# total thyroidectomy in four days



## justmethatsall

My total thyroidectomy is in four days. I'm trying to stay calm but getting scared and nervous. I would love to have more prayers coming my way. Love to you all!

I will definitely post at some time after surgery.

Glo


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## webster2

I am sending thoughts & prayers for you. Try not to stress, I know easier said than done but it is not a terrible surgery.


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## Octavia

Sending prayers as requested. Best wishes. :hugs:


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## joplin1975

I don't pray, but I'll keep you in my thoughts.  It will be over before you know it!


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## Ihmsa40

Prayers!!!! I have a consult on Monday so I don't have anything in stone yet but I can definately sympathize with you!!!


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## jenny v

Honestly, it's a pretty easy surgery, but make sure you let the anesthesiologist know if you get nauseous easily. I had a harder time with the anesthesia than I did recovering from the surgery!


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## justmethatsall

Ihmsa40.........thank you........Ill be waiting to hear how your consult went. Is it a consult for surgery?

jennyv........thanks...yes I do need to talk to the anesthesiologist because I had a laparoscopy years ago and I was vomiting for the whole day of the surgery and into the night from the anesthesia. They kept me in the hospital because of that. I think my surgeon said they also have a patch to put behind the ear. Was I supposed to talk to the anesthesiologist already? or is that the day of surgery?

I feel so great getting all these responses. Makes me less scared!


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## Ihmsa40

justmethatsall - I had a CT scan and the doctor says my thyroid is "pretty big" and he wants to see me so I can see the scan myself and we can discuss what I need to do now. I am assuming it will be surgery but I don't know for sure.

Why are you having a TT? Just wondering - like to compare stories.


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## justmethatsall

I was diagnosed with graves disease at least 15 years ago and had been on anti thyroid meds ever since. Also had mild thyroid eye disease at that time. I was very hyperactive thyroid at that time and very sick with it. Through the years I had a couple storms..............not fun at all. This time around...........it came back with a vengeance. Since July I have a huge goiter that I didn't have before..........hard to swallow eat breathe and sleep and my thyroid eye disease has gotten really bad. I was not getting better this time with the anti thyroid medicine only worse. But finally my tsh had budged but all of a sudden gone in the opposite direction. Now I am hypo. I never thought I would have to have it removed. I was always told that at some time it would eventually burn itself out and then I would go on the thyroid hormone. No such luck. I was waiting for that to happen but it never did.

Are you having symptoms? Have you been sick? You can always ask me anything. I like to compare too. Sometimes it really helps to know you are not alone.

Glo


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## webster2

Wow, you have had more than one storm? Yikes, one about did me in.


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## justmethatsall

Oh Webster2........aren't they just the worst. I am sure that I could have very easily died each time! I hope to avoid this during surgery by taking the potassium iodide for ten days before. I am in my 7th day now with the potassium iodide. Although now that I am hypo I don't know if we are still susceptible to a storm or not during surgery. Do you know?


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## Scanders

I've had two eye surgeries for TED. I got really, really nauseous after the first one. I told the anesthesiologist about it when he met with me the day of the second surgery, and he put the scopalamine patch on then. It worked--no nausea! The surgeons also said they would worry about storm with elevated thyroid hormone levels, but even so, my FT3 was mildly elevated before the second surgery, and they all (surgeon, endo) felt there was not a risk of storm at that point. Hope that helps! And sorry you've had such a rocky journey. Prayers your way!


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## justmethatsall

Scanders,

Wow....what did you have done for the TED?

Another Wow! I am so glad to hear the patch worked.

Thanks again for the prayers

Is everything alright with you? Do you still have your thyroid?

Glo


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## webster2

I am pretty sure if you are now hypo, you are not in any danger of a storm. I was hyper before surgery and did not even experience much of a thyroid dump after. It was nice to feel calm again. Good luck to you!


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## justmethatsall

I'm so glad the surgery is over! The sore throat is so bad though. Very hard to swallow anything even water. The surgery was 10/13. Does anyone know how long I will have this horrible sore throat? I will post some pictures of my thyroid/goiter when I am feeling better. I have some terrible brusing down into my chest aea. The surgeon said he will e-mail me some of the pictures.

Thank you all for helping me through this!

Glo


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## vicksay

Ok I just had My thyroid totally removed, Im not gonna lie It Hurts,It wouldnt have been so Bad but they disregaurded That Morphine Gives me a head ache, So they started me on Dalada and Phenegran which made it so much Better. It made me get Motivated, I can move my Neck, voice soulds the same.When I went in to surgrey I was crying well they gave me some super Incouragement in the vein , So that all went Away, I am 18 hours out of surgrey and feeling great now. I will be praying for you all.


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## vicksay

Drink something warm after surgrey it helps a lot


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## justmethatsall

Today is 2 days after surgery.Very hard to swallow. I cant seem to bring some stuff up from my chest (phlegm I guess) I am drinking the hot tea.

The first day wasn't to bad for me but the second day is harder.

I find that if I put my head all the way down towards my chest I can swallow easier.

Vicksay.........so glad you went through with it. I was afraid you were going to cancel.

I am taking the tums as advised by the surgeon. Having some small spasms in my hands and arms.

Soreness in my chest area.


