Partial thyroidectomy next week

[lorilou107]

I am having a right side thyroidectomy on Monday due to hypothyroidism symptoms and now more recently a large goitre which they dont think is cancer but cant be sure. The Endo says my tsh levels are normal at 4.9 before the goitre and 3.6 after. T4 9.1 and 9.6 respectively. Says they will check my thyroid function 2 weeks after the operation. What I wonder is, will they just check my tsh and T4 or wouldthey do all the thyroid testing T4 T3 antibodies etc as if I need medication if my thyroid can't cope I don't want to to have to wait until my levels are so out of whack that I feel even worse than I do now . I am having the operation done privately as I could not get a quick enough consultant appointment on the nhs. However I did not like the attitude of the consultant as he seemed to think none of my symptoms were anything to do with hypothyroidism or a goitre appearing suddenly.

Any advice please, thanks Lori

[Nanaedake]

Most people don't feel well until their TSH level is about 1.0 if they are taking Levothyroxine or T3 or both, however if you are not on medication then your level might be right for you. You can get thyroid blood tests done through a reliable laboratory like Blue Horizon Medicals. You can see other laboratories listed on Thyroid UK website.

It would hope your medical team would check TSH, FT4, FT3 once things have settled down after surgery. You could also check vitamin levels. You could check antibodies now or later although sometimes surgery can release antibodies I think, not sure though, you could ask about it.

It's hard to say how your body will react until after the surgery. You won't feel well right away so it might take a little time to get your thyroid and vitamin levels back on track. Sometimes it's hard to know what's best to do so you can always check into this forum for suggestions.

[Clutter]

Lorilou,

Which are your most recent TSH and FT4 results and do you have the lab ref ranges for them?

I think they'll only test TSH and FT4 pre-op. FT3 is only likely to be tested if they suspect hyperthyroidism ie TSH <0.1. Antibodies have no impact on surgery so are unlikely to be checked pre-op.

TSH 4.9 and TSH 3.6 are both high enough to indicate low FT4 and FT3 which cause hypothyroid symptoms. Goitre can be caused by thyroid enlarging to try and produce more T4 and T3 and/or high TSH flogging thyroid.