Total Thryoidectomy Update

Hello again. Sorry I haven’t been on here for a while. I wanted to revamp this whole site and tell my story from beginning to end but never had the time. I really wanted to create something here that would help people going in for a total thyroidectomy. Having the total thyroidectomy is scary and having been through it I wanted a place where others who are about to go through it could read someone else’s experience.

So to recap, I have my entire thyroid removed 8/28/07. It is now over a year later and I am doing fine! There is hope. It took about a year, but my medication is finally straightened out, whew. The doctor who said 200 mcg was the synthroid maximum was incorrect. I am now taking 225 mcg of synthroid a day and my number last time was a 0.42. Which is exactly where they want you to be, if you have had cancer they want to keep your number below a one and above a 0 so you don’t go hyperthyroid.

The bad new over a year later is that the forty pounds I gained after surgery is still with me. We are not friends but it won’t leave. I was under the false impression this entire year that when my medicine was straightened out, the extra pounds would come off. Not true. It is actually a struggle to maintain my sleek 185 – 180 pounds. I fluxuate between the two almost daily but have seen a 179 on the scale only once in all of this time. The synthroid levels or thyroid hormone levels being at the recommended level has not helped me at all.

I still get tired in the afternoons, but I no longer seriously require a nap every day. Around 3:00 I do lose a great deal of energy. I do get up at 6:15 in the morning everyday and am at work at 7:00, just to put it in to perspective. When we have staff meetings at 4:00 it is a very long and arduous day. When I do get home at 3:00 if I don’t take a nap, I do usually slow down my activities. I definitely need to sit for a while, even if it is sitting down and preparing supper. So the sheer exhaustion of after the surgery is gone, but the tiredness is not completely gone. I know I feel good, but can’t remember how good felt before surgery, if you know what I mean. I do recall that before surgery, I could never sleep during the day, but now if I get the opportunity to lay down in the afternoon, I’m drooling on the pillow in minutes. My body is definitely more tired now.

One other thing that is different now since the surgery that I attribute to having the total thyroidectomy surgery without medical evidence is my memory loss. It is difficult for me to remember things. I have started carrying a little notebook with me. I also now decide that some things aren’t even worth the effort it takes to try to remember. Last month I was trying to name my favorite Tony Morrison book and could not think of it, someone else was guessing titles and didn’t guess it. I honestly could not even bring myself to try to recall, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to. I came home and looked on my bookshelf and told the person the next day. It is just exhausting mentally to try to recall things that before the surgery I would have known without a doubt. It is so bad I try to hide it at work by writing everything down. I don’t forget the lessons I want to teach but have to write down the order I wanted to do things. It is quite odd, but I do definitely attribute it to the total thyroidectomy surgery.

I also take my synthroid at night right before bed, and that seems to work for me!

That is my update, I hope everyone is doing well too. If you ever have any questions, just put them into comments and I’ll answer you.