Man Has Surgery for Rare Condition

An Oxnard man whose family carries a genetic mutation shared by only about seven families in the world was recovering Wednesday night from a 12-hour operation in Michigan, while his 22-month-old daughter is scheduled to undergo the same surgery today.

Steven Schroeder, 30, and his daughter, Chelsea, are having their thyroid glands removed by surgeon Ruth Decker. The Michigan surgeon has discovered a genetic link between medullary thyroid cancer--which Schroeder is fighting--and Hirschprung’s disease, an intestinal condition afflicting Chelsea and which killed her sister, Megan, in 1992.

During the surgery Wednesday, Schroeder also had to have some lymph nodes removed because the cancer had spread from his thyroid.

Those with the genetic mutation who also suffer from Hirschprung’s will automatically develop thyroid cancer unless their thyroid glands are removed at an early age, Decker said.

“I recommend they have it out by age 5 at the latest,” Decker said.

Chelsea is among the youngest carriers of the thyroid cancer gene to have the surgery, Decker said.

Because the gene was discovered in Schroeder and Chelsea, doctors are testing Schroeder’s five siblings and Chelsea’s cousins, all of whom have about a 50% chance of carrying the gene.

“It’s a little overwhelming because we just discovered Chelsea had the gene last week,” Schroeder said. “It’s better to know early, though, because the disease is completely curable if you remove the thyroid before it develops cancer. We’re thankful we could catch it early in Chelsea.”