Bleeding

[celestinemandy]

Hi, i had a half thyroidectomy last tuesday 1st April, which i thought went well. No drains or problems. Given a weeks appointment to return for removal of stitches. Stitches removed tuesday, which i was dreading jus like the operation. The doctor tucked away at the wire and wow the stitches were removed. I was amazed, no pain. The wound was nice and tidy, and i started to accept the fact i may be left with a little scar. Well the following day i didnt feel too good. My wound felt a little sore, but i got over it. Then all a suden a felt a burning sensation in my neck, and the wound started to blow up, with what i thought was air. First i thought i had been stung, then i realsied it was getting bigger. This sent me into panic, as my daughter and son who is two were downstairs. I came running down in a state holding my neck. My daughter rung the ambulance. Meanwhile my neck was stinging, burning, and increasing in size, causing me very much pain and anxiety. The ambulance crew didnt have a clue what was going on, and gave me a ice pack, which made it worse. I was rushed into A&E. All they kept saying was i was anxious, breathe, breathe, you are making this worse. Well i can tell you when your neck is blowing up, and feels like it is about too burst i think you may somehow be in a panic. Eventually a surgeon came to see me, and he had to re-open my wound, which was allready bursting to release the pressure. It turns out my neck wound was collecting blood. This helped for a bit, then it happened again. I was so scared that i was going to die. I couldnt breathe properly or talk. Thank god my friend turned up who totally expressed my voice as i could not. I was taken for a emergency operation to stop the bleeding. After i was told that one of the stitches may have been stitched through a vessel, which upon removal encapsulated it self, untill a movement made it pop. Which i do remember a funny sensation before the burning sensation came on. Yesterday another doctor told me the opposite. This has left me feeling very scared, and anxious to sleep or move at times. I am in bed right now as i write this. I have wrote a lot here, and i hope i havent been to intense. I dont know what i want to be honest. Is the surgeon to blame? The whole thing has traumatized me.

[celestinemandy]

Thankfully my thyroid levels are fine, and i do not have to take medication. I did do some research which talked off certain chemicals, and vegatables which can effect thyroid levels. Its pretty scarey that things we take for granted such as tooth paste can play fatal roles within our health, such as the case of thyroid levels. It has changed the way i look at life, and made me cautious into what is actually in every day products we use, and buy. Im very much interested in alternative health, however this has motivated me into taking a closer look.

[898]

In order to make remaining thyroid lobe work efficiently, you may need to minimize ingestion of the certain substances presently to be believed responsible for “inhibiting” of the normal thyroid functions:
Use low fluoride or fluoride-free toothpaste
If perchlorate is present in the tap water, let it stand about a minute before the drinking (the sunlight and oxygen causing the break down of the perchlorates);
Make sure the other medicine you are taking does not contain lithium;
The flame retardant of the new upholstery or carpet is believed to impair the thyroid function, so make sure you are not breathing fumes.
Doing all of this will hopefully prevent over stimulation of remaining lobe and will minimize the dose of thyroid hormone supplement if such will be prescribed to you

[celestinemandy]

I hope i dont either. And thanks i shall pass on this information to others. I would not wish any one to suffer or go through such an awful experience.

[898]

Hopefully you will not need to do it again, but I have mentioned in several posts, that many clinics are using ethanol injection into the benign thyroid nodule to reduce its size. This method is very effective against the cysts and large solid nodules.

[celestinemandy]

It certainly is no light-weight matter. It was awful feeling trapped inside your body, and no one understanding what you are going through. Then to be told you have anxiety, and i get you a paper bag felt frustrating when i had a pulsating bulging neck ready to explode. Sorry to hear you were treated rudely too.

[celestinemandy]

Thank you for your post. I had surgery because of a large nodule growth. If i knew what i do now i may have made a different decision.

[Thypatient]

Thank you for sharing.  So sorry you had to go through that.  It's sounds absolutely frightening.  This kind of surgery is by no means a light-weight matter, is it?

I had to go to the ER twice after my TT/parathyroid surgery for tetany and one time they at first said I was just having anxiety.  They gave me a shot, then told me it was for my panic attack.  I was treated rudely.  Then the surgeon showed up and things changed.  I guess he wasn't happy with the shot or what he was seeing.  He was the one who told me to meet him there.  I got there first and noone believed me.  Med stuff is hard to deal with, don't feel alone in your experience.

I hope you continue to be okay.  Keep the phone numbers close though.  Also, please keep checking in here.

[898]

I cannot compare yours experince to mine, but similar thing happened to me after the wisdom tooth surgical extraction 10 years ago.The bleeding happend during the night time while I was asleep, so it was not much fun either. (But I was able to stop the bleeding myself- thank to the medical training I received long long ago). The dentist who extracted the tooth was 8 months pregnant and  instead of sitting in home she messed up with my tooth.
I do not know why you were operated, but sometimes the nodule attaches itself to the major blood vessel, making post-op bleeding possible, especially in people older then 30 y.o.
This is why in my PERSONAL opinion I am not a big fan of thyroid surgery unless it is for a cancer.
Wishing you speedy recovery!!

[celestinemandy]

Not sure how you reply on here, but here goes. I felt angry when the second doctor tied to say the opposite, espcialy when the surgeon felt very strongly that it was due to the stitches. I felt grateful to be alive. I  still feel very anxious, and paranoid. And i have a heavy 2yr old who loves his cuddles from his mummy. I know you cant lift for a while, but im scared if the anxiety taking over.

[MKlacza]

Gosh.. I am so sorry for your experience! I just love how the medical profession says its anxiety and shutup!!! Its terrible!!

Question.. Are you better now or are you still feeling that way?