The THYROID Thread

[squeegee]

I just got home from the hospital about a half an hour ago. My surgery went really well and they removed the whole thyroid without nerve damage - my surgeon remembered I am a singer. I went into the OR about three hours late yesterday and got into recovery sometime around 6:30 p.m. I had some issues with nausea last night despite the patch behind my ear and about three doses of Zofran. I was moved to my room around 8:30 or 9:00 and the nausea subsided by midnight or so. I didn't sleep much and was woken up quite often, but I got my contact lenses in this morning and the only pain I have is right around the incision site and from the breathing tube in my throat. My parents got to the hospital around 11:00 this morning and I was discharged by 1:00 or so. I started on the levotheroxyn this morning and calcium pills as well and my thyroid was sent to pathology after surgery and hopefully I'll have the results of that when I go to the surgeon's office for follow-up in two weeks.

Glad to hear everything went well - wishing you a speedy recovery!

 

[AllisonK]

hope your pain lessens and you feel better real soon.

Glad to hear everything went well - wishing you a speedy recovery!

Thank you! I'm feeling much better today - still a little sore at the incision site and my throat is still a bit sore as well (and my voice is still pretty shot) but feeling a lot better. My face is a bit swollen though, but I have a feeling that's pretty normal as I was hooked up to the IV for over 24 hours when I was in the hospital so I had plenty of fluids pumped into my body. I'm still a bit tired as well, but feeling better overall.

 

[Christine]

Sounds like it all went very well. That's great news. And hoping for a wonderful pathology report!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Allison - glad your surgery went well. The voice will take a little while to come back. Rest up and wishing you all the best with the path results.

macraven - how are you feeling post op. I cant believe your son had both surgeries so close together. Ds2 had the deviated septum surgery along with turbinate surgery the week after one of my hernia surgeries. We had to work that surgery around my radiation and the other ds felt bad because I had to also try and help ds2 with ice packs etc. He was miserable for days. He was only allowed to sleep in a reclining position so he was on the couch for a few days. The packing was horrid he said. He felt so much better when it came out. He was spitting up blood alot. Hope your ds is on the road to recovery.

I wish we heard from Angie. She hasnt posted in such a long time. Hope all is well with her.

My dh is coming home tomm and said he will spend the whole week end with me, um that translates into I will sit in my chair and do all my regular work I need to catch on from the week I was gone.

Oh and because of this they have asked him to go to Shanghai in June and Germany in Sept. plus throw in his usual calif. trips and I am getting weary of this for sure. Ds3 had us facetime tonight.

Our house needs lots of tlc so I am wondering about the May trip, just never enough time to do everything. I am still going to try and schedule all the medical stuff.

 

[macraven]

allison, you'll be feeling better and better as the days go by.
keep us posted on your progress!

lmp, i enjoy reading your posts as you are always so nice to everyone and remember what is going on in their lives.

you'll be glad to have Mr LMP home with you this weekend.
sit in the chair and and do your thing while he visits with you.

go to Germany!
and Shanghai....
and disney

going on vacation is the spice of life.

i had the stitches out from the bottom of my mouth and was feeling so good for 3 days.
then the ducts collapsed and i'm back where i started from.
going back monday to the surgeon.
he wants me to join the club of having the scar from the side of the jaw to the middle of the neck.
he says i now need the glands taken out.
i'm not sure if i'm ready for this ..

son has had a pathetic time with two surgeries 16 days apart.
6 days ago was the deviated septum and tomorrow is a post op visit.
he says his nose feels like it is on fire with the burning sensation he has.
he has lost 18.5 lbs in this time period from the first surgery to today.

i totally understand how your son felt when he had his surgery.
so difficult to sleep in a recliner and not be able to breathe out of your nose..

it's hard for moms to see their kids have pain from surgery and recuperation.

 

[Labelleauboisdormant]

Hello everyone! I am so happy to have found this thread... After a fine needle biopsy in the summer of 2013 I was told I most likely had thyroid cancer.
There was, however, a significant obstacle to surgery: I had just found out only a few weeks before that I was pregnant. Not wanting to put the pregnancy at risk, I decided to wait while keeping a close eye on the growths.

