Marine Prévost has spent nearly half her life living with a diagnosis that people often dismiss — thyroid cancer. She still remembers her doctor telling her, “It’s the easy cancer,” when she was 19 and alone in an exam room after a biopsy of a lump in her neck.
Fifteen years later, she’s still fighting it. Prévost’s journey started with what she thought was a strange bump. “I had a lump on the side of my neck,” she said. “I got a biopsy. It came back as thyroid cancer.”
By March 2011, her thyroid was removed. “I got a radioactive iodine treatment that same year,” she said. “It never went away, and it got worse in 2013.”
Another round of radioactive iodine followed. Her bloodwork stabilized for a while.
“It was still showing in my bloodwork,” she said. “It was pretty stable for a couple years, and then it got worse.”
She’s had surgeries in 2020 and 2023. Last year, she learned she was resistant to iodine, the treatment she had already endured twice.
“I couldn’t do that treatment anymore,” she said. “So currently, I’m undergoing radiation.”
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Radiation has brought its own challenges. Prévost described the molded mask technicians created for her face, neck and clavicle — a rigid yellow shell that locks her in place for each session. “It’s pretty claustrophobic,” she said. “It’s really hard to swallow because that mask is so hard and it’s literally so tight to my skin.”
She closes her eyes and imagines she’s somewhere else while lasers target the cancer. “Mine is targeted, so I didn’t want the full neck radiation because there are so many side effects. I’m really tired. My neck hurts. I can’t feel half of my neck.”
Still, the 35-year-old doctor of audiology pushes herself to maintain her routine. “I’m still going to work. I’m trying to force myself to go to the gym. Trying to act like I’m not going through radiation, but it’s tough.”
According to the American Thyroid Association, the disease is relatively uncommon compared to other cancers. In 2021, about 44,000 people received a new diagnosis of thyroid cancer, compared to over 280,000 with breast cancer and over 150,000 with colon cancer.
However, despite this, approximately 2,000 patients die of thyroid cancer each year.
Her support system, she said, is what keeps her grounded. Prévost grew up far from Arizona — born in Paris, raised in Mauritius and Zimbabwe — and moved to the United States in 2008. Her family still lives overseas.
“It’s OK, though,” she said. “I have my own family. I literally have the best support system, which is my fiancé.”
Her fiancé, Don Hernandez, owns the award-winning That One Tattoo Parlor in Glendale. As part of Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month, Hernandez is hosting a Thyroid Cancer Awareness Flash Tattoo benefit at his shop, 5826 W. Olive Ave., from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, for the Barrow Head & Neck Cancer Program.
“This is bigger than simply running a tattoo special,” Hernandez said. “Our goal is to raise money, bring more awareness to thyroid cancer, and show support for other individuals and families who are currently going through the same fight. Not a lot of people know about it.”
He wants people to understand that Prévost’s experience isn’t rare, but misunderstood.
“People call it the easy cancer,” he said. “Well, unfortunately, my lady has been diagnosed since 2011, and she’s still fighting it.”
Prévost hopes the benefit helps people take thyroid symptoms seriously — and stay consistent with follow‑ups.
“That’s really important,” she said.
Despite everything, she tries to live as normally as she can. “I try to take it one day at a time,” she said. “I honestly don’t even know if this radiation’s going to work. But if it does, great. If it doesn’t, we’ll just go from there.”
