[Tica3]

in reply to: TT and eye disease symptoms #1184588

Thank you Kimberly and emmtee.
I feel that the eye involvement in my case sort of pushed my decision to do the surgery as I was a bit panicked when my vision was diminished. I went for that consult and the surgeon’s office was so “gung ho” on surgery. They admitted that they are bias towards surgery but the PA in the office said his wife had a TT for cancer and she does fine, the numbers would be easier to control etc. I jumped right in and then of course when I was at home recovering, I started second guessing my decision but of course, why bother as I can’t go back. I believe that if I had just started with the Graves and never had gone through several years of being hypo I might have waited longer but the thought of being on the methamazole for however long and then what? go hypo again? Surgeon had mentioned that the fluctuations are what can really keep the eye disease from stabilizing so here I am. So far I don’t feel to bad and I plan to be very diligent about taking my medicine, getting my tests done and pushing my doctors if I don’t feel right. Unfortunately, there seems to be a shortage of endocrinologists and I can’t even get in to see my doctor until Jan. She communicates with me via a messaging system and we both can view my results on the same system. It’s not as good as face to face but I manage. I will keep posting and asking/answering questions. Great to find a place like this where folks know exactly what you are going through!

[Tica3]

in reply to: TT and eye disease symptoms #1184585

Hi All,
I just found this site and topic as I have been searching for info on post op thyroidectomy. I am now 6 days post op from my TT. I was diagnosed with Graves this past April 2016 after I noticed my one eye bulging in pictures and I knew it was something to do with my thyroid. Back in 2014 I was dx with hypothyroidism after a long agonizing 5-6 year battle with my health and searching for answers. After finally producing lab numbers that would justify treatment, I was put on Synthroid and it served me very well and I was very happy to just get on with life. Well, it was not to be. Once I noticed my eye (not many other new symptoms), my GP ran my labs again and it showed I was now hyper (after having very stable labs for over a year). I was sent to the endocrinologist and she ran the antibody tests for Graves and sure enough I had it. After learning about all 3 treatments, I was very sure I wanted the surgery. I did have to stop the Synthroid and start methamazole which I did not feel great on but I had to get those numbers down in any case. The eye specialist I visited has not seen any damage yet to the nerves but agrees that my other eye has started to swell and in my “worse” eye, the eye sight has diminished. That scared me more than anything so I wanted the fasted resolution to getting my eyes a chance to go back to normal without more than a possible eyelid surgery. I knew and trusted the surgeon because he had done my son’s 1/2 thyroid/parathyroid surgery back in 2010. Most agreed that it was a good choice for me due to the auto immune problems/fluctuations in my thyroid levels. The eye doctor will not do any treatments for me until the hormones are under control. I was not worried about the surgery itself too much and it has gone very well so far.
I still believe this was the right choice for me and I did see all the studies suggesting the same. As I am only a few days out, I am hoping for the best for a decent thyroid-less future. The only worry I have now is from all the negative stories I have read from people regretting the surgery, gaining 100lbs etc. Why is it we have to dig deeper to hear the positive ones? I hope I don’t have those issues. I’ll do my best to stay positive and will let anyone who is contemplating surgery, know how it goes!

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