I had a partial thyroidectomy when my DD was 1 month. While it was most likely cancer, a definite diagnosis could not be confirmed until they operated. I decided to keep part of my thyroid in case it was not cancer. The diagnosis was an early stage of papillary thyroid cancer. I will be getting a second surgery and RAI in the next few months. Right now I go for regular bloodtest and ultrasounds (every 6 months).

Thank you everyone for sharing your stories and for reading mine!

 

[macraven]

Hello everyone! I am so happy to have found this thread... After a fine needle biopsy in the summer of 2013 I was told I most likely had thyroid cancer.
There was, however, a significant obstacle to surgery: I had just found out only a few weeks before that I was pregnant. Not wanting to put the pregnancy at risk, I decided to wait while keeping a close eye on the growths.

I had a partial thyroidectomy when my DD was 1 month. While it was most likely cancer, a definite diagnosis could not be confirmed until they operated. I decided to keep part of my thyroid in case it was not cancer. The diagnosis was an early stage of papillary thyroid cancer. I will be getting a second surgery and RAI in the next few months. Right now I go for regular bloodtest and ultrasounds (every 6 months).

Thank you everyone for sharing your stories and for reading mine!

i'm glad you shared with us.
i wish you the best for that future surgery.

hugs and prayers to you.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Labelle - glad you shared your story with us and wishing you all the best with your upcoming surgery.

macraven - how did your surgeon visit go today? I know you were concerned. Sending good thoughts and prayers.

Christine - how is your painting project going?

We are talking about a May trip but I dont know if this will work out. It would be last minute anyway, so we would pay through the nose for airfare but the room with be free with dh ff miles. Dh is off to the west coast in 2 weeks.

 

[macraven]

my appt is tuesday.
i'll be back to let you know after that.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

macraven - hoping your appt. went well.

Allison - how are you feeling? Hopefully your voice is coming back.

Christine - my dh was telling me the weather was so nice when he was down there last week. He said he cherry blossoms were not blooming yet. What are you reading? I am reading an amish fiction book I won from Goodreads. Its slow going.

 

[macraven]

one of my sons lives in the DC area and hasn't mentioned the cherry blossom blooming yet to me.
it's one of our yearly typical conversations.

the appt Tues turned out to be a long visit with the surgeon.
he checked me out and said the first surgery was a failure in stinting the ducts.
success only lasted 4 days and the ducts collapsed again.

have to have major surgery to remove the gland and the ducts connected to it.
his first opening isn't until mid May.

so i set up the surgery date and the dates for the drainage tube removal, post op, and suture removal, all on different dates.

the one thing i wonder about is he wants the sutures in the neck to stay in for 3 weeks before removal.
i thought sutures would come out about a week after the surgery.

is that normal for those that have had anytime of neck surgery, 3 weeks of sutures?

 

[Christine]

Hey everyone!

The cherry blossoms are only buds right now and are expected to be in full bloom on April 9th. I think the festival is this weekend though--that's how it goes sometimes.

The weather is definitely MUCH improved.

As usual, I'm not reading anything good! Just abandoned a book about how to organize your house and by more "tidy". Once the author started talking about putting your hands on your clothing to see if it brings you joy and thank the clothing for serving you well, I just had to give it up.

My painting project is progressing. I finally settled on Sherwin-Williams Tidewater. Probably won't start painting until next week.

Now, this is thyroid thread so I guess I should say something about that!! My body seems to be behaving for now. Increased my dose back up again and, so far, so good, no hot flashes this time.

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter! Don't eat too much candy!

 

[macraven]

hope all has had a wonderful good friday.

 

[AllisonK]

I had my follow-up with my surgeon on Wednesday. My incision is healing well (although I may be having a bit of a reaction from the dissolvable stitches because of my sensitive skin) and my pathology report was clear! I have been feeling so much better in the past few weeks than I have in a long time! I also got the OK to start singing again and my voice is coming back nicely! (My allergies are starting up again, however... But that means spring is finally here!)

