Had Thyroid Cancer And Had Total Thyrodectomy. What Are The Side Effects Of Having 41 LNodes Taken Out Of Neck?

Posted on Fri, 2 Aug 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 2 Aug 2013 Answered on

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : I had thyroid cancer 2009 and had total thyrodectomy and XXXXXXX treatment-Just had recurrence and had modified neck dissection where 41 lymph nodes were taken out and only one cancerous(pappilary).What is the physical effect(side effects) of having 41 LNodes taken out of neck? My surgeon says get multiple opinions of XXXXXXX this time as it is subjective at this point-would you suggest it?My endo has icreased my synthroid from 112 to 137 to keep my Tsh below .1-what side effects can occur because of this? Thank You

Answered by Dr. Shehzad Topiwala (1 hour later)

1 There is no problem if 41 lymph nodes are removed from the neck area. There are hundreds of lymph nodes in the neck which perform the same function so it is not as if you will be left with some deficit.

2 XXXXXXX is indeed controversial in small papillary tumors. But the decision to use it again at this point is a decision best taken by a tertiary cancer center or by an endocrinologist specialized in thyroid cancer management. Most endocrinologists are trained in treating thyroid cancer but this is an uncommon condition so many endocrinologists dont see this problem frequently enough to acquire expertise in handling this.

3 The synthroid dose increase is appropriate in order to keep the TSH suppressed to below 0.1

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Shehzad Topiwala (8 minutes later)

Thank You - should I anticipate or be aware of any possible side effects from increased dose of synthroid?

Answered by Dr. Shehzad Topiwala (24 hours later)

Taking a higher dose of synthroid can potentially cause symptoms of hyperthyroidism, such as feeling hotter than usual, sweating, sensation of heart racing ....to name a few. But this is not inevitable nor invariable. People respond differently to this higher-than-usual dose which is necessary to keep the cancer in check

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar