# New and home from surgery



## JessO (Jun 16, 2014)

I had my thyroid removed (total) after being diagnosed graves. I have a daughter at home and want more kids so felt rai was not the route for me. I had to stay in the hospital for 4 nights because my calcium was not coming up. I was able to keep all parathyroids.

My questions: will my calcium return to normal?
Will my parathyroids be permanently damaged?

I'm scared/nervous/anxious about my life post op. I've heard weight gain and continued hair loss. I just want to get regulated so I can work on having more kids and to just feel and look good.


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## JessO (Jun 16, 2014)

I should say this was just June 11 I had my TT.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

It's hard to say. Most parathyroids eventually "wake up" but there's certainly no guarantee. Over the course of the four days in the hospital, did your labs show any increase in calcium? That would be a good sign.

The post-op med regulation thing can be a frustrating and time-consuming process, but you will get there. Make sure they are testing TSH, free t4, and free t3 every time until you are stable and feel well. I'm feeling excellent 2.5 years after surgery, but I won't lie...there were times when I was a fuller figured woman with bald spots. You can avoid that by making sure those free numbers are in a good spot.


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## JessO (Jun 16, 2014)

Yes my levels did come up. I can still feel tingles here and there. From what I have read my case doesn't happen that often. Most people are in and out. I hope I'm like my mom who's only changed meds 3 times and feels good.

What about more children? Is there a waiting period? Is it more difficult?

I feel like I've ruined my life.


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## JessO (Jun 16, 2014)

Preop I was 9.2 24 hrs after surgery 6.4 and then after 3 more nights they discharged me at 7.5. I'm on vit d and calcium pills plus citricol. Sorry not sure how you spell.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Oh no, you haven't ruined you life. Your life would have been ruined if you kept that awful gland. You want to be healthy and happy and, frankly, that's just not possible with a diseased gland.

People have perfectly normal, happy pregnancies post-TT. You should wait until your levels stabilize, just because under or over medication can certainly be dangerous for a pregnancy. However, as long as your doctor is not a TSH-worshipper and is open to thinking about different kinds of medication and dosing protocols, there's no reason this should be an exceptionally long period of time.

I appreciate you want a kiddo ASAP, but right now, focus on you, recovery, and getting those parathryoids to wake up. The rest will very quickly fall into place.


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## JessO (Jun 16, 2014)

Thank you. I'm very alone here. My mom was graves at 35, 22 years ago and other than that my aunt by marriage had cancer. My mom did radiation therapy so we have no comparison. Glad to have found this board. If they won't test my frees too then I'll find someone else. I already feel they dismiss me as the crazy girl who asks too many questions but I have to live with this so I need to know everything I can.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

You are very welcome. It's tough after surgery...your hormones are all over the map, which means there's lots of emotional swings. Not to mention you just had major surgery and your parathyroid are not cooperating. But I promise it does get better. Hang in there.


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## JessO (Jun 16, 2014)

I was on another thyroid board for a few months and they were all for very natural and avoid radiation or therapy at all costs. It's a baby board so why I was there since I have a 9 mo old and was going to start trying right away once ob said ok. Not much positive there so wish I would have come here first.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Well, I'm all for natural methods to healing (broadly defined) but I'm also all for knowing the limits of various treatments. Western medicine has limits, so does the natural approach. At the end of the day, nothing natural was going to cure me and, if you had Grave's severe enough to need surgery (or RAI), then I don't think anything natural would have helped you either. You want to have another baby and that means you need your hormones as stable as possible. This was the best option for you.


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## jers52 (Mar 5, 2014)

Yes, it does take some time. Remember you just had surgery , so give yourself a bit of time to fully recover. I am now three month post op and finally feel like myself is 'almost there' - saw the doc today and another tweak to the dosages to fight the fatigue a bit more - and orders to move more myself...  but that I know anyway! Remember that your 9 month old is such a blessing,and enjoy that a bit more and soon your body will be back on track without that wacked out thyroid making crazy fluctuations for you! All the best!


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## JessO (Jun 16, 2014)

Thank you. It's so frustrating because my calcium levels keep dropping. Dr says take more calcium. Even cancer patients I talk to never has this problem. My dr is a board certified surgeon so I need to resign myself to believe he knows waft he's doing. I seriously feel that I would not have done this knowing this. I probably would have tried meds for awhile. Oh nothing's perfect and damn hormones are the worst.


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Hormones can make you crazy! You are barely a week out from a major surgery, so you have to have patience and give your body a chance to heal. I lost a parathyroid during my surgery but my calcium levels never dropped out of range, but there have been a few people here who had big calcium issues after surgery. Off the top of my head, almost all had normal levels return, but sometimes it took weeks to months for their parathyroids to wake back up and do their jobs.


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## JessO (Jun 16, 2014)

That's reassuring. It's just scary because I feel really good but this part of my body just isn't cooperating. Only being 30 and fairly healthy you just don't expect things to go awry. I know they took 6 large lymph nodes at the same time, all non cancerous so I have that to be very grateful. I'm ready to workout and feel alive you know?


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

From what I read from here and other thyroid boards, it can take more than two weeks for things to "wake back up." I very, very much get wanting to get back to normal. The hardest thing about anything thyroid is that all this stuff takes so dang long. Our own Andros said it would take 18 months to fully recover from surgery...frankly, at the time I thought she was nuts. But, ya know what? At almost 18 months on the nose, I finally felt like me again. Hang in there!


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