An 84-year-old woman presented with chronic neck pain one year after thyroidectomy. My wife went home to take care of our kids and my mom came in for a couple hours. The effects of the stretching exercises on the participants' neck pain and disability, neck sensitivity, pain with neck movements as well as on wound healing, were evaluated at the end of the first week and at 1 month following surgery. I then used the towel to dry off and threw the blanket over me to keep from exposing myself to the world. We present a case of a patient who returned with a neck swelling 6 days following thyroidectomy and central neck compartment lymphadenectomy for suspected thyroid carcinoma. The next thing I remember was sliding back to the cart to be wheeled to the recovery room. Keep in mind that a good history and physical examination are beneficial for early diagnosis and education of the patient with this complication. They just put me on a table and put a flat board 2" above my nose and it slowly moved down my body. I underwent a thyroidectomy and extensive bilateral neck dissection two years ago. But, I wasn't really all that coherent, so I asked if I could have some water (remember, nothing to eat or drink from midnight the night before so, I'm getting on 23 hours without food or drink) CRUSHED GLASS IN ACID MIXED WITH GRAVEL couldn't have felt that horrible. After surgery, you can expect some pain as your body heals. Held at hospital 3 days post RAI, then stuck here since I have a 2.5 year old. As days pass, I feel that this might not be a good decision. I was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer over the summer and received a total thyroidectomy and bilateral neck dissection two months ago. Initial risk classification was determined as T3N1bM0, American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th edition stage 1, and intermediate American Thyroid Association risk. Neck stretching exercises done immediately after a total thyroidectomy reduce short-term neck pain and disability symptoms. I know the levels that I'm supposed to maintain at are different from those of normal people with a thyroid and no cancer history. There they did a strep test (I'd had a sore throat off and on for a year) and a ct scan. Numbness or tingling of fingers, toes, or around the mouth. Your thyroid gland is shaped like a butterfly. I am in the normal range and will worry about that in December time frame. Removing all or most of the thyroid (thyroidectomy). 5) Biopsy report came back showing 2cm+ Papillary - w/ follicular variant, and Lymphocascular invasion, but completely contained in Thyroid. I have been on Levothyroxine 125 to 150 for 2.5 weeks and am starting to feel better from Hypothyroid symptoms. He switched my meds from levothyroxin to synthroid and I noticed a big difference the first day! Thyroidectomy is the surgical removal of all or part of your thyroid gland. I am from USA but in the Philippines, and I went full Vegan after all of this. Hello, I don't know why it seems that everyone naturally goes hypo, that seems like an awful process instead of getting two symptomless thyrogen shots. 2003 May 21;289(19):2509-16. doi: 10.1001/jama.289.19.2509. Over the course of 2 years or more I've been from Doctor to Doctor including my family doc, allergist, gastronologist and orthopedic specialist. By the time my room was ready I had eaten two cups of ice chips and was extremely thirsty. Everyone was extremely professional, everyone was very nice. Health care providers perform thyroidectomy to treat thyroid disorders. ; Hemithyroidectomy or thyroid lobectomy: This involves the removal of one of the two lobes of the thyroid gland. official website and that any information you provide is encrypted I sound much better now but I do speech therapy constantly to improve strength (I'm a speech path so I knew what I needed to do), dry needling and physical therapy on my neck. The pain is in the natural curve of my neck, about 2-3 inches above the incision. After a thyroid lobectomy, you'll need to have your thyroid hormone levels checked and will be prescribed a thyroid hormone replacement, if needed. Lots of people on here talk about how awful having a thyroid replacement medicine is, and that no one ever feels totally ok on it. 5) Does the TSH suppression level really effect the possibility of spread? She reported left upper lid drooping and showed a recent picture with only the right side of her face flushed in a hot summer day (Figure 1, upper panel). I was visibly nervous, so my anesthesiologist provided me with some drugs to calm my nerves (they later said it did not calm my heart rate one bit), but as I was wheeled to the OR I felt much calmer. Follow-up of the patients with the scales applied in the experimental group were also performed to the control group at the same intervals. Again, my surgeon only says it's normal with minimal to no explanation whatsoever. Increased swelling, redness, or drainage from the incision. I did not receive a call, so, I showed up at the appointed time and was taken back to pre-op at almost exactly 2pm. Parathyroidectomy cures almost all cases of primary hyperparathyroidism and returns blood calcium levels to a healthy range. Stiffness and soreness greatly diminishes almost to the point of none at all. On March 2nd I was told I had several small foci of papillary carcinoma in the tissue of the right thyroid that was removed and that the entire mass was being sent to another hospital for further research but it looks benign the doctors recommended removing the other side, we decided that was the best plan. The Nutritionist who gives this seminar said she would check through my medical record to make sure my levels were normal and if she couldnt find all the blood tests she would order them so I could get my nutrition balanced. Disclaimer. Could be in the supermarket or at KFC, I have no idea. God, family, friends and prayer are what got me through these last 7 months with thyroid cancer. Jul 30, 2016 10:05 AM. Before I could not work out as I was to Hypo and the headaches alone were so bad . but now after 2.5 weeks on the meds I have some energy back. I hate the word goiter. 