Hi, recently diagnosed with a tumour in my thyroid, so team at hospital will be removing the whole thing soon. I am overwhelmed with all this stuff I've been reading here about T4/T3, vitamins, calcium etc. I thought I just had to take a tablet every day, dosage might be adjusted if necessary, but that would pretty much be it.You can probably tell I haven't really been able to see much further than getting through the operation first!
I know the hospital team will give info and advice but I'm kind of needing a bit of support and reassurance guys, please!
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HelenaJ
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Hi HelenaJ I am sending you tons of support as you walk this part of your journey. I know many people here will weigh in with similar conditions and advice. But all of us are with you and you couldn’t have found a better place to learn and get guidance on treatments.
I had 1/2 of mine removed 15 months ago due to a nodule. A practical thing is to have some straws, and reaching up to high shelf is not that easy at first. Hope it all goes well x
I had my thyroid removed in July, due to Graves disease/goiter. It was a relatively straightforward operation, and I was out of hospital the following day, up and about within a few days, and back at work (desk job) after 2 weeks.
It was a bit uncomfortable around the scar at first. I had trouble finding a good position to sleep in for the first few nights, but it healed completely within a couple of weeks.
The operation can cause damage to your parathyroid glands (small glands which sit behind the thyroid) and that can cause your calcium levels to drop. They gave me chewable calcium +D3 tablets to take 2x per day until they were sure the levels were OK. The hospital team will probably give you warnings about other complications, but those are apparently very rare.
I was started on 125mcg of levothyroxine per day, and that has just been increased to 150mcg after regular follow-up blood tests.
I felt very well looked after by everyone in the hospital (surgeons, nursing staff, and also the team doing my follow-up).
I had mine removed 2 years ago as I had 3 nodules of papillary cancer no symptoms though. Operation went well, no scar as surgeon used a neck fold. I wish I'd found this site earlier. I was just given 150mg levothyroxine and calcium tablets if I felt jittery, which I didn't. My voice changed slightly and hasn't got the power it used to. I was referred to nuclear medicine for radioactive iodine, but declined due to side effects.Since then my journey has been fraught with medication problems, however I'm probably about to go private to add T3. Hope it all goes well for you you'll find lots of support here.
Hello Helena, I'm sending you good luck and all the very best.
Also a funny story about my partial thyroidectomy (over 20 years ago now). After the operation I woke up in the men's surgical ward of Lewisham Hospital (as they had no beds in the women's ward!!) Opposite me was a poor roofer who'd slid off and broke both his legs. Consequently his legs were in traction in plaster - and he was wearing a hospital gown..... I can only say that waking up from the operation and the sight that met me was..... memorable.
Hi Helen, I had mine removed over 10 years ago, in fact two operations one for half and then the rest because it was found to be cancerous. All went by in a bit of a blur, short operation and short stay in hospital, stitches out at the GPs, healed quickly. Look out a few scarves to cover dressings and initial scar. Further treatment will depend on what they find. Have a look at Butterfly Thyroid Cancer Trust as this is more their specialty.
If I were you I would pay out of pocket for a complete thyroid panel BEFORE surgery so you know what normal feels like and have labs to look back on after surgery. I wish I had done this after my thyroidectomy.
I had TT . I would suggest to give yourself enough time to heal . Before you know it it will be behind you.Sending you healing hugs and speedy recovery.
Yes I'm in agreement with others that have replied; definitely get full thyroid testing done yourself before surgery. The endocrine clinic may do them but if they don't it's annoying to not have your pre surgery blood results as a baseline to work with.
Give yourself time after to heal. Take thing's easy. I had a partial thyroidectomy a year and half ago; at first I really felt like I'd been hit by a truck so make sure you rest.
One thing that I found useful was a neck support that you use when travelling. I wore it back to front when sitting or trying to lie down as it helped me to get comfortable and allowed me to get some sleep.
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