17 year old doctors want to remove Thyroid

[Jimrod]

Biopies show suspicious cell activity in Thyroid posible cancerous. Phy. told to advise removal. We have him set up with Endocrenologist/Surgeon. What should I ask him. Want to be sure this is absolutely the right decision. Treat or remove please help. Also want to know recovery for school sports. We are very positve and hopeful for a happy ending to this. Please advise on options and recovery.
Thanks

[Fuel1212]

Surgery is a piece of cake, but like everyone says....please research surgeons. Mine did 3 a week! Also, let them know that you need your voice for your future occupation. Even if this isn;t the case. I sing for friends and Church and my voice is everything to me. I made sure the surgeon knew this.

After surgery, you will have hoarseness. Usually your vocal chords get temporarily paralyzed from the tube down your throat from the anesthesiologist. Don't worry about this too much and don't clear your throat for a few days. After a few days...I practice low volume humming to try to get my chords back in sync. Took a few months before my voice was completely back and then a month or 2 for singing again.

As far as sports....you are young and will bounce back fast. Get a good endo or thyroid specialist lined up after. Getting your levels and symptoms taken care of will be unfortunately the hardest part. You need someone that treats based on symptoms and not numbers!

Hope this helps, Keep me in the loop
Fuel

[utahmomma]

My daughter had her thyroid removed when she was 16 based on multiple, suspicious nodules and the fact that her mother (me) and three of my sisters had just been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.  My daughter's nodules turned out to be atypical (precancerous) but, based on the family's thyroid issues, the pathologist said the cells were only a year or so away from turning cancerous.

Today my daughter is 22 and is a happily married mother to a 1-year old beauty.  My daughter was able to compete in sports in school and had no lasting effects.

It does happen to young adults but their lives can go on "normally" - they will just have to know they will be on medication the rest of their lives.

Hope this helps

Utahmomma
papillary carcinoma '03, second surgery '04, recurrence and RAI '06
three sisters with papillary carcinoma (one with three recurrences/RAI)
another sister and daughter with precancerous thyroid nodules

[blsdnsvd]

First off, keep copies of all medical records. When you visit the endo ask as many questions as you want answered..such as "what does the biopsy results mean?", "is surgery really necessary and if so are they recommending partial or total removal"?, "what are the chances that the cells are cancerous"?  and i can tell you that if their are suspicious cells within the nodule then removal will be recommended. A second and even third opinion should be warranted.

[MANmom]

Any family history of thyroid disease?  Luckily you have time on your side, and if it is cancer you can live without the thyroid, lot's of us do. Usually thyroid cancer does not spread rapidly, you could wait and recheck in six months if your doctor thinks that is a good idea.  Regarding sports, I was a runner, ran five to six times a week, after two surgeries (I also had cancer) I am feeling almost normal.  It did take a while to find my correct levels of hormone.  I am now running again, but I am 45 and my stamina is not what it used to be.  What sport do you play?  Check out one of the Arizona Diamondback pitchers, I think his name is Doug Davis (first name Doug, not sure about last, but it is not very long) or something like that.  He just took off 2008 season due to his thyroid cancer, and he is now back and throwing.  The surgery is a piece of cake, I was up and walking a mile or so two days after surgery.  After surgery if you don't have cancer, then recovery will be faster; if you do, then you will have to decide with your doctor whether or not you will need Radioactive Iodine Treatment.  If RAI, you will have to wait a few weeks while you get really hypo (you will be extremely tired) then once you get dosed, you can then take hormone meds.  Getting the right dose will take another two or three months, depending on you metabolism.  My best advice is to get a really experienced surgeon, one who does at least 50 thyroid surgeries a year.  The danger is that they might damage your recurrent laryngeal nerve that runs through the thyroid...if that is damaged, you may have permanent vocal hoarseness or at the worst a permanent tracheostomy.  A good surgeon should be able to avoid damage to the vocal nerve.  Good luck, I hope this helps.