2010. Pain medication doesn't agree with him. How long it takes to recover will depend on your situation and the type of surgery you had. I still have poor vocal range and intensity. Below are general instructions for patients who have had thyroid or parathyroid surgery. He also set me up with some Blood tests and put in the recommendation for a full Sleep Apnea study in Silverdale. They gave me two pain pills just as I was leaving the hospital and they took about 15 to 20 minutes to kick in. Have questions about navigating your Inspire support community or need assistance from one of our Inspire Moderators? 2022 Sep;46(9):2212-2222. doi: 10.1007/s00268-022-06610-0. However, expecting something and being prepared for it are not the same thing. Getting up and moving was huge - really helped shake off the remaining cobwebs from the anesthesia. Also, at home, you have to empty and measure the JP drains yourself, and when I had them in my abdomen that as difficult. I know its a bit silly but I am kind of nervous of attending the cancer survivor group. Tuesday morning I saw my surgeon who removed a huge bandage from my neck. On March 8th I had a full eye check and they gave me a new prescription for glasses along with noting that I should have more frequent eye checks (6 months a year) do to the fact that thyroid issues can cause vision changes. I really needed people telling me what was going on. Also, they put on my legs those devices that squeeze your legs to prevent blood clots, they said they'd hook them up in the OR. Early in August my kneed started acting up (been giving me pain for 7 years but I was told they couldnt do anything about it. Endocrine Today | A 27-year-old woman with no significant medical history presented to our institution for management of her thyroid cancer. Calcium level 1 day post TT dropped a bit but so far no tingling sensation on the cheeks / jaw, fingers or around my lips, but i'll know more about after my next blood work in a couple of weeks. This is my biggest problem at the moment, not being able to work out is making me sit here and lose my mind. That's not what happened. Its been almost three months since the surgery, I have no problem in swallowing anymore and my voice is better but not the same. You should not lift any heavy objects for about 2 weeks after your operation to avoid any strain on your neck. I had to make a decision. Do not scrub the wound or put pressure on it with high pressure water or your fingers. and 6mm papillary carcinoma w/ adjacent 2-3mm papillary carcinoma another section 6mm papillary carcinoma and right parathyroid lymph node with thyroid carcinoma 8mm. It's typically worse the day after surgery and quickly begins to get better. government site. As my health slowly improves I am starting out my workout regimen again and slowly building my strength back. You will experience some discomfort at the incision site as well as a raw or sore throat from the breathing tube that . Two weeks ago I wrote a post about my extreme anxiety preparing for a total thyroidectomy and central neck dissection. I was also very coherent and cognitively feeling much better. In any event, we went to the store when I got home and stocked up on ice cream, yogurt and pudding. Don't get a ct scan ask for an ultrasound first. Horners syndrome as described in this case report is a very rare complication after thyroidectomy with fewer than 35 cases reported in the literature, and most cases occur after surgery for malignant thyroid glands associated with lymph node dissection or with surgery for large goiters with retrosternal extension. Call our office at 410-328-6187. Surgery lasted 6.5 hours, NO LYMPH NODES REMOVED, but complete TT. My surgeon kept telling me it's normal after the surgery, but won't give me detail explanation. I still feel some prickling pain inside my neck and when i tried to lift my neck slightly from flat on my back the pain is still quite significant, I don't know if that means i'm still healing or whether i'll keep having the same issue. I was downing water like crazy as well, which helped but also was a double edged sword of making me need to use the restroom quite frequently, which was a chore with all the monitor wires attached. Twenty-eight patients who had undergone thyroidectomy and 28 healthy . I have had unexplained "symptoms" including but not limited to: chronic sinus infections, severe neck pain with left arm numbness and tingling, severe "random" aches, pains and stiffness, chronic "IBS," chronic flu like symptoms; chills and nausea, constant lethargy and sleepiness, chronic diarrhea, rapid irregular heart beat and my weight went from 128 to 116 in the last two months. So hopefully this helps calm down some of you starting to go through this process because its not all bad experiences (and this is coming from someone who has had their cancer spread described as "Chernobyl-like"). The biopsy of the left thyroid nodule was rated as Bethesda category IV (follicular neoplasm), and the lymph node was consistent with metastatic papillary thyroid cancer. I have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep. My time in the ICU was unpleasant, but