Risks of Surgery

[SPencak]

I'm hyperT & trying to educate myself on all treatment options. Does anyone know if you have surgery to remove thyroid (instead of RAI), is there still a risk of having thyroid storm? Is the recovery process easier w/ surgery? Do you get do start thyroid meds right away in order to avoid hypo-hell? Plz help.

[SPencak]

I know this is bad, but I have never even seen my labs. So I have no idea....but my Endo said I have mild hyperT. My next appt is Feb 15th, so I will make sure to get copies of all my labs then. I have had an ultrasound, uptake and scan done & none of those results were ever really discussed with me. Endo put me on 100mg daily of PTU. I am very new to all of this...began having horrible symptoms July 2007, and it took until December for me to be able to get an appt w/ Endo & to be dxd. Since I was dxd, I have been all over the internet & this website learning about Thyroid disease. Now I feel like I know enough to ask some educated questions at my next appt. So hopefully by next month I will have decided on a game plan & hope for the best.

[stella5349]

Good luck in your request to feel "normal"  Hats off to you for checking out all your options. How hyper T are you? I think that would be the question I would ask first. I was hyper storming in 2003. It was terrible. I questioned both RAI and surgery with my endo. He poo-pooed surgery and trusting him,   I had RAI. It has totally killed off my gland and meds is the only way for me to keep everything working.

In all cases, I believe the after effects (whether surgery or RAI), is what we move forward to.

Feeling normal or well is what we are all in search for. and that will take time no matter what.  I am still torn, looking back if I made the right decision to have RAI verses surgery. I guess I will say that with RAI  I still have the gland I was born with, so if down the road I still have surgery as an option option if necessary.  

Good Luck

[77bella]

I am feeling alot better than I have over the last few years even though I am not quite yet where I want to be, I still have to un-do the damange that has been done to my body ( being left untreated for so long took a toll on me ) but I am almost there, it has been the hardest hill that I ever had to climb in my life but since the surgery I finally feel like I am almost to the top of that hill..today in my state ( minnesota ) it is January 23rd and I am almost normal I have a appointment on January 28th to get my medication adjusted, I have to be patient because they adjust you slowly, I am just anxious to feel 100% normal, I am hoping this last adjustment will be all I need then I can finally be done with Drs for a long time I hope, and since my surgery on Dec 6th 2007 my scar is already flat, not raised and it barely hurts, and through all this I have not even had to take a pain pill, the hardest thing for me was sleeping after surgery don'nt get me wrong it did hurt, but not half as bad as I thought it would, after you decide on what you are going to do I wish you also a fast recovery ( Hug ) keep me posted on your progress I wish you well..

[darksuns]

I had a total thyroidectomy for cancer on December 11th of last year. Honestly, it was not nearly as bad as I had thought it would be!  My scar is still sore and it's pretty raised, but it's getting better every day. I was a trained singer before surgery and I haven't gotten my full range back, but they say it will come. I was under the impression that once you have your thyroid taken out, there is no worry of a thyroid storm because it is very hard to go hyper. The only way you'd go hyper is if your meds weren't right.
As far as that "back to normal" feeling? I am in constant search of that feeling. At the moment, I was taken off my Synthroid to prepare for RAI treament. So, i'm cold, I've gained weight, I'm depressed, and I have a fog in my head. I can't wait until this is all over!!!!! You should feel proud of yourself for being so dilligent in your quest for knowledge! Too many people just say,"Whatever you say doc." I think you'll make a decision, do what's best for you, and be so much the better! :)

[SPencak]

How long did it take for you to feel "back to normal" after your surgery on Dec 6th?

[77bella]

I have just recently had the surgery ( Dec 6th ) and already the scar which is about 4 inches is just a real fine line I have had the whole thyroid removed when the scar lightens up a little ( it is still new ) I will barely be able to see it, and if you want you can always put a little make-up on it, just feeling normal again is worth everything, I also had a lot of worries too on what to do, and if I had to do it over again I would'nt change anything....

[steven777]

I've just had a hemithyroidectomy. The size of my scar is about 2 inches. I don't think it'll be much more for full thyroidectony -- in my case they managed to pull out a tumour that was larger than an egg. Like me (32 yrs old) you're still too young to have many wrinkles but the consultant told me the position of the scar is where many people develop a wrinkle anyway. Also, I've been told that you can buy creams that make lighten the scar a bit. I don't use these myself, but I suppose some women may feel differently. As with any surgery there is a slight risk of producing a Keloid scar but it seems to me that your health should really be the priority here.

[SPencak]

Thanks for your information. I'm so sorry about your sister, I'm sure that was hard for you. The chance of getting thyroid storm is very scary to me & it seems like there is less of a chance of getting T-storm if you have surgery vs RAI. I was wondering...how big is the scar from your surgery? I am 30y/o female & work full-time. I am worried about what the scar will look like if I decide on surgery, since I will not be able to take too much time off work.

[77bella]

I also was hyper thyroid and I had a total thyrodectomy on Dec 6th of last month, that was the choice I made, the recovery is quicker I was out of the hospitol the next day with-out even taking a pain pill and my thyroid was double the normal size, don't get me wrong you will experience some pain if you did'nt you would not be human, you more than likely feel great as soon as it is out then you will drag a bit until they adjust your medication usally right away depending on how fast your thyroid levels come down, and if I had to make the choice again to whether or not to have the surgery I would still chose the surgery, I myself wanted it out, to never deal with it again but that was my choice... it does'nt have to be yours, on the subject of thyroid storm I lost my sister to a thyrotoxic storm in Feb "2005" she did not have a surgery or Rai hers was left unteated and with any surgery risks can occur, if you have surgery in mind check out your surgeons credentials on how often he does this kind of surgery and his success rate that will help ease your mind, I wish you all the best and keep us informed on your progress...

[ifupleze]

I believe once your thyroid is removed, you will  never go hyper again, just hypo and will have to be on meds the rest of your life.   I have not experienced TT or RAI but there are a great deal of others here that have, so just keep checking back.  There will be someone else who can answer your question.