Am finally home in my own comfy bed resting after my total thyroidectomy, yesterday and got discharged this afternoon just after 2 pm. All the staff on ward 31 at BDGH were brillant with me explaining every step of my op & after care. I have to go back tomorrow morning for another calcium profile and they have started me on 125 mircograms of levothyroxine is this the normal start dose before i have my bloods done in 2 weeks ?????
below is a pic of my neck 1 hour after surgery .
And i would just to say a big massive thank you to you all on here who have helped me get through the run up to my op xxxx
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sarah24
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Wow - that looks like it's healing well as only yesterday? My stitches weren't removed for 10 days (partialT - looks like same size scar 'tho - but you can hardly see mine now btw).
Your full replacement hormone dose depends (mostly) on your weight, Some folks are offered T3 too, (esp if it was removed due to cancer, they keep the TSH suppressed so you don't encourage more growth) did they manage to save the parathyroids? (which control calcium). I had my bloods done after 6 weeks, so 2 sounds like your being better monitored. I'm glad you had a good experience at your hospital, makes it much easier to recover.
I used vaseline to start then bio- oil, a little light massage. Also I had to sleep upright for a few days. best wishes Jane x
Hi hun ive been stitched on the inside & glued on the outside scar is nice & neat, ive had to have one parathyroid remove but managed to preserve other, thanks Jane for your advice on vaseline then bio -oil will defo try this xxx
Hi Sarah hope u get well soon. I just recently found out I have under active thyroid n GP is referring me to hospital to get it checked as there's a lot of swelling my app is in two weeks time am bit scared hope they dnt tell its cancer. I admit now anything about thyroid. As my GP did nt explain. Am glad I found this website wher people share Their ideas n experience. Have plenty of rest n keep smiling
Make sure you get plenty of rest. I had a partial Thyroidectomy for suspected cancer of a calcified nodule in the right lobe of my Thyroid. I was referred to Barnsley Hospital and they did all the tests and quickly got the results back. The results weren't conclusive for cancer and so they referred me to Sheffield for my operation and future treatment.
During my operation they did a frozen section to try and confirm what type of cancer it was. However, the results showed it was cancer but did not confirm whether it was malignant. This meant I only had the partial Thyroidectomy, but further pathology tests found vf papillary cancer. I wasn't started on any Levothyroxine and my health has really deteriorated. I, like you, didn't feel too bad after the operation and was relieved that the lump was gone but I'm now hypothyroid. My surgeon hoped that the left side of my Thyroid would take up the slack but it didn't. Luckily, after emailing his team and expressing my concerns about my health and a follow up appointment I had had at the oncology outpatients, he saw me and recognised the symptoms of hypothyroidism. He has started me on Levothyroxine, 6 weeks post op, and I'm hopeful I will start to feel better.
I hope you make a good recovery but make sure you rest, rest and rest some more. Because my cancer was cut out family and everyone around me seemed to think I was okay and expected me to carry on as before, but I've become more and more exhausted.
Hi Sarah, I had a total thyroidectomy 8 years ago. Keep a close eye on your post-surgery calcium symptoms. It is great that the hospital has had you back for a calcium profile. I was discharged the next morning (had my op late afternoon) but one day later I was rushed back in with severely low calcium levels. However, a&e didn't seem to have read my notes as I was left there for 7 hours waiting for an i.v. for Calcium to be put in! My starting dose was 125mcg but this was dropped last year to 75mcg because of t4 toxicity. I strongly believe that most people are not optimally dosed by t4 alone, especially if there are underlying symptoms. Have you read the Stop The Thyroid Madness book or visited the website?
Your results look pretty fantastic Sarah so soon after your op. 33 years ago I had 3 days bed-rest before a sub-total thyroidectomy and 5 days afterwards. I also had a drainage tube in and a saline drip for quite a few hours after the op. Had clips which were taken out 3 days after. I was 14 weeks pregnant at the time so maybe that took into account the extra rest. I sailed through the op though only to come out of hospital to find that my 1 year old son was in another local hospital having refused to eat anything for my husband and Mother-in-Law. He was special needs and after 3 days they were taking no chances with him. As soon as I got to the hospital he started eating. Nice to know they are taking into account your calcium levels and hope that you recover well. Janet.
It was during surgery for a diseased parathyroid 3 years ago when they discovered I had thyroid cancer. I had a TT from which I recovered very well, in fact I was back to work in less than 2 weeks. I was started on 100mg of thyroxine and my calcium was monitored for a few weeks. I am now on 150mg as TSH has to be surprised to prevent more cancer cells being produced. I am feeling fine, get hot flushes now and again, but thankful they found the cancer early. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. x
I think surpressed is better, predictive text can be a pain!
Hi
Good luck with your recovery. 125mcg is about typical for post TT. To chime in with others, most people without a thyroid will need some T3 added to the T4 at the very least. I'd highly recommend the Stop the Thyroid Madness website and book too.
Also don't take your calcium with your thyroid meds, it will stop the thyroid meds from working. Take them at different ends of the day.
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