Like many other people on this board, I’m in the position of making the decision between RAI and surgery to completely kill my thyroid. My endo is strongly recommending a large dose of RAI in addition to steroids and oribital radiation (I already have TED). Surgery looked like the better alternative to me, but here in Canada I’m looking at a six month wait before that could be done. I’ve been hyper for six months already, and in that time my thyroid has doubled in size. I don’t want to wait for another half year to have the problem taken care of. My biggest concern here is whether or not having RAI would make the thyroid smaller. As the thyroid enlargement doesn’t show as a goiter, but rather has swollen into my throat, I’m having a difficult time swallowing & eating. Does RAI actually make the thyroid shrink in size? Would the golf ball that’s been stuck in my throat actually go away with RAI, or is surgery the only way to get that gone?? Anyone know the answer to this one?
Laurie
