# Surgery on Monday, should I go ahead?



## aussie_44 (May 19, 2016)

Hi,

I am booked in to have a hemithyroidectomy next Monday and I am petrified and keep second guessing whether or not I am doing the right thing.

In January this year, I had a miscarriage at 9 weeks (first pregnancy), and shortly after that discovered a lump on the left hand side of my neck. My thyroid results have always come back as though I am in the normal range, however I seem to have a lot of symptoms for hypothyroidism. I have put on a significant amount of weight in the past two years (with no change to diet or exercise), I am constantly feeling exhausted, irritability, have muscle cramping, panic attacks, cold intolerance etc - all things I didn't have prior to this. The doctors keep telling me that my levels are in the normal range and that I am fine.

I have had ultrasounds done on the lump and it was discovered that I had a multinodular goitre between 3-4cm. Since then I have had a nuclear medicine test to see whether the goitre was hot or cold, it came back that it was hypofunctioning so I was sent to have a fine needle aspiration. This has come back as benign, however I was sent to an endocrinologist for a second opinion. He has done his own tests and tells me that while the results have come back benign, there is still a chance that it is malignant and given the size, it needs to come out. He also says my symptoms are not related to hypothyroidism as my levels are fine.

So he has recommended a partial removal of the thyroid (left side), but I am so scared of having this done, and am wondering whether this will affect my chances of getting pregnant in the future, or if I am taking out half of something that everyone is telling me is functioning ok and will make myself sicker.

Does anyone have any similar experiences they might be able to share with me, and what you did?

Thank you so much.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Could you please post your lab results with the reference ranges, please?

Is your nodule 3-4cms or is the goiter 3-4cms?

Have you had thyroid antibodies tested?


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## aussie_44 (May 19, 2016)

Hi

Thanks so much for responding, I really appreciate it.

The nodule is measuring at. 3-4cm. The results themselves I don't fully understand but here they are:

TSH: 1.93 in April 2016, 1.26 in January 2016 (reference range 0.50 - 5.00)
TSH receptor antibodies: <0.1 (<1)
Thyroglobin antibody titre: <15 (0-15)
Thyroid peroxidase an titre: 31 (0-59)

I hope this makes sense. Thank you


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Well...a couple of things pop into mind...

1) Once a single nodule gets above 2 - 2.5cms, you usually start getting problems. Even if you have perfect thyroid labs, the size of the nodule starts impacting other structures in your neck (its not as if there's lots of room in your neck!) and people will start to have trouble swallowing or breathing. If you don't have those symptoms now, you probably will eventually. And the smaller the nodule, the less likely you'll have complications, so it makes sense to remove it now.

2) That all said, your lab results (thank you for posting them!) don't really show a huge problem. The problem I DO see is that free t4 and free t3 were not tested. Those are the two labs that doctors should be using to decide how to dose you with thyroid medication post-surgery. Unfortunately, a lot of doctors only use TSH and that doesn't provide a complete picture. People often have quality of life issues after thyroid surgery and the vast majority of the time, it's because doctors rely only on TSH.

So, if I were in your shoes, I would move forward with the surgery, but only if you have clarity from your doctor regarding how your post-surgical medications will be handled and what tests s/he will use.


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Agreed! Definitely push for those Free tests; if you're gaining weight without any real reason, you might have a low Free T3 (that's the big one that is tied to metabolism). Don't let them tell you TSH is the only test to run.


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

Good Luck! We had several miscarriages. I had half of the thyroid out and within a year...a 10 pound baby boy. I hope it works out well for you too!


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## aussie_44 (May 19, 2016)

Thanks everyone for your responses, really appreciate your advice!


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## aussie_44 (May 19, 2016)

webster2 said:


> Good Luck! We had several miscarriages. I had half of the thyroid out and within a year...a 10 pound baby boy. I hope it works out well for you too!


Congratulations, this gives me a lot of hope


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## Sue (Mar 30, 2015)

Hiya

I had nodules that were larger than that (couldn't believe one got to 6cm). I had a TT. The problem was discovered towards the end of a pregnancy and I have had a little boy since then. You will be able to get pregnant in future but you will need careful monitoring and need to plan IN ADVANCE of the pregnancy what you will do with medication. Sue


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## aussie_44 (May 19, 2016)

Thanks Sue, that's great information, I'm so happy to hear that it worked out for you


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## WhatHappened (Nov 12, 2015)

Good luck Tomorrow (I guess it is Sunday evening there now). Please let us know how goes!


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## aussie_44 (May 19, 2016)

Thanks everyone for your answers. It's currently 4am Tuesday morning here and surgery seems to have gone well.

The anaesthetic is definitely wearing off though and in a great deal of pain both at the incision and my neck and back from surgery. How long did it take to start feeling better generally?


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Are you still in the hospital? If so, ask for pain meds, no need to suffer! If not, did they send you home with pain meds?


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## aussie_44 (May 19, 2016)

Still here at the moment and have been given more pain meds although they are trying to cut them down and tell me I will be sore


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## kathlav (Mar 26, 2013)

Hi aussie,

I had a total thyroidectomy the same day as you, how are you feeling? Its Friday and for me most of the incision pain has gone it feels a bit tight especially if I turn my head too the left or right too far.
I am still a little light headed and my legs and arms feel heavy, even with the calcium supplements I am still getting tingling in my face and hands.

I hope you are feeling a little less sore, take care of yourself


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