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## joplin1975

That's normal -- the phlegm and congested feeling. The respiratory therapist sent me home with one of those....um,things? that I was suppose to blow into every half hour or so, so get me to take deep breaths.

Have you tried straws? I couldn't drink without them.


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## justmethatsall

Hey Joplin1975.....Yes I have one of those thingys too. I am glad to hear that the phlegm and congested feeling is normal.

Sometimes I use the straws.

The warm tea helps to soothe.


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## jenny v

Yeah, the sore throat and phlegm can last a few days. It's from the breathing tube used during surgery--if yours had a vocal chord monitor, it's a little bigger than a normal tube and it can really irritate the throat. I had bad coughing spells for a few days after surgery while my body was trying to clear out the phlegm. Gross, but needs to come out.


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## justmethatsall

Thanks Jenny v.

I had a terrible coughing spell today. I was so scared I was going to ruin something. I thought it would never end.

I only had a tiny bit come up even though I could hear it in there.

I have this other weird thing going on. I get this hard ache for just a few seconds before it leaves. Its actually hard to tell where it is..........either right below where the goiter was or down further in my diaphragm. I cant seem to pinpoint exactly where its coming from. Then sometimes after it I have like a burp.

Anyone have this???


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## vicksay

Im feeling better everyday, They didnt give me the Pipe thing to blow on , Dont know why, But I sure have couphed a lot. I only took 2 pain pills because they made me talk out of my head. I take tylenol and motrin. Mostly a bad sore throat and feeling tired. I can eat goo and swallow good. My Scare looks thick right now. I was very afraid of having the surgery but I have done well nothing to be so scared of.

Prayers for all


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## jenny v

I remember that pipe thing! I could not get the little ball in that thing high enough to please the nurses the entire time I was in the hospital. I actually took it home with me and I keep it on my bookshelf as a kind of surgery trophy, lol.


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## webster2

I used straws and drank a lot of ice water. I had one of those "things" and used it as directed. No problems with phlegm. Best to you!


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## Ihmsa40

Great to hear how all these turned out! Mine is scheduled for December 10 so I have a lot of anxious waiting...I hope it gets here faster than I think....I feel so terrible!!!


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## justmethatsall

Ihmsa40....so sorry to hear that you are feeling so bad. I guess your test showed that you needed it out huh? I am doing ok from the surgery itself. It has been 13 days since I had it. The swallowing has definitely improved from the first few days and the pressure feeling I get right below the incision on a hard area is not there all the time. My eyes started to feel better from the thyroid eye disease for a couple days until I started going hyper AGAIN. Now my eyes are horrible again and I have palps and faster heartrate and weak legs and just feeling lousy again. Got my endos girl on the phone and he lowered my dosage from what the surgeon had put me on (100 synthroid) to 75. Ive been on that dosage for 6 days now and just waiting to see if I feel a difference. Also had depression the day after surgery for about a week or so (which is very unlike me) Still have it a little but not as much now.

What are your symptoms? Hang in there. I know that is easier said than done!

Glo


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## Andros

Sending prayers for you. Hope all goes well and that we hear from you soon!

Hugs,


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## justmethatsall

Thank you Andros...........I appreciate that so much. I had my follow up with the surgeon yesterday. The pathology report showed one small spot of cancer but it was so inside the thyroid that none of it was anywhere near the edges and since they took the whole thyroid there is nothing I need to do!!!!!!!!!! arty0048: Whew!

They took the tapes off and I was a little startled to see the scar but I know it will settle down and smooth out...........just takes time.

Hugs back at cha!

Glo


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## joplin1975

Good, good, good!

The scar will get better. Just give it time.

Make sure they monitor your thyroglobulin and TgAB levels, long term.


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## justmethatsall

Thank you Joplin....Yay!

Is the thyroglobulin the tsi?? and what is The TgAB? I know I have had the tsi because I keep pushing for that one but not sure about the TgAB.


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## joplin1975

Nope, thyroglobulin is a protein produced by thyroid cells. With thyroid cancer, the production increases, so it's used as a tumor marker. Those of us who have had RAI have undetectable levels of Tg. You'll have a higher level, but if you track it over time, it will provide an extra level of monitoring to make sure you don't have one of those rare, flukey cases where there are errant thyroid cancer cells remaining, even though your original tumor was encapsulated.

When you test Tg, you should always test TgAB. If you have high levels of TgAB, it makes the Tg test unreliable.


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## justmethatsall

Thank you Joplin........it wasn't encapsulated. Here is what it says:

Thyroid, 51 grams thyroidectomy;

Incidental papillary thyroid microcarcinoma, follicular variant, 0.2 cm,

unencapsulated but well demarcated without intralymphatic psammoma bodies in non tumoral thyroid paraenchyma without angioinvasion. Tumor is confined to the tyroid gland, see synoptic summary.

Diffuse follicular and papillary hyperplasia with chronic thyroiditis consistent with clinical history of Graves hyperthyroidism with associated multifocal reactive nuclear atypia.

Two lymph nodes, no tumor seen (0/2) see synoptic summary.


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## Andros

Snoopy Dance








http://www.nhlcyberfamily.org/special/happydance.htm

What absolutely awesome news!! Prayers answered and I can't help but think how lucky you are to have had this found early on.

Doin' the Snoop Dance!


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## justmethatsall

arty0006:Yay!...........Thank you Andros!


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