# Newbie here post total thyroidectomy with a question



## Donna67 (Aug 9, 2012)

Hello,

A couple of years ago I was diagnosed with Graves disease by a fluke..never had any symptoms whatsover but was very, very hyper when labs were drawn. Decided to have the total thyroidectomy and had that done two years ago. Since then, have been having blood drawn to check levels every three or six months (on 125 mg levothyroxine). Have been slightly hypo but not terrible. Most recent blood drawn 2 weeks ago showed TSH ok but t3 and t4 were elevated and now have gone from being hypo back to being hyper again. I am still feeling perfectly fine with no symptoms. The doc lowered my dosage of meds and will need to have an ultrasound done in 3 months to see if "thyroid growing back". I did not have radiation after the surgery and I completely trust my doctor who says it is rare but not unheard of for this to happen. My question is, how common is it and has any one had this happen to them? If so, was a second surgery necessary and how was the recovery from that? Any input you can give me would be greatly appreciated!


----------



## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

I don't believe it is very common, but thyroid surgery almost always "leaves behind" thyroid cells, so it can and does happen.


----------



## Donna67 (Aug 9, 2012)

Well..I guess if something uncommon was going to happen, it would definately happen to me  Thank you for your quick response


----------



## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Yeah, it's rare, but not unheard of. I think in most cases, assuming the entire thyroid or a big portion of it has not grown back, RAI is used to kill off the bit that grew back instead of surgery.


----------

