Surgery? Advice please

[Bappoo]

I have a Multinodular Goitre, diagnosed 10 years ago. It has not caused me any difficulty. 2 weeks ago it started becoming a little painful and I could feel a slight pressure on my trachea, directly behind the thyroid. I saw a local doctor (I am currently travelling in Vietnam) and they did an ultrasound. They said that the thyroid was not inflamed and there was no constriction of the trachea. But it appeared I had an infection as I had a temperature and my glands were inflamed. I was given antibiotics. A week into the treatment the fever has gone, the glands are back to normal and I am back to feeling a slight pressure on my trachea behind the thyroid.

I think I should probably get back to the UK and have it properly investigated, but I would like opinions on this please.

Also, I have insurance, so can anyone recommend any good private consultants in East London, Southend or Chelmsford please.

Many thanks in advance

Paul

[ThyroidHell]

Hi Paul , it won't go away. I am actually having surgery on 24/6 the whole gland is coming out. I had the right side taken out years ago and I have several nodules on left now which are making my life misery because the pressure on my trachea. Its good that yours haven't caused any problems and they are there for years before starting to grow. Eventually they need to come out. I recognised the symptons immediately and knew the left is bad way. good luck

[Piedo]

Hi I had surgery for multinodular goite last year. I had had it slow growing for about 20 years. It had reached the size for surgery plus my father died of thyroid cancer so Dr was getting nervous. Having had surgery and experiencing problems with thyroxine I would say hang on to your own thyroid for as long as you can.I certainly wasnt prepared for the problems I am having .Dr s very sparing with information best place for information is this site.

Good luck

Piedo

[Bappoo]

Hi - thanks so much for your comments, I really appreciate it. Don't suppose you know how to find good reliable surgeons? I am surprised there isnt a surgeon rating site, like Docadvisor or something So people can rate the experience and outcome with their doctors. Amazing, if we buy a phone we can get ratings for it but not for our health! Anyway I have heard that there is a chance of damage to the nerves that control the voice and that there is a minimally invasive option available too - so I would like to find a doctor who has a good success rating and peoples thoughts on the minimally invasive thing.

Thanks again and good luck to both of you.

[Jackie]

Hi The important thing is to see some one good, look up sites at large private hospitals, or NHS privately, large teaching hospitals ( safer)Use those names and look up their CV`s, most are on the WEB, a Prof is much more expensive and often awarded only for academic work.f not certain it is best for the patient.

Best wishes,

Jackie

[Bappoo in reply to Jackie]

Thanks Jackie. I have seen a few of the private hospital write ups on their own sites, but somehow I dont really trust them. Seems to me that they will only say good things about their own doctors. I wish it was possible to find public reviews from former patients, that way it would give you a much more realistic idea. Maybe we should have a board on this site about it Thanks for your suggestions.

[Jackie in reply to Bappoo]

Hi I know, but I use the names first on NHS sites, large teaching hospitals, then large good private hospitals, just for initial info. not BUP or Priory if possible, one of the good London ones.When I used to be able to travel I used to go into St. Anthony`s near Cheam . but there are even better more expensive ones.However, I rely on the consultants own sites on the WEB,but study carefully, experience etc. Then phone their private secs, you can usually tell by tactful questions, also normally I find nice secs work for nice docs. Really , although, horrible usually , it is safer to be a private patient in a large teaching hospital, then if any thing goes wrong they move you to the appropriate ward, eg cardiac, However, although cheaper, it is then identical to NHS , but you pay, so not comfortable , food etc! Also you want a specialist, specialist, so there fore a lot of experience in what they do, rather than a wide spectrum. Eg I am under a hepa surgeon, who therefor just does, gall bladder, liver and Pancreas, so just so different to the usual gastro. If asking any one, make sue they mean good , not just that they are nice, good essential here!

Good hunting.!

Jackie

[Bappoo in reply to Jackie]

Hi Jackie, thanks so much for the additional info. Really appreciated, sounds exactly like what I would do if I was buying a new car

[Jackie in reply to Bappoo]

Ho I find all my consultants ( many) like that as GP too provincial.!

best wishes,

Jackie

[Bappoo in reply to Jackie]

So further to this I have looked at the 4 recommendations that I received from my GP surgery and all 4 of them, on their listings on private hospital sites, mention loads of types of surgery but NOT Thyroid or even endocrine. Now I am thinking WTF - how can my GP refer me to someone as a socialist when they clearly are not! Oh sorry, one of the guys has a listing for thyroid - he has performed 40 partial or full thyroidectomies versus 140 breast cancer ops. Surely a specialist would be the other way around? That little discovery on its own is mildly terrifying! Had it not been for your advice I would never have looked into that.

[Jackie in reply to Bappoo]

I never go by my GP`s choice, learnt the hard way!

Jackie

[ThyroidHell]

starting to s*** myself now as having it out on Monday lol

[Bappoo in reply to ThyroidHell]

I read somewhere, that it is one of the safest operations that they do nowadays, not sure how true that is, but it gave me comfort and I hope it does you too. I really wish you all the very best, I hope you can try to relax and rest a bit despite the worry, it will all be over soon and don't forget you get to have a couple of weeks in bed with everyone running around after you

[ThyroidHell in reply to Bappoo]

Thanks :o) although I am telling my immediate family where to find my Will documents lololol ..seriously thanks for the kind words x