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Thyroidectomy (because of goiter). Any personal experiences of the surgery?

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megan0044
megan0044

Hi, I'm 19 and living in England and I'm due to have a partial thyroidectomy at the end of June. I have a goiter (enlargement of the left side of my thyroid gland), which is non-cancerous, but it looks bad and is starting to cause me to feel like I'm choking when I lay in certain positions.

I'm a little worried about the surgery and all of the possible complications, as well as the appearance and healing time of the scar.

Any personal experiences or advice would be much appreciated!

Thank you,

Megan

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • yvette97601
    yvette97601 megan0044

    Posted

    Hi hun I'm in England too and have mine done on the 3rd of June due to a large benign nodule I'm really nervous too xx
    • megan0044
      megan0044 yvette97601

      Posted

      Nice to meet you! I don't know anyone else who has had/is having this surgery so it's nice to hear from someone. My surgery is June 22nd. What are you most worried about? xx
    • yvette97601
      yvette97601 megan0044

      Posted

      Being put to sleep I think and recovery what about you hun? I can feel mine in my throat constantly I hate it xx have you been diagnosed with a thyroid disease or just a goiter hun.

      I'm in Shropshire where in England are you?

    • megan0044
      megan0044 yvette97601

      Posted

      Yeah I can feel mine too, and people are beginning to ask "what is that lump in your neck?" so I'm getting all self conscious! My surgeon said that complications can involve damage to the vocal chords which would alter my voice. So I'm mostly worried about that rolleyes I just have a goiter, no disease. What about you?

      I'm in Devon smile x

    • yvette97601
      yvette97601 megan0044

      Posted

      Yes just a 2.5 cm nodule and they told me the same at my appointment today.

      I still think I have a thyroid disease as I've had loads of symptoms but my blood test came back as with in normal range my tsh was 1.76 xx I will be glad to have it done though xx

    • megan0044
      megan0044 yvette97601

      Posted

      I've looked online and complications seem to be extremely rare though, so I'm sure we will be fine! I feel the same - I just want it gone now! x
  • carole56642
    carole56642 megan0044

    Posted

    Hi Megan

    I had my right thyroid out in February 15 due to benign nodules and a cyst that kept swelling up. They couldn't do biopsy so they took it out.

    It wasn't too bad, took a couple of hours in theatre and woke up a bit sore and with a drain in. I had some pain relief and was soon sat in bed with a cup of tea and sandwich. I had drain out the next day and then sent home.

    The wound was not pretty for a few weeks but it soon healed up. I had no complications and you can hardly see my scar. I have not needed any hormone replacement although I'm feeling tired and my thyroid levels were lower after than before the op. I should get my blood tested again really.

    I now have similar nodules in my left thyroid and I may have to have that out at some point, which would then mean I'd have to take medication for life.

    If you need a hemithyroidectomy don't worry about it, but just make sure your surgeon is experienced in doing thyroid surgery.

    Good luck.

    • megan0044
      megan0044 carole56642

      Posted

      Hi Carole!

      This was really helpful, thank you!! Did you have a vocal chord test prior to the surgery? It's something my surgeon is making me do, to then compare to after the surgery - but I'm unsure of what that involves!

      I also have a 'pre-op assessment' two weeks before my operation, where they said they would be taking blood and giving me an ECG scan. Did you have the same?

      It's very reassuring to hear that everything went well for you though, thank you for commenting! smile x

    • carole56642
      carole56642 megan0044

      Posted

      No problem Megan and Yvette.

      I don't think I had an ECG. I had the bloods and the vocal chord check. I think they do the VC check to make sure you won't have any problems. All they do is spray some local anaesthetic up your nose and put a tube in your nose to look at your throat and vocal chords. Only takes a couple of minutes. I was really worried about that test but really it was nothing. Try to make sure they leave it a few minutes after spray for anaesthetic to work. If they don't wait then you can feel it and it's a bit unpleasant. Quite interesting to watch on the screen.

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