 

[macraven]

I had my follow-up with my surgeon on Wednesday. My incision is healing well (although I may be having a bit of a reaction from the dissolvable stitches because of my sensitive skin) and my pathology report was clear! I have been feeling so much better in the past few weeks than I have in a long time! I also got the OK to start singing again and my voice is coming back nicely! (My allergies are starting up again, however... But that means spring is finally here!)

that is wonderful news, clear pathology report!!

good to read you are starting to feel better now, you'll be singing soon.

thanks for letting us all know how you are improving.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Allison - so happy to hear you got a great path report. Also glad you can sing again! How wonderful!

 

[squeegee]

It's been almost a month since I posted an update here. Time's been flying, and dragging at the same time. LOL.

PT for my shoulder has been going well - I haven't regained full range of motion yet, but I'm no longer in constant pain, either, so I'm happy about that. Four more weeks of 2x/wk to go.

I've also begun the "real" preparation for my RAI - April 10th I stopped my tirosint and am now on cytomel 2x/day. I know that I'm quite sensitive to changes in the thyroid meds, and it stinks. I feel a little more spacey than usual, and my migraines are cranking up. Back when I had my thyroid, before all this craziness, I'd get one or two a year. After the first surgery, withdrawal, and radiation, when I was put on the suppression dose, they increased in frequency and I was having one a day for a while. They even did a couple of MRI's to make sure it wasn't a tumor. :/ The migraines leveled off to about one a month after a while, but I've just had two in the past three days, so I'm feeling a bit bummed. Stayed home from work today because of the migraine, just feeling crappy.

I suppose that's enough whining out of me for now. LOL. All told, every day this side of the grass is a good day. I hope all y'all are happy and doing well.

 

[macraven]

squeegee so glad you returned to update us!

sounds like you are making progress with the shoulder.
very soon you'll have full range of motion back.

hope medically you get better with the thyroid situation.
it has to be miserable with getting migraines.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

squeegee - how are you feeling?? I am assuming you are doing the withdrawl vs. the thyrogen. How is the lid diet going? Did they tell you what your rai dose will be? Sorry too many questions, but I am sure you are ready to get this over and done with. I hope the pt is helping your shoulder. It helped mine as much as it could. Wishing you all the best.

macraven - how are you feeling too? I know you will glad to have your surgery done and behind you too. Waiting is hard for sure! Wishing you all the best too.

I am feeling miserable. I was dealing with some gastro issues sat. night. Lets just say its not fun being sick to your stomach with a neck dissection and add to that I now have gotten a sinus infection probably and my throat is bothering me. I have been trying to fight it off since last week but might go to urgent care this week if it gets worse. I am grumpy when I dont feel good for sure.

Check in when you can everyone.

 

[squeegee]

squeegee - how are you feeling?? I am assuming you are doing the withdrawl vs. the thyrogen. How is the lid diet going? Did they tell you what your rai dose will be? Sorry too many questions, but I am sure you are ready to get this over and done with. I hope the pt is helping your shoulder. It helped mine as much as it could. Wishing you all the best.

macraven - how are you feeling too? I know you will glad to have your surgery done and behind you too. Waiting is hard for sure! Wishing you all the best too.

I am feeling miserable. I was dealing with some gastro issues sat. night. Lets just say its not fun being sick to your stomach with a neck dissection and add to that I now have gotten a sinus infection probably and my throat is bothering me. I have been trying to fight it off since last week but might go to urgent care this week if it gets worse. I am grumpy when I dont feel good for sure.

Check in when you can everyone.

I've started the withdrawal process - am on cytomel until at 10th, when I stop it all. That's also the day I start the LID. It's the day after DD's birthday, so I get to enjoy pizza and cake, at least. Lol.

PT has been helping immensely. I think I've got two or three weeks to go, and that's gonna be it, though. I can't afford to extend it any further. Fortunately, though, the pain has abated to where I'd call it "livable," even if all improvement ceases.

Doc said he's expecting another 150 on the RAI, same as las time. I'm hoping the side effects aren't worse this time around. Last time, I had minor salivary pain/swelling, mild nausea, and lost the ability to taste salt for a couple weeks. I suppose I can live with that again, but I have my fingers crossed.

Sorry to hear you're not feeling well. . I can't imagine puking with a neck dissection. Three months out, and I still wince when I sneeze! I hope you feel better soon.