November 2, 2009

Hello Sisters!  I am now six weeks out from my thyroidectomy surgery in September.  While every person will have a different experience with this kind of surgery, I hope that sharing my surgery experiences will help others who are preparing for a thyroidectomy. 

The past six weeks have been very much like a roller coaster.  The week after my surgery I was very tired and depressed with very little focus or motivation.  I didn’t really want to get out of bed.  The second week was the exact opposite and I had lots of energy and found myself out running lots of errands on Thursday and Friday of that week and doing a lot of cleaning at my house.  In fact, I even painted my daughter’s room!!!  Talk about lots of energy! 

Weeks 3-6 have been an alternating mixture of energy and fatigue, though more fatigue has been present than energy.  I have slept more than I ever have in my life!  I attempted to go back to work at Week 4, but after working 2 full days, I found myself in the bed, exhausted,  and aching all over  with a bad headache.  I was certain I had the flu because of my aching joints.  However, after sleeping for about 18-20 hours, I felt much better.  I returned to work the next day, but found myself unable to get out of the bed the next morning for work.  I had my TSH level checked and found out that it was 14.73!!  To provide some reference, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) recommends an upper limit of normal at 3.0.  Obviously, my thyroid was “way out of whack” and my medication needed to be adjusted.  I have been on my new medication dosage for a week now.  I still don’t feel back to normal.  I am out of work again and still sleeping A LOT—like 12-15 hours a day!  Hopefully, my medication/thyroid will level out soon and I will be back to normal!  Everyone I have talked to who has been through this surgery has warned me that it took them 4-6 months to get back to “normal.”  I guess I still have a ways to go!  I only wish I would have known to expect this before my surgery or before attempting to go back to work.