Question I had thyroid surgery in 02/08 to remove the right lobe of my thyroid. over the next few weeks the wound continued to drain (often soaking the front of my shirt several times a day). The surgeon "worked" on this in the office and after weeks I returned to surgery to correct this problem, 03/08. Shortly thereafter I was contacted and told that the left lobe needed to be removed because the right lobe was cancerous. That surgery was preformed in 04/08. Surgery went fine (?). As a follow up I was sent to the same hospital that I had had the surgeries performed for an ultra-sound and another proceedure to see if any thyroid tissue remained. The technician came out and said that although the radiologist usually sees the patient and discusses the findings with the patient, he, the radiologist was declining to see me and wanted me to see the surgeon as soon as I could to discuss the findings of the tests. The surgeon's office called a few days later and said that there was one more "test" the Dr wanted me to have and wanted to schedule the "test" ASAP. It wasn't a test at all but a radioactive iodine treatment used to kill off any lasting thyroid tissue. I looked it up. When I asked the nurse why they called it a test instead of a proceedure she was nonplussed. The answer came a few days later when the results of the ultra-sound were revealed. I stiil have the whole left lobe of my thyroid. The surgeon, the hospital and oncologist all signed off on the tissue removed as being my left thyroid lobe. It is still intact and my health continues to suffer and the surgeon is uncommunicative. My internist who is part of the same group has also dropped me as a patient without expalantion after 10 years. An endocrenologist looked at the test results and thought I just misunderstood and just had some reamining tissue but as he read further he realized that the whole lobe remains intact. Should I see a lawyer.
Answer Yes.
Why the surgeon missed an entire lobe of your thyroid is hard to imagine. I can only guess what happened, but from your story I think someone flat out lied to you, not only about the 'test' but about the original surgery.
You must find a good malpractice lawyer. Maybe your local Bar Association can help you. Call them and ask for list of lawyers, and if they know if one who has handled this kind case before get his name. Talk to several lawyers. You need one who knows something about the thyroid. Or a lawyer with a good laryngologist expert.
You do not say anything about your 'damages' or loss of function resulting from this surgery. Life without s thyroid is going to be tough for you. You don't give your age, but if you are under retirement age, you may have a hope for good compensation for this injury. That is for your lawyer to decide. Get started calling lawyers.
