total thyroidectomy

Hi Everyone....

I was wondering if you have had a total thyroidectomy would you mind telling me about your situation?  Why did you decide to have it done?  What was your symptoms before surgery?  What was recovery like?  How do you feel after?

I am having surgery on the 26th of January.

Thanks a bunch!

"crazycat woman"

[Totie]

I had one done almost 15 yrs ago. Mine was due to graves/hyper/goiter. My symptoms got pretty bad because of the mis diagnosis. My doctor at the time thought I was depressed.

I had the weight loss, jittery, insomnia, rapid heart rate (140 sitting down relaxing). It was not fun at all. Only reason it was diagnosed finally was due to the goiter that was pretty visible by the time it was discovered.

The surgery went great. I did not have any hoarsenss or soarness after about a week. The scar is not visible at all. Surgeon did a great job. I was tired at first and gained some weight, but once they finally got my dosage correct I was back to normal.Please patient on the dosage, it took a year to get mine where it needed to be. Try to keep your TSH level at 1.0 . I was doing great for 10 yrs and on 200 mcg of Synthroid.

Now for the last 2-3 yrs my dosages have been decreased/increased due to going hyper/hypo. Doctors can not figure it out, but it is very important to always go for your blood work.

Infact i just started a dosage change 3 weeks ago, I was hyper they lowered it,  now I am hypo so they increased it.

Good luck, I think you will do just fine. Make sure your doctor is someone you are comfortable with and will listen to your symptoms.

Best of luck...

[nissah46]

I had my TT 2 1/2 years ago due to thyroid cancer.  I really didn't have symptoms that I recognized, but felt like there was something in my throat. Well there was.There were 5 growths on my thyroid, the largest was 4.8 cm.  My surgery was good, although I lost my voice for 6 weeks. I was kept in hospital for 1 week instead of 2 nights due to calcium issues.  During surgery I lost 2 parathyroids and the remaining 2 were "stunned".  They have not resumed working, so I take calcium and VitD. The synthroid dosage takes a while to get just right.  I now do blood tests every 3 months to monitor it. I felt fine shortly after the surgery.  You will do fine as well.Good luck.
Trish

[Solaris715]

Hi there,

I am supposed to have one on February the 5th. I am looking forward to you coming here and writing it was super easy and fine! My thoughts are with you!

Solaris :)