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in reply to: Post TT Rides and Scars #1179772amosmcd wrote:Karen, my incision was itching like crazy after a week, but I’m sensitive to adhesives. So glad when the steri-strips got pulled off. I still don’t like having anything touch my scar. It’s getting less sensitive with time, but still can’t wear shirts that aren’t v-neck or open collar. I think when the ridge under the scar finally goes away it will not be so easy for fabric to rub on the incision.
Amy
Amy it never occurred to me until you mentioned this sensitivity – itching went away and brushing up against the scar became so much less irritating after I met with the surgeon and she had taken the strip off.
This was a great question, and lots of informative responses… I have always wondered the same thing. It also made me laugh, as I found myself paying honor to my catastrophe-anticipating lineage and asking myself, as I began to feel itchy, “Ok, if my immune system doesn’t have a thyroid to attack, when will the hives appear?”
I have also always wondered what kind of role stress plays. Or rather, keeping the stress in without some kind of outlet like mediation, exercise, therapy, dogs, etc.
Cheers,
Billin reply to: How to talk with friends/family about Graves’ #1179666brondack wrote:CycleColo2013 wrote:Brondack may have been referring to me when he said Bill – unless there’s another Bill participating on the site. Us guys with GD are small in number…I didn’t mean to be referring to anyone – other than myself – as I am also a Bill
WOW two Bills with GD!! And both on the GDTF site – what are the odds of that?!!?
in reply to: How to talk with friends/family about Graves’ #1179663Hi Misslex,
Glad to see you on the site. I am relatively new too. I joined a few weeks ago during one of my fearful pre-TT fits of uncertainty. This means most of the scrounging for articles and forum reading I’ve done so far through the site has been about thyroid surgery and what to expect and not necessarily about the emotional effects and support networks we seek.Brondack may have been referring to me when he said Bill – unless there’s another Bill participating on the site. Us guys with GD are small in number…
I love what has been said so far… it helps to read as much as you can and to remember it does affect everyone differently. You will also find many opinions on what to do – whether it is small decisions about diet and exercise or big decisions about medication, RAI, surgery. The good news is you do not have to make any decision today, especially if you are apprehensive and uncertain.
For myself, I’ve seen some dark places some of which are thyroid related. At times it has been difficult to believe things might normalize. And I can become overcome with fear and dread which increases my anxiety even more. This happened most often when my numbers are off. It quite easy to be wound up about what to do, what will happen, and the what if. Like you, I am lucky to have a supportive partner. He has been extremely patient with my mood swings, irritability, irrationality, fear, short fuse and depression. A great source of support, no doubt but as my total support network – way too much to expect. My mother, siblings? Fuggedaboutit! In the long run it has been the therapist and two or three close friends I’ve been able to level with that have helped. If they didn’t know about GD before, they were happy to learn. With them I could rant and rave and be scared, and I would be reminded by them that it’s all o.k.
So while you seek out that support, let us here all tell you, IT IS GOING TO BE OKAY! You will find the right path for you, you do not have to do it today, and if you are not choosing today, you don’t have to worry today about what might happen with whatever path you choose.
I hope this is helpful.
One of the more surprising things I’ve experienced recently when I finally abandoned the “post-surgery Jacqueline Onassis incognito” look every time I left the house, is that I repeatedly found myself having a similar conversation with friends and acquaintances I bump into…
Friend or acquaintance: What’s up with the scar?
Bill: I had my thyroid taken out.
Friend or acquaintance: Wow, is everything okay?
Bill: Yes. For many years I’ve had Graves Disease, essentially an overactive thyroid. I’ve had success managing it with medication, but it became clear it was never going to go into remission and it was time to do something about it.
Friend or acquaintance: Wow. That’s great. What does the thyroid do?Wow, indeed. Wishing you the best in sorting it out, hang in there.
Billin reply to: Gabe’s Total Thyroidectomy Journal – 5/31/13 #1179606Yipee Karen!!!!!!! So glad it went well!!!!
in reply to: Gabe’s Total Thyroidectomy Journal – 5/31/13 #1179598Karen –
Will keep you in my heart and thoughts tomorrow! I am very hopeful for you – As you know I am only a week ahead of you in line and in the last two days I’ve caught a glimpse or two of normal… and someone who saw me today who hasn’t seen me in awhile said, “You have a neck again!!!”Bill
in reply to: Just for Fun – The “Off Topic” Thread! #1177858I really enjoyed Sonya Sotomayor’s biography. Her candidness and introspection made me realize how cynical I’ve become about the high court and our legislators. Regardless of whether you are liberal or conservative it wins as an inspirational triumph over tragedy.
