‘See You Soon’ – Despite a Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis, Country singer Paul Cauthen, 39, is Excited About the Summer Tour

Cauthen’s music catalog includes hits like “Cocaine Country Dancing,” “25 Tequillas,” and “Everybody Walkin’ This Land.” He spends much of his time on songwriting, touring, and performing. However, he noticed he was growing increasingly tired while on the road, an easy symptom to overlook as a busy music star. Then, he developed a case of pneumonia – an infection that causes air sacs in the lungs to experience inflammation.

After recovering, he tried to resume his regular schedule. However, he relied on steroids to get through live performances. Then, he had an eye-opening experience that compelled him to see a doctor.

“Something woke me up, and I was blue in my lips and white in my face,” Cauthen said.

While at the doctor, things appeared to be heading positively.

“Go up there, and I get a bunch of scans done. It happened to be clear. Great heart, lungs, liver’s great,” Cauthen said in an Instagram story.

Then, Cauthen’s doctor said he found something concerning.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Paul Cauthen (@paulcauthen)

“He said, but you know we do have this one little spot, what he called a hot spot, and they found a mass in my right thyroid,” Cauthen said.

Thyroid cancer occurs when cancer cells form in the tissues of the thyroid gland and grow out of control. The thyroid is located at the base of the neck and produces hormones that regulate your heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and weight. A lump or swelling in the neck is a common symptom of this type of cancer.

Cauthen had to cancel a few show dates after his diagnosis to focus on treatment.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Paul Cauthen (@paulcauthen)

“Looking back at it all, slowing down and taking some time to get healthy, and getting off the road actually probably ended up saving my life,” Cauthen said.

“I have had a lot of time to reflect and realize that life is short and precious. Just know that I thank you so much for all of your unwavering support through it all,” he continued.

While specific details about Cauthen’s treatment and the status of his cancer are unclear at this time, he’s determined to get back to doing what he loves, which is singing country music.

Supportive fans wished Cauthen well on his cancer journey.

“Can’t wait to see you play again! Praying for a quick healing,” Instagram user Sumdlx7 wrote.

“Welcome back, PC!!! Wishing you health and success!!!” another Instagram user wrote.

Cauthen’s Approach to Treatment Raised Eyebrows

While specific details regarding Cauthen’s thyroid cancer treatment remain unclear, the country music star did speak openly about one treatment route he considered. Again, it remains unclear which treatment approach the singer ultimately adopted.

“I have had to go my separate ways with folks because they cannot get behind my personal HOLISTIC approach to beating cancer,” Cauthen said in his Instagram story.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Paul Cauthen (@paulcauthen)

Cauthen received a flurry of comments from his online followers who questioned his approach to treatment, which did not appear to be the standard treatment method.

“I’ve never experienced it more until this cancer announcement. Everybody is different! Everybody has their own right. I am behind anybody’s approach with their own will. I stand behind anybody with cancer! I will beat cancer. That’s final. God is good,” Cauthen added.

Standard Treatment and Non-traditional Treatment Approaches

Traditional treatment methods for cancer may include surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation regimens. Understandably, these treatments are not easy to deal with as they often bring grueling side effects from hair loss to diarrhea. Some patients opt for non-traditional treatments to avoid these side effects, while others bypass traditional therapy for other reasons. Examples of non-traditional treatments may include relying on herbal supplements, homeopathic drugs, or a changed diet and lifestyle.

A study published in the medical journal JAMA Oncology focused on complementary medicine, refusal of conventional cancer therapy, and patient survival. The researchers surmised that patients are more likely to die when they rely on non-traditional cancer treatments.

WATCH: Complementary Treatment

“We know that many, many patients out there are using complementary and alternative medicine, but they’re not talking with their providers about it,” says Dr. James Yu, a radiation oncologist at Yale Cancer Center who led the study.

Yu and his colleagues examined information collected from 1.9 billion people in the National Cancer Database. They found that people who chose complementary medicine for cancer treatment were more likely to be female, younger, affluent, well-educated, and privately insured.

