The THYROID Thread

[Christine]

Christine - Wishing you all the best with your surgery. The covid test is a little uncomfortable. I felt stinging after. Did the dr. say anything about the low vitamin D? Wondering if an over the counter supplement is sufficient. Mine is so bad I need the prescription one. I saw your other post that it’s a tendon issue? And a 3 month recovery? I am sure you will be happy when you feel like you again! I take low dose aspirin for the day stuff but now a prescription too. Keep us updated. Sending healing prayers to you.
I have had bad pain the last 2 days. Dj thinks my l toes are looking more purple and my r leg more swollen. I have rested, used a heating pad and muscle relaxers as my l chest and side are so painful.
The snow and cold makes thing weary and dreary here.
We dog sat the King Cavalier. He is so cute.
Thanks to ds3 and dil1 Dh and I are getting our vaccines. Dj has to go in March to a racetrack over 1 hour away near JFK airport. I go In April to the university.
Ds2, fil, her sister and bil all got appts They opened comorbitities here. Hooray for asthma, diabetes, cancer,
Obesity, hypertension etc.

Thanks for the good wishes! I actually have a foot issue that causes the tendon to be chronically inflamed. It's called "acquired flat foot deformity" so basically my foot has collapsed over the years. Now that it's fully flat, it strains one of the tendons that supports your arch. So, they will reconstruct my foot which essentially "breaking" it in 3 places and resetting it to form an arch. This will relieve the strain on the tendon.

Good luck with the vaccine. I'm thinking I won't get one till summer!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Christine - Just wanted to wish you all the best with your surgery tomorrow. Sending you good thoughts and prayers. Keep us updated.

Ds1 told me his work is sending him to Orlando in July for a trade show. They haven’t planned anything yet but his wife will fly down for a mini vacation. Actually this is where they wanted to go for their honeymoon. I am sure they will go to Sea World too.

And my cousins daughter and family are staying at the Swan Easter week so I need to hear about that too.

Ds2 is getting his first vaccine next week so hopefully it goes well.

Everyone check in when you can.

 

[Christine]

Hi everyone. Well, I'm about 5 days out from surgery and doing okay. The pain was bad for the first few days. I went home with a nerve block (with two catheters in my leg). They weren't working well and the meds in them were giving me all sorts of side effects. Something was wrong. Removed the catheters (supposed to do so on my own). One of them was against a vein and it was nicked. Couldn't control the bleeding so had to call 911 and go to the ER the day after surgery. They got it stopped but that took hours. All my pain meds wore off and I was in misery.

Things have calmed down now and pain is under control. No need for percocet anymore. I got to get a hard cast put on Wednesday. It's been a wild ride.

Thanks for asking LMP. I can hear in your writing that you are wistful to go to Disney! I've been sitting here reading about people's tri[s and such and I'd love to go. Maybe next year.

I did find out that my son, who is now in San Diego, is going to come home for a week in April. It will be good to see him.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Christine - Happy to hear that you made it through the surgery but that vein incident must have been scary!
Hoping each day is better for you as you rest and heal. It’s good that you have your sons visit to look forward to.
Dh, ds2 and I got our 1st covid shots. Ds3 got us appointments at a hospital pop up for their own patients at an indoor soccer gym. Ds2 went to the racetrack. That would have been an almost 3 hour round trip for Dh. Our combined side effects were sore arm, back, shoulder, headache and tiredness.
Just found out one of the authors I read had thyroid cancer. They only took out half her thyroid because her surgeon said the other side was fine and now finally 4 months later she is getting synthroid, Levo etc. I am almost afraid to ask her anything but her care seems...lacking??

 

[Haimia]

You had to remover your own catheters!! Wow, I thought the doctor would do that in a follow up visit. Sounds like the doctor should have done it, as you had a problem that required an ER visit. No fun for sure. Glad to hear you are doing better now! Hope healing continues event-free!

Luv, yes, I agree on your author's care. Four months after surgery and she FINALLY gets synthroid!! That is a bit ridiculous!! I would have had to have a second surgery to remove the other side if my removed half was cancerous. I opted for the total removal to avoid a second surgery - other side was not working correctly, anyway!! Hope she does well!