I couldn’t figure out a way to upload a picture of our dogs… Pete is a puggle, (half pug half beagle) Tina is all beagle. I don’t recall where my boy’s got the name. Tina is named after the inimitable actress who portrayed Ginger in Gilligan’s Island. Pete came first, followed by Tina 11 months later.
Prior to getting Tina my partner Richard had been on about Pete needing some company during the day. I did not give it much thought until one day, my birthday, he calls me at my office. “I think I’ve made a mistake. I have taken the boys to the pet store and they are determined to get you a dog for your birthday. One is crying and the other has his heart set on either a female beagle or a male chuieenie. (I am not even sure how to spell it – it is pronounced “chew-eenie”. It is a cross between a Chihuahua and a
Dacshsund.”)After ranting and raving a bit that he was the psychologist and should know better than to take a five and six year old to “look” at dogs. But I also told him to do what he needed to do and if he couldn’t get out of there without a dog, get the beagle.
Then I thought about it. Beagles dig, chew, howl, bay and escape at every opportunity. She will remind my puggle that he is half beagle and bring out the worst traits. I sent a text – “go for the male dog.” I am not sexist when it comes to dogs, but we will end up creating two high maintenance dogs.”
I commuted by bike that day, and when I arrived home and opened the garage, there was a dainty pink leash with a gigantic pink bow on it. In a flash out came two boys and a very small beagle…
Every now and again the boys still as, “dad, what was the BEST birthday present you ever got…” and of course I say, Tina Louise. Who knew high maintenance dogs could be so much fun?
Bill
in reply to: My total thyroidectomy journal #1178831Amy – you can’t scare me!!! 😮 Seriously, I am comforted by your details. It is helping me keep my expectations in check. Tomorrow will mark a week since surgery. Today was the best day yet in terms of having any energy whatsoever. Though I must admit there were two times during the day I experienced some sort of outer world exhaustion that hit like a ton of bricks and ended up sitting at the kitchen table staring into space.
I used to be an overweight sedentary smoker that considered strawberry pop tarts a serving of fruit, so I am with you on the desire to leave those pounds behind. I’ve gotten the, “oh, if you lose any more weight you’re going to disappear.” Hardly. My BMI is still to high, I’ve actually got another 15 or so pounds to go but I am not in any rush.
I am worried that by getting the beast hacked out I may have given myself a setback in stamina when it comes to riding my bike. So I am taking your advice and looking upon it as a journey. I figure if I did it once, I can do it again, and it’s like you said – I have no regrets. I know this is part of moving toward a healthier existence. I will get there if I am patient!
Thank you so much for all your updates….keep ’em coming please.
Cheers,
BillHi Caro,
It’s a shame that when I had my thyroid hacked out last week I got rid of three months of Methimazole; we could have started a bootleg market in thyroid drugs!
I can’t tell you what to do – but I can share my experience. Over the years I’ve found out that it pays to trust my gut on these kinds of decisions and make sure that I am dealing with someone who hears what I am saying and treats my concerns respectfully.
Sometimes the less experienced, generally younger, are afraid to be wrong so they are assertive in their recommendations because they are unable to put aside arrogance and insecurity and simply say, “you got a point.” Though, the fact that he agreed to continue for three months tells me this may not be so. If he is overly experienced, perhaps he thinks he has seen so many cases, he has forgotten to look at the individual and to listen. I commend the people that are doing this for a living…but they aren’t perfect. And I found that two I went to who had more accolades and reputation in their field were the least likely to listen.
Or perhaps, he has some perfectly rational reason for his thinking and hasn’t taken the time out to hear your concerns and to explain his reasoning. He owes you that. And while you will be able to sort it with him, you can always get a second opinion if you aren’t feeling good about this one.
I started methimazole in 1998 and had a fifteen year run with it. Every time my numbers came back good, dose got lowered. The numbers would stay good, I would feel sluggish and apathetic and eventually stop taking the medication. Five or six months later I’d find myself in a hyperthyroid state – rash decisions, quick with the tongue, impatient… Then my partner would say – when was the last time you got your numbers checked. Given your history, you likely do not want that experience.