only because I wasn't able to get any sleep the night before my surgery and the night I was there. Methods: I'm dizzy like I'm drunk and nauseated. Ylinen J, Takala EP, Nyknen M, Hkkinen A, Mlki E, Pohjolainen T, Karppi SL, Kautiainen H, Airaksinen O. JAMA. Then, I was given a warm blanket to put over that. My Experience with thyroid cancer - so far: Papillary and follicular thyroid cancer (differentiated), Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN2), Mental challenges of living with thyroid cancer, ThyCa fundraising and thyroid cancer research grants. It took 26 minutes. The reasons for that are in this post https://www.inspire.com/groups/thyca-thyroid-cancer-survivors-association/discussion/its-100-for-sure-cancer-pathology-report-back/ On Feb 25th I had the first visit to mental health but do to the fact that my hearing was as bad as it was along with the recovering from surgery I was rescheduled for a later time. This hospital uses fentanyl and midazolam post-op. I have heard some things from Dr's here I question a little bit (As I told some people before no low iodine diet was ever recommended etc although I did a 5 day extreme low one so . ). It's a mild annoyance to have to take it every morning, but I feel exactly how I did pre-surgery, and was able to go back to college and get through my hardest semester ever with no feelings of fatigue or anything. The first time I had RAI I had absolutely no symptoms. Ask for the brand name thyroid drug. Recommendations to newbies: I have friends that "had a friend that went through this and they are just fine". My wife took my kids up to her parents in Wisconsin and my mom stayed with me in Chicago. Argue with people or agree with people, agree to disagree if that's what it takes to get you through this. Karen & Dennis. Medicine (Baltimore). And yes, I know it could have been worse. Also, people with darker skin tones may seem to have more noticeable scars due to the contrasting color of pigmentation in scar tissue and skin color. Mostly because this disease caused a huge disruption in my life. They gave me a pill and I drove to a cabin in the mts. Chronic postoperative pain exists in varying degrees for every type of surgery. 9 Mar 2011 1 year from having thyroid removed Pretty much the only physical limitations I have are I wouldn't even think about driving for a while, as I can't really look over my shoulder and I sort of walk like Frankenstein or as I like to put it one of my 4 year old's favorite "well-loved" stuffed animals that has his neck sewn on (I sort of do too)! The patient was diagnosed with Horners syndrome, a disorder characterized by pupil constriction, eyelid drooping, eye protrusion and lack of sweating on one side of the face caused by damage of the ipsilateral cervical sympathetic chain. No idea why this report was 2cm and ultrasound showed 3cm. I know that there is nothing I could have done to control the anxiety, I guess I'm just poorly wired that way or it is a defense mechanism. Answers often cure fears. I got about half a sip down and the other half went all over my hospital gown. I had a softball size tumor and didn't even know it was there, it makes me angry that I didn't, after It was pointed out to me I could actually palm the mass as I swallowed. She was initially seen at an outside hospital where she was found to have a nodule in the left thyroid lobe and a metastatic node in the lateral neck, left level II. The surgical pathology reported a 5 cm papillary thyroid cancer in the left lobe of the thyroid with lymphovascular invasion, microscopic positive surgical margins, with five of 59 positive lymph nodes (two left level IIA nodes, one Delphian node and two level VI nodes). An observational case-control study was carried out. and his team (same group who did the right one). We got to know each other, and exchanged some friendly banter on a variety of topics including football and hockey. September 13th I had my follow-up at Madigan for my ear surgery, I still have dizziness so they scheduled me for a follow-up hearing test as well as a CT scan and some Vestibular (Balance) training. This site needs JavaScript to work properly. Also, for me that was nice because they normally come out on day 2 to 4 after surgery and that would have meant another 100 mile round trip to get the JP drain removed. I got 57mci of RAI. On the 4th of May 2010 I was back at Madigan for a radiation count on my thyroid followed by my second uptake dose of radiation (RI-123 UPTAKE) 2.8 mCi I-123 t1/2= 13.2 hours She was right, the yogurt was a snap to get down while the apple juice was really painful. Difficulty swallowing. One local and one about 50 miles away at a major teaching hospital. Before So I went on my low iodine diet (lid) for 2 weeks - I screwed up and had been using coconut milk with carageenan in it so I had to do lid for two more weeks! However, patients who undergo thyroid surgery often experience discomfort symptoms such as stretching, pressing, or choking feelings in the neck, headache, shoulder stiffness, and difficulty in moving the neck or shoulders. The first few sips of water are described below, but then the pain quickly got better over the next week. Your neck is likely to be swollen and may feel hard and numb right after the surgery. PMC I really haven't had pain since mid-lsat week. They did look at the CT scan report and told me that all the radiation was in the neck and that was a good thing and the scan looked clean but I will have to wait for the official follow-up with my endocrinologist on the 18th of June for the Official results. But, the pain I had last night was sharp. Ultrasound revealed another Lymphnode near