Save Your Thyroid with Jen

Save Your Thyroid with Jen Podcaster, Founder of Save Your Thyroid https://linktr.ee/itsme_jenagain

05/07/2026

Here's something every thyroid patient deserves to understand before agreeing to surgery.

The nodule is the problem. But surgery can't just remove the nodule. Because of how the thyroid gland is vascularized, surgeons generally have to remove at least half the gland — taking a significant amount of perfectly healthy, functioning thyroid tissue along with it.

The result? Anywhere from 20 to 30% — sometimes higher — of patients who undergo non-urgent surgery for a non-cancerous nodule end up on thyroid hormone replacement for the rest of their life.

Dr. Ian Orozco puts it plainly: "The normal surrounding thyroid tissue is an innocent bystander."

RFA treats the nodule at its source while leaving the healthy tissue intact. That's not a minor distinction. That's a life-altering one.

Episode 118 of Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem — Stop Unnecessary Surgery: Dr. Ian Orozco Launches The NEW Thyroid Institute of Utah.

05/06/2026

If your insurance company has told you that thyroid RFA is "investigational" — that is not true. And now you have the receipts.

✅ The FDA has cleared the procedure
✅ CMS created a specific billing code for thyroid RFA
✅ That code went into effect January 1, 2025

When Jen said it on camera, Dr. Ian Orozco's response was immediate: "That was a lie. That was a lie."

If you're on the phone with your insurance company and they use the word "investigational," you can correct them directly and confidently. And if your doctor is on your side, having them push back from their end too makes a real difference.
"We've got to get them to stop saying that because it's just not true."

Share this post with anyone who has been told RFA isn't covered. Episode 118 of Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem — Stop Unnecessary Surgery: Dr. Ian Orozco Launches The NEW Thyroid Institute of Utah.

05/05/2026

Here's a question worth asking before you accept any opinion about your thyroid nodule treatment:

Has this doctor ever performed RFA?

Dr. Ian Orozco makes a point that every thyroid patient needs to hear. A surgeon who has never done RFA — or has done only a handful of cases — simply cannot have a fully informed conversation with you about whether you're a good candidate, what to expect, or whether it's the right procedure for your specific situation.

It goes the other way too. A general endocrinologist who doesn't specialize in thyroid disease isn't going to have the same depth of knowledge as someone who does this all day, every day.

"Each individual case and person really needs to be treated like an individual case and person."

That's the standard. Episode 118 of Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem — Stop Unnecessary Surgery: Dr. Ian Orozco Launches The NEW Thyroid Institute of Utah.

This Week on Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem: Dr. Ian Orozco's Story"I want as few people as possible to have unn...
05/04/2026

This Week on Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem: Dr. Ian Orozco's Story

"I want as few people as possible to have unnecessary thyroid surgeries."

That's Dr. Ian Orozco — interventional endocrinologist and the driving force behind the newly reimagined Thyroid Institute of Utah in Provo. And it's not just a mission statement. It's the reason he walked away from institutional medicine to build something entirely his own.

For five years, Dr. Orozco has been one of the most respected RFA providers in the Intermountain West. But he kept running into the same wall — the inability to control every aspect of the patient experience, from the first phone call to post-procedure follow-up care. So he did what patient advocates do: he built the environment his patients deserved.

TOMORROW on Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem, Dr. Orozco joins me to talk about this bold move — and what it means for thyroid patients across the country who are looking for an alternative to the operating room.

Why this episode is a must-listen:
👉 A new era of thyroid care — interventional endocrinologists are changing everything, and Dr. Orozco is leading the charge in Utah
👉 Why a thyroid-only practice matters — when thyroid is ALL you do, every part of the patient experience changes
👉 The experience question — if you're getting on a plane for RFA, Dr. Orozco explains exactly what to look for in a provider
👉 When surgery IS the right answer — why the best RFA doctors maintain close relationships with surgeons, and how that protects you

Episode drops TOMORROW at saveyourthyroidwithjen.com!
👉 Episode: Stop Unnecessary Surgery: Dr. Ian Orozco Launches The NEW Thyroid Institute of Utah
👉 Podcast: Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem
👉 Find Dr. Orozco: Thyroid Institute of Utah, Provo, Utah

Three words that sum up the entire evolution of thyroid care.Dr. Jacques Gaudet has been saying it since residency — and...
05/02/2026

Three words that sum up the entire evolution of thyroid care.

Dr. Jacques Gaudet has been saying it since residency — and the science has been proving him right ever since. Thyroid nodules are incredibly common. And with something that common, the default should always lean toward the least aggressive option available.

That used to mean biopsy and watch. Today it means molecular diagnostics, active surveillance, and nonsurgical procedures like Radiofrequency Ablation that shrink nodules without touching a scalpel.

Less is more. And for thyroid patients, that philosophy is changing everything.
Episode 117 of Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem — Thyroid RFA in Louisiana: Dr. Jacques Gaudet on Saving Your Thyroid in Houma & Thibodaux.