The most recent run before the surgery was the longest “normal” period I’ve had – and I kept taking a 10 mg. dose of medication every other day or every third day. I was in range for something like 4 or 5 years, and I did think that would be it. (When I got out of sorts again and my numbers were off is when I made the decision to have surgery, but that is a completely different discussion. It had nothing to do with the safety and efficacy of methimazole.)
So I guess what I am saying is make sure you are heard, get explanations, and if you don’t feel like that is happening get a second opinion from someone who helps make decisions based on numbers AND what the patient says is their experience… Cheers, Bill
in reply to: Cyclist post-TT #1179464I was lucky as far as nausea. My surgery was not first up. It was scheduled for 11:00 and began an hour late. I did not have a drop to drink or eat after 1 am the night before. They said I could have a sip of water with morning meds; I forced myself to swallow them dry. I don’t know if any of it made a difference. It might be thanks to the cast iron stomach I inherited from the paternal side of the gloom and doom catastrophe anticipating ancestry (I mentioned in an earlier post).
I did not have too much difficulty swallowing that first night, but the pills were small, the calcium chewable, and I was still too out of it (anesthesia) to see the menu continued after breakfast. I ordered blueberry pancakes and turkey sausage. Pancakes were soft, easy. Sausage was too uncomfortable. Overall, the difficulty in swallowing cleared up pretty quickly.
When counting the number of days to pass before levothyroxine on day 5. I decided to include my day of surgery, I am ready to mix it up.
Today – still somewhat sore, low energy and was not successful finding a shirt in my closet that would cover the scar and bruising and was lightweight enough not to keep from laying on irritating the scar. It was also a day to contemplate some emotions associated with this.
What the surgeon likely said about recovery was, “You will probably be pretty wiped out for a couple of days. Some people get hyper the next day because they’ve got extra hormone floating around, and hyper is more dangerous than a little bit of hypo, so we wait a few days on the hormone replacement. Just focus on paying attention to the calcium.”
Wait, did someone just ask what I heard the surgeon say?
“Most patients wake up feeling great the next day because they have extra hormone floating around and then they do too much and crash the following day. You will be fine if you take it easy. And if that feel good day doesn’t happen to you it is probably because you have done something wrong, you have a calcium issue or because there is something so physically wrong that is going to make you one of those 1 in 100,000 that would have been better off never letting a butcher withe her scalpel near you.”
I know what your thinking – this guy is a complete neurotic. And he must be lying in that earlier post when he said he had years of therapy. What can I say? When you are raised by prophets of doom with cast iron stomachs and you are scared and drained by “minor” surgery you sometimes resort to old and comfortable patterns.
So this morning when I failed to muster the requisite energy to jump out of bed and embrace the day, and my arm was tingling I feared “calcium issue.” Until I remembered, the tingling in my arm is what I feel every Sunday when I lay on top of my arm for thirty minutes reading the NY Times on my iPhone. And the reason I have that Sunday morning habit because I need something to fill the time between waking up and getting out of bed because in my 48 years on the planet I have never jumped out of bed, happy to embrace the day!
Without the aforementioned therapy, I would have wasted tons of time trying to get the surgeon on the phone so i could find out day where I should get my calcium levels checked on a Sunday. Instead I surrendered to another day of allowing myself some recovery time, I got the boys outside for a walk with the dogs and I drove my son to his piano lesson and got to hear him take on and begin to play a new piece.
The other thing I acknowledged to myself today is I feel like finally taking some drastic action on the thyroid issue was a phenomenal step, it isn’t a panacea for other stuff going on, nor does it make the “to do” list evaporate, and even though I am sitting here not in the greatest physical or psychic space, I have some regret I didn’t do it sooner.
in reply to: A Cyclist’s Two Days until TT #1179315The albatross has been lifted from my neck. Okay, that was corny but I am still a bit loop from the surgery meds. Glad to be out of O.R.
I cannot pretend to know what is best for any other person, however now that the fear has subsided, my conviction that this is the best choice for me. Happy memorial day weekend everyone.in reply to: A Cyclist’s Two Days until TT #1179312Thank you all for these encouraging thoughts…I am going in less anxious because I am taking them with me. I will let you know how it goes!
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