News broke earlier this week that former US Attorney General Pam Bondi is receiving treatment for thyroid cancer.
Bondi said she learned of the diagnosis not long after leaving her role in Donald Trump’s administration.
On Friday, she appeared in public with a bandage on her neck following treatment.
She was photographed as she arrived to give testimony in a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, where she faced questions about the federal government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.
The 60-year-old told CNN she had surgery several weeks ago and continues to undergo treatment, adding that she was ‘doing well’.
According to the Mayo Clinic, thyroid cancer is ‘is a growth of cells that starts in the thyroid’, and when it’s detected early, it is often treatable.
Common signs can include swollen lymph nodes in the neck, a lump in the neck, voice changes, difficulty swallowing or breathing, and a cough that isn’t connected to a cold.
In the US, thyroid cancer reportedly makes up about 2.1 percent of all newly diagnosed cancer cases.
Mayo Clinic notes that treatment varies depending on the type and stage of thyroid cancer, as well as a patient’s general health.
In many cases, treatment involves surgery to remove some or all of the thyroid gland.
“The surgeon often leaves small rims of thyroid tissue around the parathyroid glands to reduce the risk of damage to the parathyroid glands, which help regulate the calcium levels in your blood,” Mayo Clinic states of the operation.
Surgeons typically make an incision in the lower part of the neck to reach the thyroid. It is often positioned along a natural skin crease—similar to where Bondi’s bandage was placed—so that any scar is less noticeable once healed.
Another procedure, a thyroid lobotomy, may be advised for those with ‘ slow-growing thyroid cancer in one part of the thyroid’ where there is no cancer in the lymph node; in that operation, only one half of the thyroid is removed.
If cancer has spread to the lymph node, surgeons may also remove affected lymph nodes.
For more advanced or aggressive cases, treatment can include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or targeted drug therapy.
Following surgery, some patients are prescribed thyroid hormone therapy pills to replace hormones normally produced by the thyroid.