Editor's note: In December, the Post Register followed Publisher Roger Plothow through treatment for thyroid cancer, tracking discovery, treatment and realizations of cancer. Today is the final look at the journey that is cancer.

Last fall, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I was immediately reassured that the cancer was mild and curable, particularly since mine was in a very early stage.

And so it was. Good doctors found and removed my cancer. I remain under the care of another good physician, Dr. Carl Vance, who specializes in postsurgical treatment of thyroid cancer.

So, that's that, right?

Wrong.

When I was diagnosed with cancer, I had one thought - get rid of it. Once it's gone, though, there's more to the story.

For example, I ingested 206 millicuries of radioactive iodine about five weeks after my surgery to ensure all the cancer was wiped out. It seems to have worked - a full-body scan after the treatment showed all the iodine had gathered in my salivary glands, thyroid bed (where my thyroid used to be) and my nasal passages. That usually means that no cancer escaped my thyroid to other parts of my body.

The treatment also made me nauseated, severely altered my taste for months, left me drained of energy, made my salivary glands tender and gave me a bloody nose for weeks.

Beyond the radiation, Dr. Vance has been "over-replacing" my thyroid hormone, leaving me hyperthyroid. It's intended to help ensure against a recurrence of the cancer.

Both of these treatments are somewhat controversial. In some other parts of the country, patients with my cancer will have a portion or the entire thyroid surgically removed, but will not undergo the radioiodine treatment or the over-replacement of thyroid hormone. I agreed with Dr. Vance's aggressive approach.

But being hyperthyroid has side effects. My nerves are literally and figuratively a jangly mess. At one point, I had such a spectacular emotional meltdown that my wife contemplated calling an ambulance. I'm much better now, given some time and the help of an antidepressant (sorry, Tom Cruise - if you don't like it, you deal with cancer and hyperthyroidism).

There are other side effects, from tingling sensations in my nerves to insomnia.

Despite that, more than five months since my diagnosis, I'm feeling more or less like my old self. I'm playing tennis at my pre-cancer level (mediocre) and have a semblance of perspective and sense of humor.

My little skirmish with mild cancer has not made me an expert on life-threatening illnesses by any means. But if there's a moral to this story, it would be that there's more to dealing with serious health problems than just attacking the disease itself.

In short, it's not just about survival, it's about the quality of our lives if we either beat a disease or must learn to live with it. We all know people who have life-threatening illnesses. Know this - once they've "survived" the initial illness, their struggles are very likely just beginning. In one way or another, their lives have been forever changed.

They'd probably want you to know that.