# More questions than a 4-year old...



## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

Someone asked me yesterday if my surgery was today, I said no, it's next Friday. For some reason, I suddenly feel a tremendous sense of panic. I thought I was doing well, I told myself I personally know at least a dozen women who have done wonderfully well after having their thyroids removed plus so many here have shared their stories. I was O.K. until my neighbor said that and now I'm almost panicky.

Linty just mentioned something that has me worried. She said her surgery has been postponed because her T4 is too high. Unless that was checked and I know nothing about it with my pre-admittance lab work on September 1 then my last lab tests would have been on July 6.

If I am having my thyroid totally removed on September 23, will they do lab tests that morning before surgery?

Since I am having my thyroid removed, is there any real urgency to what my test numbers are at the time of surgery?

Will my lab numbers (assuming they were not tested on 9/1/11) affect my surgery in any way?

I'm fixing to run out of my prescription for Methimazole tomorrow and thought (since I was having surgery in just a few days), I'd just not refill it. Is that prudent or does it matter?

My 7/6/11 lab results indicate:

T4, Free (Direct) 1.15 - ng/dL - (0.82 - 1.77)


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

I DClaire said:


> Someone asked me yesterday if my surgery was today, I said no, it's next Friday. For some reason, I suddenly feel a tremendous sense of panic. I thought I was doing well, I told myself I personally know at least a dozen women who have done wonderfully well after having their thyroids removed plus so many here have shared their stories. I was O.K. until my neighbor said that and now I'm almost panicky.
> 
> Linty just mentioned something that has me worried. She said her surgery has been postponed because her T4 is too high. Unless that was checked and I know nothing about it with my pre-admittance lab work on September 1 then my last lab tests would have been on July 6.
> 
> ...


It does matter about your Methimazole as you want to keep that thyroxine down. I suggest you call your doctor about this matter.

I'll tell you what.................................; let's round up the whole gang here, rent a bus and come on over to rally round on the 23rd.!! How does that sound?

It's now the weekend but truly, I think you need to give your doc a call about these few concerns that you have to allay your fears.

And what you are experiencing is most natural. No one that I know of is happy to have surgery but thank the Good Lord we can. What a miracle that in a few short months you are going to be feeling great and getting your life back again!


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

I didn't have any labs run prior to my surgery, but I was in a different boat.

However, my endo and surgeon are also treating my sister-in-law's sister-in-law (if you can follow that) who has Grave's. In her case, I know my surgeon wanted labs run sometime the week before surgery. It was my understanding, for what she told me, that he did not like running them the morning or day the of when the surgery was to take place. I'm not sure if there was a medical reason or if it was more about scheduling. She has, for the record, had her surgery cancelled twice. The first time because she was having an awful allergic reaction to her meds and the second because she went off her beta blockers against medical advice and the surgeon refused to operate until her cardiac issues were straightened out.


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

I DClaire said:


> Someone asked me yesterday if my surgery was today, I said no, it's next Friday. For some reason, I suddenly feel a tremendous sense of panic. I thought I was doing well, I told myself I personally know at least a dozen women who have done wonderfully well after having their thyroids removed plus so many here have shared their stories. I was O.K. until my neighbor said that and now I'm almost panicky.
> 
> Linty just mentioned something that has me worried. She said her surgery has been postponed because her T4 is too high. Unless that was checked and I know nothing about it with my pre-admittance lab work on September 1 then my last lab tests would have been on July 6.
> 
> ...


I can relate to what you are going through. About a week before, I kept asking myself...do I really need this done? Do I want his done? Surgery can be scary stuff. I knew the answer but I think it is part of the process.

I had labs run about 10 days before because initially, the doctor had said they wanted one of the numbers down before they operated. There weren't any changes in the labs after taking meth for 6 or 8 weeks. I was told to take the meth and beta blocker on the day of surgery. The doctor & the nurse both made a point to tell me that, so maybe it would be wise to check with yours?

I am all for the bus trip. We woke up to 40 fri#[email protected] degrees, and I can't find any long pants that will fit my fat arse, so I am freezing.

We're here for you.  :hugs:


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

Hi guys,

We had a major power outage all afternoon. I'm just now getting back online. I'll get the Methimazole refilled and keep taking it BUT I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that that drug makes me feel horrible. A couple of times the endocrinologist has had me stay off it for a couple of weeks prior to tests and I'd actually feel relatively well.

