Having thyroid removed for the 2nd time!!

[MrsBargirl]

Hi....I had my thyroid removed in August 2007, during this my right vocal chord was damaged & i have suffered with nerve pain ever since. The following year I had an operation to repair the damaged vocal chord.

I had my ENT appt this morning to review my CT scan with the contrast.

Initially he planned to removed the right side only, but seeing the scan & examining my neck he feels best to remove both sides.The left side where my working vocal chord is the thyroid is growing backwards. He has explained that it is very risky as if my left chord gets damaged I will need to have a trach tube fitted, which I dont want. He has assured me that he has equipment to monitor the nerves.

I may have to have further surgery down the line as he says Im one of those people who will just have it continually grow.

Has anyone ever came across this or has it happened to you?

[silverfox7]

If no one replies though early days yet try doing a search as I feel I've read something about thyroid growing back. Then you can maybe contact direct if similar to what you are experiencing.

[shaws Administrator]

I cannot answer your question but on the right-hand side of this page you will see related questions/answers. Click on the one that interests you.

Your experience sounds dreadful.

[LAHs]

Oh Geez, what a nightmare scenario.

The first question I would ask is, is there something wrong with the thyroid tissue growing back? Is it cancerous like the first one was? Did you really mean it is growing backwards or did you mean it is growing back? Has your immune system begun to attack it as it presumably did the first? Is it affecting how you feel (other than from the first injury)?

These are just a few of the questions I would want answered before agreeing to surgery. The upside of this whole thing might be that you are getting a new thyroid. Without answers to the above questions there is no reason to think that this is a bad thing.

If you do decide upon surgery, make sure that you don't get the same surgeon who clobbered your vocal fold. I had my vocal fold injured but it was from the anesthesiologist who used my larynx as a "washer" - it is normal practice evidently to seal the trachea this way during surgery. When they pulled the tube out they scratched the vocal fold. I was mute for 6 months until they saw the scar tissue via an endoscopy. Up until that point (the doc had looked for it three times prior - with the endoscope - and didn't see it) I was told it was all in my head and that the trauma had caused me to have selective speech!

btw the larynx is like a drum, it's a membrane with a triangular gap in the middle for air to pas through. It is not like a violin and if therefore not a series of chords.

[MrsBargirl in reply to LAHs]

My first one was 8x the normal size. This one now is not cancerous and neither was the 1st. It is growing backwards towards my trachea. This is a new surgeon...well he was there the 1st time but didnt operate but did give me my calcium infusion. He is putting a nerve monitor on my left vocal chord. Its uncomfortable and difficult to swallow and im basically living on ice cream x

[LAHs in reply to MrsBargirl]

Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, what a mess. I hope the new surgeon gives you a better outcome and at least stays clear of the larynx. Surgeons do not usually clobber the larynx (even though our experiences were not so) so I think your odds are good.