Worrisome development, need medical advice

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Ok guys, I was recently diagnosed as being hyperthyroid and tests by my endocrinologist show a toxic nodule on one side of my thyroid. The endocrinologist wants me to do radioactive iodine treatment which I’m not too crazy about. Something about emitting radiation for 3-5 days, at levels high enough to be dangerous to the wife and pets concerns me. If they’re in danger of radiation, what about me, I drank the stuff!
Plus my gene pool is not favorable to this cancer-wise. While my dad is still doing well at 92 years old (and he smoked for 70 years and still chews on cigars), my mother died at 39 from cancer. Her mother, sister, brother all died of cancer pretty early in life.

So radioactive iodine is out. Pills to control hyperthyroidism won’t help that toxic nodule, so it looks like surgery is in my very near future.

So the question is this: has anybody dealt with this sort of thing and can give ‘ol DV some advice? The surgery is supposedly minimally invasive but there’s lots that could go wrong with vocal cords and other stuff. Any insight is deeply appreciated.
TIA double vanos.
 
Second opinion, few people on this site can offer valuable advice about this.

Something like this is very case/patient specific.
 
Years ago my dad had his cataracts removed. The doctor who worked on him was very old. He did one eye at a time. The first eye went fine. But the doctor messed up the second eye. An eye surgeon with much more skill had to work on him to fix it, and that surgeon was successful. After that my thoughts on it were that the first surgeon was too old and should of retired, and if the more capable surgeon had done the operations in the first place then there would not have been any mess up requiring correction.

My mother had her thyroid removed many years ago and her surgeon was very skilled. He left the shell of the thyroid but nothing inside of it. And he closed her up in a way that she practically has no scar at all. She has to take a pill every day to make up for not having a thyroid, and he doctor never seems to be happy about her blood levels. It seams like every year he either increases or decreases the strength of that pill.

I have a cousin who has a huge scar from having her thyroid worked on and scars are something women hate.

With Coved, it is going to be hard to access hospital personnel, but if I were going in for an operation I would want to speak to the nurses. They can tell you who they would choose to operate on them if they were having an operation.

In lieu of accessing nurses, you might look online at the comments about the different doctors in you area that do the kind of operation you require.

I spent a couple of years assisting in a hospital, though not in the section that does the operation you require. But I can tell you that the skill level of the doctors varies, Sometimes by a lot. Usually the doctor who is the top doctor in charge of a section of a hospital and has other doctors who he is in charge of, is the doctor with the most surgical skill. And usually that doctors skills are remarkable. They do stuff in a short time, and do it very well, and make it look easy, and if you did not know any better you might take it for granite, but really they are doing things that other doctors can not do.
 
My sister had both the radioactive iodine and then the surgery. No scar. No lingering issues.

Being hypothyroid is easy, you dial in the dose of synthyroid (synthetic hormone, replacing the thyroid output that's been lowered by radiation or surgery), and you are 100% normal.

Thyroid disease is easily treatable, easily managed and there are a lot of folks walking around who have had similar. Far more than you imagine.

That said - Bob is NOT the medical guy, and you should seek a good second opinion.
 
How did they discover the nodule? Palpation?

My wife was recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. Her GP did not feel any nodules but they want her to have an ultrasound. She is on meds to lower her thyroid hormone and control her heart rate.

Her high heart rate is what caused her to go to the ER in the first place. It was up to 140! With meds things are started to get back to normal (symptomatically). Hoping she doesn't have any mass / nodule on her thyroid.

All the best to you! I would certainly get a second opinion when you are considering options such as radiation and surgery. I would want to avoid both if possible.
 
Things like this are so variable that without reviewing your actual medical data, any advice other than "get a second opinion" is rather haphazard.
 
Thanks guys! To clarify how I got to where I am, here we go. The last time I felt “normal” was April this year, I even moved into a new house, no problem. Then I started to get the shakes and felt “nervous” inside. Weakness in hot weather and declining stamina sent me to my nurse practitioner. Blood test was good except the thyroid levels, they indicated hyperthyroidism. A trip to a top endocrinologist in Tucson found the toxic nodule and another blood test reconfirmed the first test. His recommendation was RAI. After thinking it over for reasons listed above, I’m going the surgery route; I just wanted to hear some of the experiences that some members here may have had.
Just reading the comments here helps a lot. No matter which way it goes I’ll get back here to report my experienc.
 
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