Thyroidectomy

[sleepyjohn]

Hi there

it looks very likely my thyroid has to come out as it may be cancerous and even if not it's grown large and still growing fast and it's already pushing my windpipe to one side and slightly throttling me.

Has anyone had it out?

My concerns are of course as they should be......with my looks...

1.I notice the cut is straight across rather than up and down which would be more aesthetically pleasing.Is the scar highly noticeable.

2.Are they more likely to make it neater in the UK?

3.As something much larger than an egg-shaped golf ball is coming out can they put a "filler piece" back in as my neck's withered enough as it is ha-ha!

Here's a little one for fans of the gruesome:

cheers John

[sleepyjohn]

I had a brain wave.

I could ask the sawbones to do a cut both ways instead of one, and take an inch of slackness out of the old turkey good and proper. (A big solitary horizontal cut is just rather......well.....Frankenstein).

I guess going high enough to give me a facelift would be a bit obvious....

However perhaps he could patch the bits from my neck onto my crown where the hair's getting a bit thin behind? It might be a bit stiffer than the rest but hey don't do a dental check on a gifthorse and all that. Oh it'll be darker too.....

While I'm waiting for an answer I have another question.

The hormones one has to take every day for the rest of one's life. What's the price, and what's the experience?

thanks in anticipation

[Jingthing]

The hormones one has to take every day for the rest of one's life. What's the price, and what's the experience?

Thyroid replacement hormone is very, very cheap. A few baht a day if bought in Thailand. The more expensive part is the need for periodic tests to check for the proper levels in your blood.

[phetaroi]

it looks very likely my thyroid has to come out as it may be cancerous and even if not it's grown large and still growing fast and it's already pushing my windpipe to one side and slightly throttling me.

Has anyone had it out?

My concerns are of course as they should be......with my looks...

First, good luck!

My mother had this done many, many years ago in the States. In her case, it was slightly noticeable IF you really looked. Very tiny scar -- actually quite surprisingly minor -- and no misshapen neck features after healing time.

[moe666]

Why are you having it removed, is it gouter which is a lack of iodine and you can take iodine and reduce size of thyroid. You will need to take the thyroid medication for life. If you can get it take the Armour Thyroid which is an extract from pig thyroid but it contains both t3 and t4. The synthetic either has only the t3 or t4.

You will need to get the blood test periodicaly as an additional check you can also take you temp. in the morning before rising and record over a 5 day period if temp. below 97.6 for the period raise you dosage also see how you feel if hyper maybe taking to much if tired and lathargic not enough.

I have been on Armour Thyroid for years and it is no big deal, pay attention to your body and you can figure it out.

[sleepyjohn]

Thanks for all the good information.

The endocrinologist says iodine has nothing to do with my case. In fact my hormone levels are in the normal range which is one of the slightly worrying features. First fine needle aspiration showed some papillary plates and was suspicious. The second one just came in and for some reason the seven slides were not properly readable, dilute bloody. So I guess I have the peasure of a third FNA tomorrow.

How big?

Not too obvious yet, but as soon as it's pointed out you can see it, and my Adams Apple is off to one side a bit. The lump is 6 x 5 x 4.8cm. Let's put it this way, if it gets any bigger I got a bit of a problem cancerous or not. Ten weeks ago it was about a centimeter smaller in each direction. lengthwise only a 20% growth, but volumewise it's that cubed which is a lot. I can feel it against my windpipe all the time but could live with that no worries but if it got worse......maybe not. At the same time the endo is now talking about the surgeon.......so I'm starting to think ahead.

More info all welcome....as was the thing about the price of the drug!

John

Edited August 24, 2009 by sleepyjohn