You know, ever since the minute I was told I was hyperthyroid I've said one thing - I could easily believe it if I was hypothyroid but, other than the heart symptoms, nothing about the way I feel seems like hyperthyroidism and it never has.

If they hold me up until my cardiac issues are under control then I'll never have surgery. I've been on blood pressure drugs and Atenolol for 2 years (first Benazapril and Atenolol then now Metoprolol/Toprol XL) and I can honestly say my heart rate has never stabilized and I have palpitations as bad today as the day I was originally diagnosed. I've had all the regular heart tests twice and the cardiologist swears my heart is strong; that my cardiac issues should resolve themselves once I get my thyroid under control...which is the #1 reason I'm having surgery. Methimazole and Metoprolol make me feel so totally exhausted that I have to take them at bedtime and I still feel lousy the following day. I know it's one or both drugs because the only time I feel halfway normal is at night, before I take my medicines.

I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired. I wish the pre-admittance lab tests had been done closer to my surgery. They were done almost a month ahead of the actual surgery date. It took me a month to get a copy of my July lab results, the chances of getting any reliable information regarding my prescriptions next week are probably slim to none.

Andros, I'm really too tired to ask a reasonable question but why do you say it's important to keep the thyroxin down? I don't understand the process - if the thyroid and nodules are removed, what part does the thyroxin play?

Another question. I read somewhere this week that the thyroid is approximately the size of a quarter. That was a surprise! I didn't think it was large but I thought it was bigger than that.


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## Linty (Aug 25, 2011)

IDclaire, i am also sooooo scared of this op, but at least i know i will feel much better (i really hope) and that i will be able to have a long awaited pinkfoot.
Surgeon said he can operate immediately, but want my t4 level to drop a bit. My endo put me on meds but only 10mg, he said i must take 40mg and for the last 7 days a "quick" med, that only lasted for few days to get my levels down. My levels was much higher than before the meds.

Dont stress (easier said than done i'm getting shivers thinking about it) but all will be fine.


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## Linty (Aug 25, 2011)

Ohhh and i can relate to the tiredness, gosh its so annoying to be tired all the time, hope that will be fine after the op also.


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

For the past 2-3 years, EVERYTIME someone has asked me (as we all ask our friends) how I'm doing, I ALWAYS say I'm tired. For awhile I'd try to put on a happy face and say I was O.K. but I eventually got tired of pretending. I feel like a negative old beached whale!

As long as I can remember I always had more energy than any other woman I knew and I did things most women wouldn't consider doing. Now, I think back on all that, and I cry. I hope I can get some of that energy and stamina back but I don't know.

I suppose we'll find out soon enough. I've also gotten fixated on the first thing my EN&T doctor said two years ago when I mentioned to him that I'd been diagnosed with thyroid issues and the first endocrinologist I saw flippantly said she didn't know but what she'd just have the whole thing "yanked out". The EN&T doctor said thyroid surgery was like "opening Pandora's Box".

I'm in such a total funk and unsure whether my opinions and perceptions of things are valid or not but I can't say that, so far, I've gotten any dependable answers about anything that's wrong with me. Maybe I am crazy. It just doesn't seem to make sense or be logical to me for thyroid patients to so often get so many mixed signals and have to try to wade through all the if, ands and buts, or find important questions online that no local healthcare professionals have ever mentioned and I find myself thinking getting follow-up treatment/medication will be ever bit as frustrating as what I've already been through.

It's never been anything like this when my husband needed heart surgery - every "i" was dotted and every "t" crossed; NOTHING was left up to him to seek information about or decide what his best option might be.

Look at every thyroid forum-style website and social networking sites like Facebook - everywhere members are congregated to discuss thyroid issues the same level of confusion and frustration exists. It doesn't matter whether they're asking about diagnosis, tests, surgery, medications, etc., it's as though just about everyone is in the same rickety old boat. Some/many eventually seem to find the right treatment, etc., but really look around and observe how many don't...and some search for years, not to mention the number (particularly among the elderly) whose thyroid problems are discovered during autopsies.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Just think... two Fridays from now, you'll be able to say "my surgery was last week...I'm on the road to recovery."

