[jansm]

#1061255

I underwent surgery about 23 months ago. The worst thing was a headache for 2 days, due to the position your neck/head is in during the actual surgery. I was eating normally the day after surgery, although swallowing was a little difficult. I was told not to drive for about 2 weeks, due to limited range of neck/head movement. I think that was the most difficult part. Each surgeon may have different opinions on driving restrictions after surgery.

Otherwise, I was back to fairly normal activities — although not playing soccer — within 5-7 days. I am older than your daughter, so she may bounce back evenly more quickly.

If the surgeon feels the timing is appropriate, that seems to be a good sign!

[sportnut2]

#1017839

My 18YO daughter was diagnosed 2/11 with levels this endo had never seen in his practice.
Lab Tests Range Date
2/8/2011
(TPO) Ab 0-20 IU/mL 529
T3 71-180 ng/dL >651
TSH 0.450-4.500 uIU/mL <0.006
T4 0.93-1.60 ng/dL >7.77
Antithyroglobulin, Ab 0-40 IU/mL <20
Thyroglobulin, Qn 0.5-55.0 ng/mL 179

Also large goiter. Has been on MMI 40mg, then 20 mg, then 30 mg since then. Added 75 mcg Synthroid. Levels needed to be stabilized for her to finish high school and lacrosse season and before decision of surgery or RAI. She is now on 30mg MMI and Synthroid 75 mcg and wants to have surgery to resolve before leaving for college 8/25. I am wondering if anyone has experience with recovery times for surgery. Her surgeon, who is a leader in his field, said she would recover in time for start of college with an 8/9 surgery date and 8/25 college orientation. Her endo agrees this is enough time. She is also planning to tryout for a soccer team which begins soon after 8/25, probably 8/29 or soon thereafter. She is an athlete who is in good physical condition and playing competitive soccer right now on this med regimen. Her levels are now stablized enough to do surgery:

TSH 0.450-4.500 uIU/mL 0.292 as of 7/2/11
T4 0.93-1.60 ng/dL 1.39 as of 7/2/11

For those that have had surgery, how soon were you able to return to work, school , exercise? This is her first year at college, so playing soccer is very important to her as it is where she is most able to make new friends. She is at a good fitness level right now, but will need to take time off for the surgery, so it may be difficult for her to return to optimal fitness prior to the tryout. Just wondering if there are any other athletes out there who have had surgery.

Thanks!
Suzanne

[snelsen]

#1061256

Agree!
And I meant to mention to you and your daughter that I am so so grateful for you both that you ended up with good people following your care! AND that it did not take the next four years for a doc to THINK of Graves’. It is still way too frequent that this happens. When it does, it wrecks havoc on people, their families. Good for you!
Shirley

[sportnut2]

#1061257

Dear Shirley,
We were very fortunate to get good care so quickly. When I took her family doctor after noticing her neck swollen extremely (goiter), she took blood and gave advice to see endo. Trying to get an appt with Endo I was told the first was 6 weeks away! or see another doc in 4 weeks! I took the appt and then something inside me said that this was just not right. I called the Endo back right away and got a guardian angel. I explained to her just how large the goiter was and that something had to be terribly wrong. She sensed the fear in my voice and asked if we could come in 7:30am next day. Thank goodness she did this for us as the night before my daughter played in a varsity basketball game and would have continued to play unitl that 4-6 week appt possibly collapsing from heart failure in the process! She had been trying harder and harder bc her coach had been getting annoyed at her and benched her thinking she was not trying hard enough. She herself thought she was just out of shape bc she had actually gained a little weight instead of losing like most people. (she had lost weight early on in the process and then was gaining as the goiter showed up and she was eating like a teenage boy) I was a little annoyed at the coach bc she went from being one of the first in the windsprints at practice to dead last way behind a girl who had been last all season. He never called to see if something could be wrong or never wondered why she was having such trouble keeping up. Fortunately it all worked out even though she was sad she had to miss the last part of her final season in high school because her heart was so overworked until the meds brought it down. The doc said she was running the equivalent of 2 marathons just sitting on the exam table! Unfortunately her youth and denial that something could be wrong let the symptoms go on way too long, but we also did not notice the goiter until putting Vicks on her chest for a bad cough! Turns out the goiter was 4x size of a normal thyroid! Yikes! It has been a roller coaster ride but we are grateful to everyone who has helped us and also anyone who posted their story on this board bc it does help to know the experiences of other people! Thank you again for your kind words and anyone who is reading this, keep pushing for the care you deserve until you get it!
Suzanne

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