Post Thyroid Surgery Question

[kacoby]

My husband had a total thyroidectomy along with removing a cyst on one side of the thyroid and a solid mass on the other side on April 1.  During the surgery one of the parathyroids was removed, one was transplanted into a muscle in his neck and the other two remained intact.  Prior to surgery his calcium level was 11, the doctor said a little high.  During surgery the calcium dropped to an almost undetectable level, I think he said .5  He was given a calcium iv during the surgery.  He is still in the hospital and has received 2 additional iv calcium infusions and increasing doses of calcium tablets and tums.  Still the levels drop back to around .85 daily.  

Has anyone else been through this and can you give me any hope for how long it can take to get him stabalized so that the IV is no longer required.  It has been so discouraging to this point.

[kacoby]

We have been told that there is every reason to believe that the parathroids may just start to work again at some point.  But it is just so hard to watch the numbers come up with the infusions and then steadily drop.  We wait each time just hoping for some little sign that things are getting better, and then it is such a let down.  

Thank you for responding, we are both feeling so alone and it is nice to hear from people who do understand.

Kathy

[nissah46]

I had my TT in May, 2006. Two parathyroids were removed and the remaining two were what they called "stunned". I was kept in the hospital  for 1 week,until they got my calcium levels up. Since then they have not been able to sustain proper levels without taking 2000mg. of calcium with 1000mg of vitamenD. I get my levels checked every 3 weeks and they slip if I miss any Calcium dose. The doctors can't really say if the parathyroids will resume working at this point, since they usually do so within the first month, but have been known to take much longer.  Good luck to your husband.  It is important to pay attention to the signs of low calcium.
Trish

[imedicmommy]

I have never had this quite as bad as your husband, I have to take calcium daily after my TT. But what I have read is that sometimes the parathyroids can be kind of paralyzed during the surgery and not function. Ususally they come back and function fine. I was told that it could take awhile, with no definition of what "awhile" meant. There is a website www.parathyroidism.com that should be able to give you more information. I wish you and your husband the very best of luck. I can certainly understand why you would be worried. Please keep posting and let us know how he is doing.