Thyroid coming out June 27

[danie17075rm]

I met with the surgeon.  I went over every symptom I have had.  He said I can very well have a pituitary problem, but my endo needs to deal with that, as it is not what he specializes in.  The doctor was nice.  It's a teaching hospital so I also had to deal with students.  He said that even though I might have a pituitary problem, most of my tests and symptoms are completely consistent with hashimoto's.  I am positive for 2 types of antibodies (that was new information).  He said that the thyroid has to come out, even if I have other problems.  My thyroid is causing too many issues and he said it felt all rubbery.  He actually made all the med students come in and feel my thyroid as it is apparently the "perfect" text book hashimoto's thyroid.  You can even feel the edges of mine. YAY, at least my thyroid is good for something lol.  I said I'm glad it can be of use to someone and they said, "hey we will get to see it when it comes out too" lol.  He said that radiation would not have been a good choice for me.  My hashimotos is so bad that different parts of the thyroid uptake the iodine at different rates.  He said this would have been really bad for me, and surgery is definitely the best option.  He can just remove it, and I will finally have a steady dose of thyroid hormones.  He also said that I should not be too expectant that this will cure everything.  He said it plays havoc on the nervous system, and sometimes it doesn't get entirely better.  He is going to examine the parathyroids while he is in there, but he really wants me to try and raise the vitamin D before surgery.  They had an opening June 1 for surgery, but I really wanted some time to take this in.  My surgery is schedule for June 27.  A few weeks before that I have a pre-op appointment and a few weeks after surgery my post-op appointment.  He said since I have an autoimmune disease, getting rid of the thyroid doesn't always help the autoimmune problem.  UGH.  I'm kind of scared that it won't make me feel better after what he said, but I do know it will give me a constant flow of hormone rather than too much or too little.  SO, that is the news.  The thyroid is going bye bye.  I don't know how to feel about it yet. At least I have some time to think. I hope this is the right decision!

[danie17075rm]

Totie-  You can live a life, which is more than I can do now!  There is hope.  Thanks for sharing.

Bruce- I am on a beta blocker, and though it does help, I still cannot live a life and I still bounce between hypo and hyper.  All a beta blocker does is slow down the heart for when it races.  It doesn't stop the thyroid from misbehaving (at least not in my case).

[Brucergoldberg]

heres what thyroid manager says about removing it with hashis.  Not very much on it but still:

Surgery has been used as a method of therapy. This treatment, of course, removes the goiter but usually results in hypothyroidism. We believe that it is not indicated unless significant pain, cosmetic, or pressure symptoms remain after a fair trial of thyroid therapy, and probably steroid therapy, but is appropriate in some cases. Among patients with postpartum thyroid dysfunction, the most common type is destructive thyrotoxicosis and simple symptomatic treatment, using beta-adrenergic--antagonists, is usually sufficient(109). In the case of postpartum hypothyroidism, replacement with a submaximal dose of T3 is useful to relieve symptoms more quickly and to predict spontaneous recovery which is detected by an increase of T4.

[Totie]

I did okay with my TT; I did not have the hasi though, graves/hyper/toxic goiter.

I did gain weight at first because you go hypo. It took a year to get dosage correct.

It did not alter my life in anyway, still work, mother, wife, sister, friend. The TT was done about 16yrs ago. I do have other health issues, but not one related to thyroid as far as any doctor can tell.

[danie17075rm]

Thank you for the comment.  I'd love to hear the long-timers stories =).  

[goolarra]

I agree that people satisfied with their treatment do not frequent forums like this.  Someone will occasionally post a success story, but that often gets lost in the shuffle pretty fast.  Some of us long-timers are successes, too, but we don't exactly tell our story every week!  I haven't had a TT, but my neighbor did at about the same time I was diagnosed with Hashi's.  They had suspected thyroid cancer in her case, and pathology confirmed that.  She's doing wonderfully and never seemed to have a problem adjusting to meds, etc.  Good luck with your surgery.

[Brucergoldberg]

Can you do me a favor and hurry up to get your thyroid removed so i can see if it works?

LOL