33-year-old single mother Christine Coppa knew she had to take care of herself, particularly for the sake of her seven-year-old son, Jack. She always made sure to check her breasts for signs of cancer, but never thought to do the same for her neck.
Two years ago, Coppa was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when her doctor discovered a “suspicious mass” in her neck that felt like a “big, juicy grape.”
Several tests later, Coppa’s doctor confirmed that she did, in fact, have thyroid cancer. Coppa underwent two surgeries, one to remove the four-centimeter tumor growing on the right side of her thyroid and a second to remove the entire gland as a preventive measure.
Unfortunately, these procedures weren’t enough.
A few weeks later, doctors discovered some remaining cancerous thyroid cells, as well as another spot in Coppa’s chest.
That was when Coppa’s doctor suggested she undergo intensive radiation treatment. Not chemotherapy, but radioactive iodine treatment taken orally, that would attack the affected, cancerous cells remaining in Coppa’s body.
The radioactive iodine treatment came in the form of a white pill that the doctor gave to her in a shot glass – because he didn’t want to touch it himself.
As soon as Coppa downed it with an 8-ounce glass of water, she was ordered to “go straight home." The doctor warned her, "By the time you get there, you'll be able to set off alarms in airport security lines or alert authorities something radioactive is traveling through the Lincoln Tunnel."
Over the course of the next four days, Coppa remained in complete isolation in her own home. She wore cheap underwear and pajamas from Walmart; used disposable sheets, linens, and towels. Each time she used the bathroom, she had to flush twice, and by day three, Coppa was attacking and bleaching every surface in her house out of her own paranoia.
The radiation in her body was strong enough to leave a trace and potentially affect Jack, if she wasn’t careful about what she touched.
Coppa wasn’t about to take a chance, not after the surgeries and watching her own neck swell like a balloon after the radioactive iodine treatment kicked in.
Just ten days after Coppa was deemed safe to rejoin other people, her doctor said her body scans were completely clear. All of the cancer had disappeared.
Now, two years out, Coppa is an incredibly proud, relieved mother of her son and proudly displays the scar from her previous surgeries. She explained, “I consider it a badge that shows where I've been and what I am capable of overcoming. It's a reminder that I can look fear in the face—and beat it.”