 

[Christine]

You had to remover your own catheters!! Wow, I thought the doctor would do that in a follow up visit. Sounds like the doctor should have done it, as you had a problem that required an ER visit. No fun for sure. Glad to hear you are doing better now! Hope healing continues event-free!

Luv, yes, I agree on your author's care. Four months after surgery and she FINALLY gets synthroid!! That is a bit ridiculous!! I would have had to have a second surgery to remove the other side if my removed half was cancerous. I opted for the total removal to avoid a second surgery - other side was not working correctly, anyway!! Hope she does well!

Yes, I had to remove them. The catheters were designed for easy patient removal. For the most part, that's the way it goes. Both of them came out super easy but the one was obviously leaning on a vein. Totally the fault of the anesthesiologist and I think he should have "redone" it when he knew it wasn't good. Oh well. Still have a huge bruise from it but it's starting to stop hurting. I'll never get one of those things again even though my surgeon said he's never seen a previous issue with them. I feel like everything happens to me!

Got an appointment for my first vaccine on Tuesday. Getting Pfizer it seems. I'm kind of scared.

 

[Haimia]

Oh, Christine, I hear you about the "everything happens to me"! I have had trouble with stitches - in particular the vicral (sp?) stitches that are dissolvable. My body does not like them, my body spits them out and does not heal with them in me! I have had incisions open and had to have the incision repaired because of vicral!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Christine- How was your vaccine?

Monday Dh, ds2 and I got our 2nd shots. Ds2 has had sore arm, tiredness, headache, brain fog and body aches. Dh only had a sore arm and I had headache, brain fog, tiredness and really sore arm yesterday. Today is good. Oh I also had more ringing in my ear than usual.
Ds1 has to go to Orlando in July for a trade show. Dil is going and they will make it a belated honeymoon. She doesn’t want to get vaccinated because she heard there could be fertility issues? Don’t know what ds1 is doing.
Ds3 said last weekend hospital wide they had 10 covid admissions. He is working Thursday- Friday but now I won’t feel so stressed when he comes home etc. He is going to Puerto Rico mid April.
Hope @singing mom is doing well
Everyone check in when you can.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

This thread has been so quiet. How is everyone doing?
I finally went to the grocery store! First time since my first aorta surgery last January. Honestly it was hard trying to walk and breathe with a mask on and I felt that I had no energy or stamina.
Next month I have to do the blood tests and sono for my July endo visit.
Mother’s Day we had a cookout. Ds2 and dil don’t want to be by the unvaccinated ds1 and dil. They also refused to eat any food. So they left and the other couple came in, sigh. Trying to plan my bday celebration this weekend. Think it will have to be separate etc.
Dh going to Massachusetts the first week in June. Ds3 was traveling everywhere. He hated the hotel in Puerto Rico. Just got back from a nurses wedding in Vermont. We had to find a new lawn service. What a pain.
I found out a blogger I follow got diagnosed with thyroid cancer after battling covid. She had surgery and rai. She said the surgery was difficult but didn’t elaborate.
Enjoy the beautiful weather everyone! Check in when you can.

 

[MamaBelle4]

Mother’s Day we had a cookout. Ds2 and dil don’t want to be by the unvaccinated ds1 and dil. They also refused to eat any food. So they left and the other couple came in, sigh. Trying to plan my bday celebration this weekend. Think it will have to be separate etc.

I'm sorry you're going through this! That's really unfortunate. Hopefully we are turning a corner soon and hopefully things get better quickly.

 

[MamaBelle4]

About a year and a half ago, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's. Since then, I've been on Levothyroxine, and it's been fine. I'm definitely not as exhausted as I used to be.

But it has impacted my cycle. It used to be every 27 days and last for 5 days. Since I've started taking levothyroxine, it's been every 21 days and lasts for at least 7. This is not great, to be honest. I'm wondering if I should talk to my doctor about alternatives. Are the alternatives as effective or more effective?

 

[Christine]

About a year and a half ago, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's. Since then, I've been on Levothyroxine, and it's been fine. I'm definitely not as exhausted as I used to be.

But it has impacted my cycle. It used to be every 27 days and last for 5 days. Since I've started taking levothyroxine, it's been every 21 days and lasts for at least 7. This is not great, to be honest. I'm wondering if I should talk to my doctor about alternatives. Are the alternatives as effective or more effective?

