New Delhi, Sept. 21 -- On a humid August morning in Mumbai, 34-year-old Anjali Upadhye, a media executive, walked out of her endocrinologist's office with a folder of test results pressed tightly to her chest. She had just been told that the swelling in her neck was thyroid cancer. Before she could process the word cancer, the doctor quickly added, "Don't worry, this is the good cancer."

The reassurance was meant kindly. After all, thyroid cancer boasts one of the highest survival rates among malignancies. But as Upadhye would discover, that phrase 'good cancer' would haunt her long after her surgery, radioactive iodine therapy, and the start of lifelong hormone replacement. Whenever she voiced her exhaustion, mood swings, or the constan...