My mother has thyroid problems - possibly thyroid cancer, she has a history of thyroid problems in her family - all lived in the same area.

My parents had five daughters.  Between 2003-2004 four of us were diagnosed with papillary carcinoma (TPC), the other with precancerous nodules.  Because of the family thyroid problems I had both of my children tested - my daughter (16 at the time) also had "atypical" precancerous thyroid nodules; my son was (and still is) okay.

Since the original cancer diagnoses two of us - my youngest sister and I - have had TPC recurrences and required I-131 treatment.  My youngest sister required three of the I-131 treatments.

All of my sisters and I grew up drinking well water in a small town in Northern Utah - one county too far North for "downwinder syndrome" and all of us are too young for direct exposure to the radioactive fallout.  My daughter did not grow up in that town.

We all submitted out blood for genetic testing about five years ago.  To date, they can find no hereditary link between our cancers.  We have all of the doctors baffled.

Now we all wonder if there is radiation in the well water or we were exposed to toxins growing up on a farm.