It's trial and error. I never had an issue with my cycle when taking thyroid meds and I changed brands several times with no change. Generally, if your cycle is coming to often it can be due to over medication or "hyper" thyoridism. It may take some tweaking of your dose to find the right mix of things.

 

[Christine]

Christine- How was your vaccine?

Monday Dh, ds2 and I got our 2nd shots. Ds2 has had sore arm, tiredness, headache, brain fog and body aches. Dh only had a sore arm and I had headache, brain fog, tiredness and really sore arm yesterday. Today is good. Oh I also had more ringing in my ear than usual.
Ds1 has to go to Orlando in July for a trade show. Dil is going and they will make it a belated honeymoon. She doesn’t want to get vaccinated because she heard there could be fertility issues? Don’t know what ds1 is doing.
Ds3 said last weekend hospital wide they had 10 covid admissions. He is working Thursday- Friday but now I won’t feel so stressed when he comes home etc. He is going to Puerto Rico mid April.
Hope @singing mom is doing well
Everyone check in when you can.

@luvmarypoppins somehow I missed this post from a few weeks ago.

My vaccine went great. In fact, I had ZERO side effects on the 2nd dose so I'm convinced I got a shot full of water!!

Otherwise I've just been hanging out trying to return to the land of upright, walking people. My 3 month anniversary of my surgery is coming up and I am not walking on my own. Not walking great and using a cane outside the house, but I got rid of the crutches, boots, knee scooter (for the most part) and am walking. My foot hurts of course, because it is so weak, but I am on the road to recovery. Starting to feel the urge to go to Disney!! But I won't. Maybe later this year. My son wants me to come visit him in San Diego and then I'd do Disneyland but right now that place doesn't sound like they've got their act together yet. They need some time.

Hope everyone is doing well!!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

MamaB

 

[luvmarypoppins]

MamaBelle - Wishing you all the best. I can’t offer any advice on this subject.
Christine - Hope you are improving and walking better.

Well the vascular surgeons office called and said they changed the follow up from a year to 6 months. So I need an aortic ct. Ds1 wants to use up some of his fmla time so he took me for thyroid and a kidney blood test for the ct. Glad I had an appointment st quest. Apparently most people didn’t. What a zoo. Next Thursday is the ct and neck sono then the 29 is the vascular surgeon. I am only doing one thing a week or it gets overwhelming I

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Popping in with a quick update. The vascular surgeon said that the kidney aneurysm has shrunk and the mammary artery aneurysm is stable so I don’t have to see him again until next June. PTL!
Enjoy your holiday weekend everyone!

 

[Hisgirl]

I just now found this thread (at least I don't think I"ve ever posted here. )
I hope my journey can encourage someone.

Had half my thryoid removed, inconclusive biopsy, and did not have to take thryoid for over 15 years.

More nodules showed up, also inconclusive, including molecular 2nd opinion, so entire thryoid came out.

Benign.

I took one year getting normalized with a combination of T3 & T4 using Unithroid and Armour thyroid.

I feel normal. Especially after realizing the pills give me exactly 12 hours of energy and to stop taking them at 4:30am.

No hair falling out, no huge weight gain, no worsened memory.

I do have fatigue but not more than normal I suppose.

And my scar is hardly visible.

I hope someone who is scared or worrying life will never be the same can be encouraged. It is definitely a journey that can take a year to sort out. I hope yall can find a doctor who will consider letting you use natural dessicated thryoid along with the synthetic. Peer reviewed studies do show people can feel much better.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I had my endo visit. Sono showed no signs of cancer.
She is lowering my vitamin d to once a week because it’s too high and taking away my extra synthroid on sundays. Blood tests in early September will determine what dosing will be.
Also in September I need a bone scan. She is concerned as always how the high synthroid ruins your bones.
Check in when you can.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

@Christine
@macraven
And everyone
Hope you are all doing well. Thought I would pop into this way too quiet thread
Since my last post my blood tests were good.
I have had major dental issues and had to get another tooth pulled. Now I have a temporary crown and having a root canal in 2 weeks. I have a mammogram scheduled the end of the month. Still need to call about a bone scan and make appointments for the permanent crown work. Since I have the aortic implant I now have to be premedicated with a dose of antibiotics before all dental procedures, sigh.
Check in when you can.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Hi, LMP. Good to hear your tests were good. Best wishes on that root canal, and a good, clean mammogram.