Total Thyroidectomy 7/17/09 - Very Sick

legalsecretary2007
legalsecretary2007 Member Posts: 2
edited March 2014 in Thyroid Cancer #1
Hi all. I just had a TT last Friday, 7/17/09, and my surgery went okay, although the recovery is really blasting me. Since Saturday of last week when I returned home, I hardly have the energy to perform any tasks at all. Perhaps I'm taking things to quickly though. My neck does not hurt, it was my throat from the tube they put down your throat during surgery. My problem is this: how long does it really and truly take to recover? I have been on Synthroid for years, and last year, my TSH was 2.1 which is not really all that bad, but 10 weeks ago, it was over 6.0. My endo increased me to 175 mcg. I have Hashimoto's autoimmune disease, and my antibodies were almost 20,000. The normal range is 0-60.

For the first time, yesterday, I took 1/2 hour and went to the grocery store, and was standing at the checkout line, and immediately starting breaking out in this cold clammy sweat, and by the time I returned home, I was soaking wet. I've gotten the sweats like this just from sitting on the sofa, doing absolutely nothing, and I feel honestly, like I have a severe case of the flu. The sweats are not hot flashes, but cold clammy sweats, and they are horrible, just drenching wet sweats, whether I'm doing something or not. I could not even finish washing my dishes yesterday a.m.

My diagnosis was severely diseased thyroid with 1.8 cm mass in right lobe. The diseased gland is actually from Hashimoto's autoimmune disease. I have suffered from both hyper and hypothyroid for years, until finally, full circle, my thyroid gland completely died. I'm just so exhausted I've never felt this way. Any advice or thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • JAWsSavannah
    JAWsSavannah Member Posts: 57
    #2
    Surgery can zap you all by
    Surgery can zap you all by itself--your body is trying to heal and the effort, though going on behind your back, can be exhausting.

    You might also be experiencing hypo but, with a "dead" thyroid, I would assume you have been taking, and continue to take thyrozine.
  • kmt624
    kmt624 Member Posts: 10
    #3
    Hello -
    Recovery time is
    Hello -

    Recovery time is individual. I felt better in about one week post surgery. Two weeks post surgery I went to the grocery store and had a similar situation, i think a lot of it was anxiety for me. Are you getting radioactive iodine? After all of that I am told you feel better when they put you back on your meds. I'm on the low iodine diet and no meds to prepare for RAI the first week in August. It's a long haul but it the long run its only a couple months. I feel your pain. Hang in there!!
  • legalsecretary2007
    legalsecretary2007 Member Posts: 2
    #4
    kmt624 said:

    Hello -
    Recovery time is
    Hello -

    Recovery time is individual. I felt better in about one week post surgery. Two weeks post surgery I went to the grocery store and had a similar situation, i think a lot of it was anxiety for me. Are you getting radioactive iodine? After all of that I am told you feel better when they put you back on your meds. I'm on the low iodine diet and no meds to prepare for RAI the first week in August. It's a long haul but it the long run its only a couple months. I feel your pain. Hang in there!!

    TT on 7/17/09
    I saw my surgeon this afternoon, the scar, only after one week, is healing nicely. And, actually, while I was heading to the surgeon's office, I started to feel a bit normal again, like my old self, then I came home this evening, tried to do a little picking up in my place, do the dishes, and there they come again - those cold clammy sweats that just leave you drenched! I can't stand it - it just exhausts me. Does anyone else have this problem? I am not going to need RAI - all the lymphnodes they checked in surgery came back negative for malignancy, so I am grateful for that, it was just the mass in my right lobe which fortunately was contained. My Hashimoto's was so out of control, my surgeon told me the gland was like beefy dried meat and black and blue! He had never heard of having thyroid antibodies in the 20,000s. Normal is 0-60. My TSH one year ago was 2.1, and 8-10 weeks prior to surgery, my TSH was over 6, so I was definitely at the end of Hashimoto's and full blown hypo. But, we increased my Synthroid to 175 mcg, and within 5 weeks or so, my TSH went down to 1.34, which is really great, but that was prior to surgery and who knows what it is now. Hashimoto's is an interesting autoimmune disease. I think I've been hyper 5 times in the last 25 years, losing about 100 pounds each time, then I would level out, and eventually turn hypo. It's the nature of the beast. The only reason I even went to have further testing, FNA,biopsies, blood work was because I started having trouble swallowing, regurgitating my food, acid reflux right in the area of my thyroid gland, and then I would get the hiccups, that seemed to last forever, and this chronic fatigue that would hit me in the morning, every morning, that would not go away. I just can't get my grip around this recovery that's happening with the hormone thing. It's horrible. I mean, if the only thing I did today was go to the mailbox, that was all I could do. And, I didn't realize that anesthesia stays in your system for several days. This really, really sucks, but I know it had to be done. Thoughts?
  • jcvolt
    jcvolt Member Posts: 69
    #5
    You may not like this
    I had hashimotos before I got cancer and went into menopause even though I didn't know it. After my surgery I started going in and out of menopause, I was getting zits and hot flashes I am 49. It took about 6 weeks to stabilize.
  • runabe
    runabe Member Posts: 48
    #6
    TT
    Had my TT almost 10 yrs ago I am a Marathon runner and that is how i became aware of my problem Just was VERY TIRED all the time Figured it was over training Finisher 99 NYC Marathon Thyroid failed during marathon I do not know how i finished but did Went to DR and had thyroid removed Turned out to be Stage 1 cancer never moved I am on Synthroid ran the next Marathon less then 2 months after surgery Not as fast as i used to be PR 3;15 BUT STILL running
  • sharonrose
    sharonrose Member Posts: 3
    #7
    the sweats too
    I have just been ultra sound and they found a mass on my thyroid. when i was reading your infput i have the sweats like that constintly, i just thought it was "the change", since i am close to 50. i have been having these sweats for the past three moths. i go to the doctors for my first appointment on september 9th. i am tired too alot. i thought it was just me, because i am use to taking noon naps. i also suffer from bad headaches that wake me up 3 or 4 in the morning. 800 mg ibuprofen is the only thing that stop these headaches. i am soo scare

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