I hear (and see) what you are saying about all the confusion & frustration out there around thyroid issues. I may be drawing unwarranted conclusions, but a pattern I believe I have seen is that there is more stability with the people who have gone ahead and had thyroidectomy surgery. It seems like at that point, your body isn't fighting you anymore, and it's just ("just") a matter of finding that correct level of replacement hormone. Maybe I'm being too simplistic about it...I don't know.

You have thought this through for months under a non-panic situation. Now that you can see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, and now that you're in a bit of a panic, do you really want to back out? Or do you want to rely on the "self" who made the decision when not panicked?

I'm sorry I don't know the significance of the lab tests prior to surgery...can't attempt to help with that one.

YOU WILL GET THROUGH THIS, I DCLAIRE!!!!! YOU WILL GET THROUGH THIS!!! YOU WILL GET THROUGH THIS!!!!!


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

Octavia said:


> Just think... two Fridays from now, you'll be able to say "my surgery was last week...I'm on the road to recovery."
> 
> I hear (and see) what you are saying about all the confusion & frustration out there around thyroid issues. I may be drawing unwarranted conclusions, but a pattern I believe I have seen is that there is more stability with the people who have gone ahead and had thyroidectomy surgery. It seems like at that point, your body isn't fighting you anymore, and it's just ("just") a matter of finding that correct level of replacement hormone. Maybe I'm being too simplistic about it...I don't know.
> 
> ...


I've developed a new illness, Octavia - months of thyroid fog have given me compulsive obsessive paranoid thyroid schizophrenia, with accompanying physician-phobia. All I really think about is my thyroid. :confused0006: Dang, what if I have the thing removed and then I miss it? The way I feel some days I feel like I should have my neck exorcised!

I really don't know what I'm going to think about when my thyroid hormone levels are stabilized.

I keep daydreaming of waking-up without palpitations. Andros commented to kitkat that our bodies get used to something and learn to manage; I've had palpitations day and night for over two years.

Y'all should just not pay any attention to me! I'm full of courage and determination one minute and lower than a snake's belly the next. I honestly do believe another six months of this and I would be in a mental institution _or prison. _

In retrospect, I honestly do wish I'd had surgery the week my hyperthyroid issues were diagnosed. I would have saved myself more than two years of stress and the outcome would have been the same. Looking back, I don't know what I thought I was doing other than following doctors' orders for 6-month tests, etc. Every six months I swallowed the radioactive capsules. It wouldn't surprise me one iota if all that hasn't made my nodules multiply and grow.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

I DClaire said:


> I've developed a new illness, Octavia - months of thyroid fog have given me compulsive obsessive paranoid thyroid schizophrenia, with accompanying physician-phobia.


Well, luckily, they've come up with the perfect treatment for this newly-identified illness, and it just so happens to be the one you're getting! How lucky is THAT!!!!????

You are one day closer!

:hugs:

BTW - I love the expression "lower than a snakes belly" - I've never heard that before, and it's a great descriptor! (Just don't stay there, of course!)


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## CLRRN (Jun 22, 2011)

I DClaire....

Hang in there...it's a process. My thryoid is out (8/16 and 8/23) and I'm preparing for the RAI and THEN I will get stabilized on meds. In the meantime I use the excuse, "sorry I forgot, I had my thyroid out" or I pull the good old "cancer card". LOL I know, my humor is lame but it's how I'm trying to get through this and I have to laugh and be sarcastic.

Stay in touch!!!

Chris


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Linty said:


> Ohhh and i can relate to the tiredness, gosh its so annoying to be tired all the time, hope that will be fine after the op also.


Linty; do you have a surgery date?


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## Linty (Aug 25, 2011)

Andros, the 26 / 27 this mth.:confused0068:I feel like this smiley at times.

I said if only the tiredness and palpitations is gone i would be happy.

Idclaire, i also feel the one moment great about it and the nxt "what did you say" lower that the snake belly:aim17:


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

CLRRN said:


> I DClaire....
> 
> Hang in there...it's a process. My thryoid is out (8/16 and 8/23) and I'm preparing for the RAI and THEN I will get stabilized on meds. In the meantime I use the excuse, "sorry I forgot, I had my thyroid out" or I pull the good old "cancer card". LOL I know, my humor is lame but it's how I'm trying to get through this and I have to laugh and be sarcastic.


Not lame at all! Funny! 

