Should I have goiter surgery?

[ddisthe1]

Today I went to one ENT surgeon and will go to another on Aug 7th. I am not happy with taking out my thyroid because it is functional but it has been enlarged with one bug nodule on my left lobe for a few years now and is feeling like its compressing. All my levels of hormones have been normal all along but now because of its size is competing for space in my throat. I was just told I have a small nodule on my vocal cord making my voice raspy and the ENT doesn’t think my goiter is contributing to my voice change. They all have been saying for years to remove the goiter because of the size even though there isn’t any cancer present (did all the tests) but I have chosen to monitor it with sonograms and leave it until now. I have some symptoms recently complicating my breathing and swallowing. I am at a crossroad and can't ignore this because I feel it in my throat now but because my TSH, T3 and T4 levels are normal I don't want to remove it. Not sure if I should remove the entire thyroid or half of it if I decide to have the surgery because there is no way of telling what will happen in the future. I am scared to change up my hormone levels with meds because I am also in Menopause. I am not on any meds for anything and feel great but my throat is tight now with the goiter being over 4 cm. I have another surgeon appt. and will have to make a decision within a few weeks. Anyone care to share their surgery story of partial or total removal of their thyroid with me? Anyone successful in shrinking a large goiter? Please feel free to advise. I really feel like I am dammed if I do and dammed if I don’t. Thanks.

[ddisthe1]

Thanks for sharing your story. I do not have hashimotos or anything else other than a gioter with my TSH, T3 and T4  levels being normal. I now have a very small nodule on my right vocal cord which is the real reason my voice is changing as per the ENT. Will see another doctor next week to discuss everything.

[RachealMarie23]

If you do decide to have the left side removed, there is a good chance another goiter will form on the right side. It is a risk you take. In 2005 I had a very large goiter on the left side of my thyroid and had it removed. The surgeon decided to leave the healthy tissue on the right side since I was only 25 at the time. In 2009 nodules started forming on the right side. During the 4 years with only half of my thyroid, my TSH, T3 & T4 levels were fine. Up until this year we monitored the growth until it was too large and bothersome. It gave me discomfort and I waited as long as I could.
I am now 5 weeks 4 days in recovery from total thyroidectomy.
I have to say the first 3 weeks were rough as hell but I am feeling pretty normal now. I am on 100 mcg of Levothyroxine "Synthroid". I take it like clockwork every morning at 7am.
I have noticed some weight gain and dryer skin, but other than that I feel ok. Oh, on top of the surgery June 13, I had my right ovary removed due to a very large dermoid cyst - exactly 3 months before the thyroid surgery. My hormones were so out of whack!
Most of the life stories I have read on living without a thyroid have all been so negative. I was terrified. But I want you to know that it is not like that for everyone! There is hope of living a normal and happy life! It's all in your attitude & how well you take care of yourself! =)
God bless & I hope all goes well!

[michellemb101]

I had a goiter removed from the left side and my surgeon left the other side in with a couple small nodules that have grown and are now the size of a grapefruit if not bigger...Im terrified to have it out...how big did yours get?

[Sarahjogs]

Hi michellemb101,

This is an old thread, and a lot of the original posters are no longer active on the forum.  You may get a better response if you ask a new question.

That being said, I'm so sorry you may need to have the rest of your thyroid removed.   Do you know for sure the rest needs to be removed?  If the nodules are very large, they can impact other neck structures (like your trachea or esophagus), and it might be causing pain or breathing problems, which would be a good reason to get it removed.  

I had my thyroid removed in two surgeries in 2o18, and while it's not been great adjusting to taking thyroid hormone for me, there was a lot of inflammation associated with my multinodular goiter, and after the second surgery my neck feels a whole lot better.  (I have chronic Hashimoto's, so maybe my thyroid was more inflamed than other people's.)

Good luck - lots of people on this forum have had thyroid surgeries and would be willing to give advice if you wanted to ask a new question.

[Brucergoldberg]

In my opinion - if you have hashimotos - have the whole thing taken out.   You will probably need to have the rest of it removed at some point.   I debated about having mine half taken out or whole.  I had a sonogram done that showed the destruction and what was causing all my pain.   Then i debated half or whole over and over......

then i went back to the dr. 3 months later my original debate started and she did another sonogram that showed more destruction on the "good side"  so just in the 3 months it showed that there was even more destruction.

The surgery is painless for the most part, quick recovery.  You might be able to balance easier with hormones with the whole thing gone as well instead of having the partially diseased thyroid battling with the hormone replacement.   Good vs evil LOL

also fyi - there is another board that is specific to thyroid surgery if you have interest in interacting with others who went through what you (and i ) went through specific to your debate, shoot me a PM and ill send you over there to pick some brains.

[ddisthe1]

Thank you for your response. My reports says it is a large complex nodule involving most of the left lobe measuring 4.2 x 1.9 x 2.9 and has not changed since prior studies done each year dating back from 2009. No other discrete thyroid nodules or intrathyroidal calcifications. Should I ask the ENT about PEI treatment? I need to look it up before I go to get a better understanding of what it is. Do you think based on that explaination it should be removed?

[898_1]

Colloid filled nodules are treated with PEI, however if nodule is calcified PEI will not help.