# newbie - had TT on 20th October



## Catnap (Oct 20, 2011)

Hi there fellow thyroid challenged peeps ;-) 
I had a total thyroidectomy and central neck dissection 2 days ago. I had 1.4cm nodule on my thyroid. The biopsy said suspicious for papillary cancer but also that there were some features which suggested medullary. I was pretty freaked out at that having read some stats on medullary. I had a hell weekend waiting for my calcintonin results (high calcitonin is a strong marker for medullary) only to be told when i next saw the dr that the results would actually take 4 weeks! I can't describe the hell i went through wondering if I had a curable cancer like papillary or a more aggressive medullary, especially as I'd gone to a doctor like 8 years ago with a lump on my neck that I was told was a benign fatty lump (we still don't know if that was misdiagnosed or a different lump). I kept reading all the stuff about how medullary spreads quickly and once spreads is very hard to treat etc...
Anyways... a lovely endocrinologist chased up my calcintonin results and they were normal. This doesn't rule out medullary but makes it much much less likely. 
Surgeon did more u/s's and CT of my neck which was all very positive no obvious sign of spread. TT and neck dissection was the way to go.
They did frozen thingy but was inconclusive so now i'm back in the holding pattern waiting to find out if I have (had???) papillary or medullary cancer. Surgeon was very positive, said they removed lots of lymph nodes but to the naked eye no obvious pathology. Of course there could be microscopic spread but that will all come out with the full path report.
Now i'm trying to focus on getting over surgery. I just feel spaced out and jittery. No major pain, only when swallow. My legs feel heavy and calves a little sore. is this normal?? My notes say to watch out of tingling in fingers. I do have this but it's very mild and I think I often get tingling feelings. Not sure what to think... except maybe I should've stayed in hospital a bit longer??


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Catnap, welcome! Glad you got that junk out of there!!!!

I'm concerned about the tingling. You need to let your doc know right away. And in the meantime, start eating a few tums a few times a day. The tingling is likely because of low calcium due to damage to your parathyroids. They may recover, but in the meantime, it's critical that your body has enough calcium. That's very serious. Very.

Welcome to the forum!!!


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## nodakmom (Oct 15, 2011)

If you can, get some of those Viactive Calcium Chews and eat one at every meal. Hopefully that will help with the tingly feelings. Don't pressure yourself to do too much too soon. Let us know what you find out!


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## CLRRN (Jun 22, 2011)

Welcome....take a deep breath and try to relax 

I had tingling around my mouth and fingers and toes once I was discharged-take tums or some kind of calcium replacement. Just watch out for constipation (drink lots of fluids). I had similar symptoms-legs/calves heavy and spacey/jittery. Fluids, calcium. Like Octavia said, key a watch on the tingling....if it gets bad, you need to call doc or go to ER.

Keeping fingers crossed for a good path report and outcome!!

Chris


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## Catnap (Oct 20, 2011)

Thanks all for the advice. After futile conversations with the nurse at the hospital (apparently once you are discharged they really don't give a damn!) I called my surgeon on his mobile. He was really nice, especially considering it's Saturday! He advised to take some calcium but unless it gets really bad I can wait to get parathyroid and calcium checked on Monday when GP surgery open. The calcium tabs seem to be doing the trick (or the tingling was post anaesthesia and would have gone anyways.). I'll keep up the calcium and get my levels checked on Monday. They did test my blood twice before discharging but maybe there is some form of under-functioning going on.
Been feeling almost human for the last couple of hours


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Catnap said:


> Hi there fellow thyroid challenged peeps ;-)
> I had a total thyroidectomy and central neck dissection 2 days ago. I had 1.4cm nodule on my thyroid. The biopsy said suspicious for papillary cancer but also that there were some features which suggested medullary. I was pretty freaked out at that having read some stats on medullary. I had a hell weekend waiting for my calcintonin results (high calcitonin is a strong marker for medullary) only to be told when i next saw the dr that the results would actually take 4 weeks! I can't describe the hell i went through wondering if I had a curable cancer like papillary or a more aggressive medullary, especially as I'd gone to a doctor like 8 years ago with a lump on my neck that I was told was a benign fatty lump (we still don't know if that was misdiagnosed or a different lump). I kept reading all the stuff about how medullary spreads quickly and once spreads is very hard to treat etc...
> Anyways... a lovely endocrinologist chased up my calcintonin results and they were normal. This doesn't rule out medullary but makes it much much less likely.
> Surgeon did more u/s's and CT of my neck which was all very positive no obvious sign of spread. TT and neck dissection was the way to go.
> ...


Welcome to the board! I am so sorry for all that you have gone through here of late.

Are you home? How are you feeling and how is the incision site? So glad to hear your calcium is good.

Have you iced down; that helps a lot w/ the pain.

So glad you are here to share your experience and I do hope you pathology comes back good.


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## nodakmom (Oct 15, 2011)

Catnap said:


> Thanks all for the advice. After futile conversations with the nurse at the hospital (apparently once you are discharged they really don't give a damn!) I called my surgeon on his mobile. He was really nice, especially considering it's Saturday! He advised to take some calcium but unless it gets really bad I can wait to get parathyroid and calcium checked on Monday when GP surgery open. The calcium tabs seem to be doing the trick (or the tingling was post anaesthesia and would have gone anyways.). I'll keep up the calcium and get my levels checked on Monday. They did test my blood twice before discharging but maybe there is some form of under-functioning going on.
> Been feeling almost human for the last couple of hours


Glad you're feeling a little better! Keep up the calcium supps, hopefully that will end that tingling. My calcium dropped in the hospital to, not below the bottom limit but enough they kept me an extra half day to check me again. It did go up so they let me go. I've been taking 2-3 Viactive chews every day just in case, I figure it can't hurt. And they taste pretty darn good! lol


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