Burke-Charvet Tweets About Surgery
Brooke Burke-Charvet is recovering from neck surgery for thyroid cancer, she said on Twitter.
"Surgery went well & I can talk. Losing My voice was my biggest fear," the 41-year-old "Dancing With the Stars" co-host tweeted Thursday. "Thx for all your prayers & light."
Burke-Charvet revealed her cancer diagnosis in a YouTube video one month ago, describing how the tiny nodule on her thyroid - a butterfly-shaped gland at the front of her neck - was spotted during a routine physical.
"I never, ever, ever thought I was going to get that phone call with bad news," she said, recalling the moment she heard her biopsy results. "I guess the truth is, I'm always so used to being in control and taking care of everybody and all my kids, and now I find myself in this really out-of-control situation."
Burke-Charvet has three daughters, ages 12, 10 and 5, and a 4-year-old son.
More than 56,000 people are diagnosed with thyroid cancer each year in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute. But fewer than 1,800 Americans die from the disease annually.
"Doctors say this is a good kind of cancer to have," Burke-Charvet said in her video. "Good cancer - that sounds so crazy! But my doctor did tell me that this is a happily-ever-after kind of thing."
The most common treatment for thyroid cancer is surgery to remove the gland. But radiation therapy, in the form of X-ray beams or radioactive iodine pills absorbed by the thyroid, may also be used, according to the NIH.
Because the thyroid makes hormones that regulate heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and weight, Burke-Charvet will have to take thyroid hormone pills for the rest of her life.
She had the surgery Wednesday, tweeting a pre-op photo of herself with the caption, "Last looks at my neck. Here we go."
On Thursday, she tweeted "Thank God it's over," adding, "Feels like I got hit [by] a car :(."
Burke-Charvet also thanked her family, friends and fans for the outpouring of support.
"So much love coming my way today via social media," she tweeted. "I FEEL you! I'm online, thats a good sign :)."
