Daughter Diagnosed with PTC - What is Next?

Hi. There is some excellent information on VeryWell Health on How to Find a Top Thyroid Surgeon. Having discussed this with several friends over the years who needed thyroid surgery it makes sense to use a general surgeon who does this surgery on a regular basis or an ENT surgeon. In my case 69 years ago I had no say in the matter as I was only 6 years old but my mother was an RN and we knew to have a skilled general surgeon do the operations. Talk to a couple surgeons on the matter and be very upfront with the questions so you are comfortable with their answers and them in general. Knowing what I know now I would ask: how long is the operation, how will you know if all the cancerous tissue was removed, complications, is there a need to biopsy the lymph nodes, is radio iodine treatment needed after surgery…

Pretty much the same process I went through 60 years ago when I was 6 except surgeries were about 5 months apart! I also had a couple lymph nodes removed. Hope you are doing well.

I was originally on Proloid which is a desiccated hormone replacement medicine. It is still available but most people who do well with the desiccated medicine use the Armour Thyroid. I did not do well with it so my endo put me on Synthroid (levothyroxine) now under the brand name EUTHYROX, 150 mcg/day. It works very well for me. Some tiredness but not much else. I learned the hard way that it is very important to take the med as prescribed - in my case 1 hour before breakfast with a glass of water. Eating too soon after taking the med inhibits absorption into your system and stomach acids that are produced when you eat food can reduce the medicines effectiveness.

As for the tingling and numbness, About 20 years ago I found I was deficient in B1, B6 and B12 mainly due to diet. I Took a supplement for awhile then started to eat foods high in B vitamins which helped quite a bit. I sleep pretty well but occasionally go a day or two waking up early mainly because I'm thinking about something too much. I experience very few side effects when my TSH and free T4 levels are within range. In 60 years I have gone out of range maybe 4 times and needed the dosage tweaked.

My dosage has been pretty steady for many years now. Its important to work with a good endocrinologist or PCP who understands endocrinology and doesn't treat you like a science experiment on two legs! It's also important to give any dosage change 6 - 8 weeks to settle in before deciding if it is doing what you want.