When you get your RAI, you really will become a "card carrying member" of the cancer club... they'll give you a card that says you received a radioactive iodine treatment for cancer, and some details about it. This is in case you activate any radioactivity alarms at places like airports, federal buildings, etc. I believe they told me to keep my card with me for a year.

I have flown several times since my RAI, and one trip was pretty shortly after my treatment (2 weeks I think), but to my disappointment, no alarms went off. Where's the fun in that??? :winking0001:


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Linty said:


> Andros, the 26 / 27 this mth.:confused0068:I feel like this smiley at times.
> 
> I said if only the tiredness and palpitations is gone i would be happy.
> 
> Idclaire, i also feel the one moment great about it and the nxt "what did you say" lower that the snake belly:aim17:


Thanks; posting it under the upcoming surgeries!


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## SnoodMama (Jan 11, 2011)

I can totally relate!!! This final weekend before the surgery is like I'm bouncing around from one emotion to the next. For an hour I'll be all confident and happy about the surgery and want to get it over with. The next minute I'm convinced I have cancer and it has spread throughout my body and I need to pick out hymns for the funeral. Then I go back to being confident and calm. Then I suddenly get this panic feeling of "I don't really have to have this surgery, I could always cancel it and just live with the choking feeling in my throat." It is like Space Mountain at Disnelyand. I'm twisting and turning from one emotion to the next. 2 days to go for me. My cold seems to have gotten better so I'm thinking it is going to still happen on Tuesday.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

SnoodMama said:


> I can totally relate!!! This final weekend before the surgery is like I'm bouncing around from one emotion to the next. For an hour I'll be all confident and happy about the surgery and want to get it over with. The next minute I'm convinced I have cancer and it has spread throughout my body and I need to pick out hymns for the funeral. Then I go back to being confident and calm. Then I suddenly get this panic feeling of "I don't really have to have this surgery, I could always cancel it and just live with the choking feeling in my throat." It is like Space Mountain at Disnelyand. I'm twisting and turning from one emotion to the next. 2 days to go for me. My cold seems to have gotten better so I'm thinking it is going to still happen on Tuesday.


It's got to happen Tuesday; you cannot keep on going through this. You will be a basket case.

Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

Hang tough, you are a trooper and you will bounce right back!


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

SnoodMama said:


> I can totally relate!!! This final weekend before the surgery is like I'm bouncing around from one emotion to the next. For an hour I'll be all confident and happy about the surgery and want to get it over with. The next minute I'm convinced I have cancer and it has spread throughout my body and I need to pick out hymns for the funeral. Then I go back to being confident and calm. Then I suddenly get this panic feeling of "I don't really have to have this surgery, I could always cancel it and just live with the choking feeling in my throat." It is like Space Mountain at Disnelyand. I'm twisting and turning from one emotion to the next. 2 days to go for me. My cold seems to have gotten better so I'm thinking it is going to still happen on Tuesday.


As God is my witness, this morning I was lost in my drowsy daydreaming mode and got to thinking I want to be buried in my blue crepe slacks outfit. Should I tell somebody or just leave the outfit hanging on my closet door? Gheez!

Yesterday I thought I had the anxiety problem whipped - instead of thinking I was going to the hospital for surgery I'd tell myself I was going to the hospital to go to sleep and that seemed to work for awhile...then, the next thing I knew, I was planning my funeral. Lordy! :anim_63:


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

Andros said:


> It's got to happen Tuesday; you cannot keep on going through this. You will be a basket case.
> 
> Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.
> 
> Hang tough, you are a trooper and you will bounce right back!


I was a basket case before I ever got sick!! :anim_63:


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

I DClaire said:


> As God is my witness, this morning I was lost in my drowsy daydreaming mode and got to thinking I want to be buried in my blue crepe slacks outfit. Should I tell somebody or just leave the outfit hanging on my closet door? Gheez!
> 
> Yesterday I thought I had the anxiety problem whipped - instead of thinking I was going to the hospital for surgery I'd tell myself I was going to the hospital to go to sleep and that seemed to work for awhile...then, the next thing I knew, I was planning my funeral. Lordy! :anim_63:


Maybe just mention to your significant other... "did I ever mention that this is my favorite outfit?" 

But that won't happen anyway, because you have to come back here and let us all know how the surgery went!

