Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Doug Davis has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. While I am not a medical expert on thyroid cancer, I do have some experience with the matter.

In my family, 4 siblings have had thyroid cancer, and I have 2 friends who have had it. All have recovered and have had no recurrance.

One common symptom in my family was a need to nap. Fatigue was overwhelming. Two of them had found small lumps.

All four had the same type of thyroid cancer (there are four types). While some thyroid cancers are hereditary, this one wasn't. In the last 30 to 40 years, cases of thyroid cancer in the US have doubled. We grew up in a very industrial neighborhood. Maybe this is the reason?

Recovery was not easy but compared to other cancers, it was less evasive. None of them had chemo. The first two just went for twice a year check ups for 5 years. The last two took a radioactive pill and had to be quarantined for a couple days. They also had body scans to make sure the cells were gone. They, too, have the twice a year check ups.

All of them now take thyroxin since they don't have thyroids anymore. They all said the worst problem after the operation was the inability to get their taste buds working properly. Food just tasted different for about a year after. That part would probably drive me up a tree.

So, based on this knowledge, I would say Doug Davis is most likely going to have quite a bright future ahead of him. Yes, all people are different, but thyroid cancer is rarely a death sentence. Good luck to Doug and his family.