People who chose complementary medicine were also more likely to refuse some conventional treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormone therapy, Yu says. Unfortunately, these people had a two-fold greater risk of death compared with patients who did not use complementary medicine.

Yu stresses that using complementary therapies to improve patient’s quality of life should be okay as long as they do not interfere with conventional medicines and help them feel better.

Understanding Cauthen’s Diagnosis and How It Is Treated

Thyroid cancer is generally grouped based on the specific cells it develops from.

• The most common type is differentiated thyroid cancer, such as papillary thyroid cancer. Under the microscope, these cancer cells still look somewhat like normal thyroid tissue. They typically start in follicular cells, the part of the thyroid responsible for making hormones.
• Non-differentiated cancers can come from the thyroid’s calcium-controlling cells, the immune cells that fight infections within the thyroid, or from follicular cells that are so mutated that they no longer look like thyroid cells under a microscope.

“Although papillary thyroid cancer is the most common, the other types of cancers tend to be more aggressive and tend to spread more widely, at least in advanced cases,” Dr. Lisa Orloff, a head and neck surgeon at Stanford Medicine, explained to SurvivorNet.

WATCH: Diagnosing Thyroid Cancer.

When being diagnosed, patients may receive the following tests:

• Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) Test. This blood test mainly checks levels of a hormone called TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone), which is made by a small gland in the brain (the pituitary) to regulate thyroid function.
  While the test can’t tell if a thyroid issue is cancerous, it helps doctors see if a thyroid nodule is producing hormones. In many cases, hormone-producing nodules are not cancerous.
• Ultrasound. An ultrasound can detect subtle thyroid changes, ranging from small nodules to extensive changes. However, not all nodules detected are necessarily harmful.
• Biopsy. The biopsy may follow an ultrasound, which detected a nodule. In this procedure, a radiologist visualizes the nodule on a screen and directs the needle precisely into the targeted area to collect a tissue sample for further testing for signs of cancer.

Depending on the size of the tumor and if it has spread into nearby lymph nodes or tissues, doctors determine the stage or how advanced the thyroid cancer is.

Thyroid cancer patients may be faced with surgery to help treat the cancer. There are varying surgery options, including a total thyroidectomy, which involves completely removing the thyroid. In other cases, a partial thyroidectomy may be necessary, which means only a portion of the thyroid gland is removed. A partial thyroidectomy may be optimal if the nodule is confined to one side or has smaller growths affecting a smaller portion of the thyroid.

WATCH: Understanding what goes into thyroid cancer surgery.

After the surgery, patients may experience some soreness in or near their throat, mainly because a breathing tube was needed during the procedure. Over-the-counter pain medications may also be prescribed. Recovery time may last up to two weeks.

For thyroid cancer patients whose cancer is at an advanced stage, in addition to possible surgery, treatment may also involve chemotherapy, thyroid-stimulating hormone therapy (stimulates hormone production), and/or radiation therapy. In some cases, when thyroid cancer is very aggressive, surgery may no longer be effective, so relying on other treatment methods may be more optimal.

Thyroid cancer has reasonable treatment success rates. However, there is a chance of recurrence, meaning the cancer can return after treatment (also called recurrence). Recurrence may happen a few months after remission or sometimes even decades — later. Patients should ask their doctor after treatment what their risk of recurrence is.

WATCH: Thyroid cancer surveillance.

If a doctor finds your recurrence at an early stage, your chance of quickly regaining remission is often higher. This is why regular follow-ups, blood tests, and neck ultrasounds are essential.

Some of the more common signs and symptoms of a return include:

• A lingering cough that doesn’t go away
• A lump or swelling in the neck that you can feel or see
• Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
• Neck pain that isn’t explained by muscle strain or other causes
• Hoarseness or voice changes

Questions To Ask Your Doctor

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, consider the following questions when talking with the doctor about treatment options.

• What are my treatment options, and which do you recommend?
• Are there clinical trials available for someone in my situation?
• How frequently should we be checking my thyroglobulin levels now?
• What lifestyle changes can I make to help support my treatment and recovery?

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

---