Remember that Gloria Gaynor song "I will Survive"? Time to start singing that to yourself! hugs4


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## CLRRN (Jun 22, 2011)

Funny Story: We went to Lowes today and I get tired walking around so Mike suggested that I stay in one place and he will circle around me and get what he needed. While standing there (at the end of the aisle w/cart) this guy walked over and said "are you ok? lost? you look like your in daze" I just laughed because that about summed it up...I kindly responded, no, i'm fine, just waiting for my him (while pointing towards mike).

Gotta love it!!!


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

Octavia said:


> Maybe just mention to your significant other... "did I ever mention that this is my favorite outfit?"
> 
> But that won't happen anyway, because you have to come back here and let us all know how the surgery went!
> 
> Remember that Gloria Gaynor song "I will Survive"? Time to start singing that to yourself! hugs4


I think I'm going to be O.K. now. Something happened tonight that really put everything in its true perspective.

I'd been missing one of my neighbors (lives a half block away) but her husband is senior minister of a church here and they frequently travel on mission trips so I figured she tell me they'd been off somewhere like that.

She said their little grandson had been born 3 months premature with a life threatening heart problem that necessitated him being airlifted to another state in the middle of the night for emergency heart surgery. His heart was the size of a pecan.

He has had three surgeries - something is wrong with his aorta but he is expected to be O.K., but will need future surgeries. His young parents' jobs are being threatened by company layoffs and their medical bills are unbelievable. Yet, the family is upbeat, 100% positive, they feel blessed that their precious baby boy is alive (also was a high risk pregnancy) and doing well and hopeful everything will be fine.

We're financially secure, we have excellent insurance, I believe I have the best surgeon in town AND I've got to stop worrying and believe that everything is going to be fine for me, too!! If that little boy can survive what he's had to endure, surely I can handle an outpatient surgery!!


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## SnoodMama (Jan 11, 2011)

Thinking I might put "I Will Survive" on my iPod to listen to as I lie awake all night in the noisy, bright hospital after my surgery. I can at least laugh and think of you guys.


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## SnoodMama (Jan 11, 2011)

Hey, it could be a good bye song to my thyroid gland!


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## SnoodMama (Jan 11, 2011)

First I was afraid
I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live
without you by my side
But I spent so many nights
thinking how you did me wrong
I grew strong
I learned how to carry on
and so you're back
from outer space
I just walked in to find you here
with that sad look upon your face
I should have changed my stupid lock
I should have made you leave your key
If I had known for just one second
you'd be back to bother me

Go on now go walk out the door
just turn around now
'cause you're not welcome anymore
weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye
you think I'd crumble
you think I'd lay down and die
Oh no, not I
I will survive
as long as i know how to love
I know I will stay alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my love to give
and I'll survive
I will survive

It took all the strength I had
not to fall apart
kept trying hard to mend
the pieces of my broken heart
and I spent oh so many nights
just feeling sorry for myself
I used to cry
Now I hold my head up high
and you see me
somebody new
I'm not that chained up little person
still in love with you
and so you felt like dropping in
and just expect me to be free
now I'm saving all my loving
for someone who's loving me


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

SnoodMama said:


> First I was afraid
> I was petrified
> Kept thinking I could never live
> without you by my side
> ...


P-R-E-T-T-Y G-O-O-D!!! :anim_63: I'll hole my head up high as soon as it doesn't hurt to do so!!


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

I DClaire said:


> I think I'm going to be O.K. now. Something happened tonight that really put everything in its true perspective.
> 
> I'd been missing one of my neighbors (lives a half block away) but her husband is senior minister of a church here and they frequently travel on mission trips so I figured she tell me they'd been off somewhere like that.
> 
> ...


Amen, amen!! It is true; all we have to do is look beyond ourselves and we find so much to be grateful for no matter what troubles we have for they seem miniscule by comparison.

And you know we are all praying for you, keeping you in our thoughts, sending White Light and good Karma etc.. Whatever we do, we "do it!" LOL!!


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

I DClaire said:


> I think I'm going to be O.K. now. Something happened tonight that really put everything in its true perspective.
> 
> We're financially secure, we have excellent insurance, I believe I have the best surgeon in town AND I've got to stop worrying and believe that everything is going to be fine for me, too!! If that little boy can survive what he's had to endure, surely I can handle an outpatient surgery!!


I just want to say...

YOU GO GIRL!!!!! I am so glad to hear this!


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