This is the question that changed everything for Dr. Jacques Gaudet.Early in his career, he performed a technically perf...
05/01/2026

This is the question that changed everything for Dr. Jacques Gaudet.

Early in his career, he performed a technically perfect thyroid surgery. The pathology came back benign. The patient had no complications. By every measure, it was a success.

But he couldn't stop asking: what if we hadn't done anything? Would the patient have been okay anyway?

The honest answer was probably yes.

That question is what's driving the entire shift toward nonsurgical thyroid care — and it's why today, thanks to molecular diagnostics and procedures like RFA, fewer and fewer patients need surgery for benign nodules.

If you've been recommended thyroid surgery, it's worth asking the same question your surgeon should be asking. Episode 117 of Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem — Thyroid RFA in Louisiana: Dr. Jacques Gaudet on Saving Your Thyroid in Houma & Thibodaux.

This is what every thyroid patient deserves to hear from their doctor.Dr. Jacques Gaudet says it to every patient who si...
04/30/2026

This is what every thyroid patient deserves to hear from their doctor.

Dr. Jacques Gaudet says it to every patient who sits across from him — not as false comfort, but as a genuine commitment. Whether it's active surveillance, nonsurgical treatment, or surgery, there is always a path forward.

95% of thyroid nodules are benign. And even when they're not — thyroid cancer is one of the most treatable cancers there is. You are not alone in this, and you are not out of options.

Episode 117 of Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem — Thyroid RFA in Louisiana: Dr. Jacques Gaudet on Saving Your Thyroid in Houma & Thibodaux.

04/29/2026

Will we look back on decades of thyroid surgery for benign nodules as barbaric?
Jen raised that question in Episode 117 — and Dr. Jacques Gaudet's answer is worth sitting with.

Those surgeries weren't wrong. They weren't harmful. Surgeons were doing the best they could with limited diagnostic tools. A two centimeter nodule, no good way to tell if it was cancer or not — surgery was often the safest call available.

But Dr. Gaudet remembers doing technically perfect thyroid surgeries early in his career, getting the pathology back benign, and feeling a quiet frustration: "Did we help the patient? What if we hadn't done anything? The patient probably would have been okay too."

That question never left him. And today, with molecular diagnostics, active surveillance, and nonsurgical options like RFA, fewer and fewer patients need to answer it with a scar on their neck.

Episode 117 of Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem — Thyroid RFA in Louisiana: Dr. Jacques Gaudet on Saving Your Thyroid in Houma & Thibodaux.

04/28/2026

There's a reason not every ENT or surgeon is qualified to perform thyroid RFA — and Dr. Jacques Gaudet explains it better than anyone.

During the procedure, it's not enough to know approximately where the needle tip is. You need to see it definitively. And you need to see everything surrounding it — definitively — in real time.

That level of precision requires mastery of ultrasound that most providers simply don't have.

But Dr. Gaudet takes it one step further. His standard for thyroid care is being able to offer everything — biopsy, active surveillance, nonsurgical options, and surgery — all under one roof. Because when a patient sits across from him, he wants to be able to say: we can do this, or this, or this. Right here.

That's what comprehensive thyroid care looks like. Episode 117 of Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem — Thyroid RFA in Louisiana: Dr. Jacques Gaudet on Saving Your Thyroid in Houma & Thibodaux.

04/27/2026

This is the most memorable patient story from Episode 117 — and it's one you won't forget.

A young shrimper on the Gulf Coast. Brand new baby boy at home. Came in nervous about some small thyroid nodules. Turned out to be papillary carcinoma with metastatic adenopathy.

Dr. Jacques Gaudet looked him in the eye and said: "We're gonna win."
Not as false comfort. As fact. Papillary thyroid cancer is one of the most treatable cancers there is — and Dr. Gaudet knew it. The patient's response?

"As long as I'm alive, you never have to buy shrimp."

That was 12 years ago. He's doing perfectly fine. And Dr. Gaudet still hasn't bought shrimp.

95% of thyroid nodules are benign. And even when they're not — there is almost always a path forward. This episode is a reminder of that.

Episode 117 of Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem — Thyroid RFA in Louisiana: Dr. Jacques Gaudet on Saving Your Thyroid in Houma & Thibodaux.

04/26/2026

Here's a question worth asking any RFA provider: who performs your ultrasound?
Dr. Jacques Gaudet does every thyroid ultrasound himself — live, in the office, on every patient. His reasoning is straightforward: if he's the one making treatment decisions, he needs to be the one who 100% trusts what he sees.

"There's no better way to do that than to be the one putting the ultrasound probe on your neck and looking at the pictures live."

And when it comes to the RFA procedure itself? "You better be a good sonographer."
Ultrasound expertise isn't a bonus feature. It's the foundation of safe, accurate thyroid RFA — and it's one of the most important things to look for when choosing a provider.

This is from Episode 117 of Save Your Thyroid with Jennifer Holkem — Thyroid RFA in Louisiana: Dr. Jacques Gaudet on Saving Your Thyroid in Houma & Thibodaux.

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