Thryoid bed that is 1.5cm (Where did that come from, could it be enlarged due to surgery? On Friday the 8th of October I will have the stitches removed from my eyebrow everything looking good. As his caregiver I am feeling so helpless. The bottom line is that as soon I said I'd had a positive FNA and that the nodule was greater than 1cm I was told no. Then a bunch of insurance crap happened (my entire surgery may not be covered because the ENT was not on my list of docs I could see - this is bs but a completely different story) and I had to start driving an hour away to see an endocrinologist. So many people just blindly trust anyone with an 'MD' in their title, but call people you know who have gone through it, meet with multiple different doctors, make sure your surgeon does hundreds of these a year. The patient reported no radiation exposure to head or neck during childhood, but she had a positive family history of thyroid cancer in two paternal cousins, nontoxic multinodular goiter in her father and sister, hypothyroidism in her mother and hyperthyroidism in her maternal grandmother. My biggest node was 3.5cm, with a couple other in the 2-3cm range, plus ~30 cancerous lymph nodes. I reminded them I was 50 miles away, and they said to keep my phone with me. MeSH I went home around noon the next day and the hour long drive home wasn't that bad. Can it grow that fast from elevated TSH levels? Family has been very patient with my mood swings, thank God! Things seem better and worse at the same time. Today it seems very logical to have asked for something like that, but at the time I was just in the frame of mind to wait. You can get angry or upset if you want, but in the end it is what it is and you got to just keep pushing along with your life. This close anatomical relationship with the thyroid makes the sympathetic trunk and the middle cervical ganglion vulnerable during thyroidectomy, especially when performed with a central neck dissection for metastatic nodes. This cancer also caused me to put radiation through my entire body possibly damaging me AND my family. But, on leaving the hospital I was told to come to the doctor's office in a week for my replacement prescription. I know this is long but if you are new to this, maybe hearing my story will be helpful. The combination with of nortriptyline 10 mg per day and . It was another small blow knowing that I had 2 types of thyroid cancer not one. Background: Once your thyroid is removed you are now . Ask for prayers. [4] I also never took any narcotic pain killers after surgery. National Library of Medicine Prior to RAI some surgeons recommend T4 and Thyrogen (which is what my surgeon did at our pre-op visit) and some recommend T3 temporarily and going hypo. On Sept 7th did follow up scan and 1 definite lymphnode lit up in an obscure location, so then was ordered for AG, AGant, and full neck ultrasound (WISH THEY HAD DONE ALL THAT EARLIER). So, I expected the experience to be a bit like an assembly line. By really looked into it I mean I called lots of doctors looking for one to do the robot assisted surgery. RAI was determined to be unnecessary, though I see my oncologist every 3 months (had one scare where some of my lymph nodes blew up necessitating a CAT scan last year), my endocrinologist every 6 months, and have my neck ultrasounded every 6 months. After 7 days I went for my body scan. The surgery went well but do to low calcium and magnesium levels (parathyroid(s) where not fully functioning) I was kept in the hospital for 2 days to ensure my parathyroids were maintaining proper levels. Swallowing discomfort. Although, some people swear they can't hear it, I can hear it all the time. I visited her in the hospital on the 18th she was looking real worn out that day, but by the 19th when I took Sylvia there she was doing much better. I was there a short time where I met briefly with a surgical nurse, my anesthesiologist, and my surgeon. Now though my right knee has been making me limp a bit for the past few weeks will have a Dr Appointment while on convalescence leave. Do they usually do AG and AGant blood work right after TT? The visit included an ultra sound and 6 needles biopsy of the mass. This is probably the single most important thing that you understand if your thyroid has been removed. Before my thyroidectomy I experienced ear pain on and off, where it felt like a sharp, stabbing pain around my left ear. It continued for maybe a couple of weeks and always took me by surprise. 2) Got results July 26th and they showed nearly 3cm mass on ultrasound in right lobe of thyroid, all blood work was normal. 14 Months After Thyroidectomy. This is normal and will gradually get better as the wound heals. Because I had such an intense spread, my surgical experience was a bit different than others. Also I had a follow up with my mental health provider. Follicular carcinoma minimally invasive (7.1 cm) On May 14th I went back to Madigan for follow-up CT scans. When I first started this journey I read that thyroid cancer is a good cancer to have and I told my family this to ease their fears (and mine). The tonsillectomy was pure hell! I blacked out again for a couple minutes and awoke in the recovery room asking the surgeon multiple times if he was going to do the surgery. The result of the biopsy concluded Papillary Carcinoma. Horners syndrome was described in 1853 by French physiologist Claude Bernard and then by the Swiss ophthalmologist Johann Horner in 1869. An MRI of my neck (ordered by orthopedic due to neck pain) showed not only several herniated bulging discs- but a mass on my right thyroid gland.
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