of cells from the thyroid suspected of being cancerous. If that test reads positive, then the next step is often a repeat of the test and a second opinion. Assuming that backs up the original finding, doctors move forward and remove only the affected half of the thyroid. This procedure addresses the cancer yet still preserves the function of the thyroid. If cancer should develop in the remaining portion, it can be removed at a later time without impacting the patient's prognosis.
Despite the error, the 58 year old president of Argentina Tweeted a thank you to her medical team and to the outpouring of support she had received.
