I was recently diagnosed with Graves’ disease and will be having surgery. I’m wondering if any other equestrians have had a thyroidectomy with Graves’ disease and what was your recovery timeline getting back out to the barn. Riding may or may not be a factor due to my horses own injury and rehabbing a minor tear in his suspensory. We’re walking 25 minutes right now with a recheck in a few days. How long till you were cleaning stalls? Hauling water buckets and hay nets? I know with having graves my recovery is likely to be a bit different from someone who received a thyroidectomy for other reasons.
I had a complete thyroidectomy due to a nodule in 2019. I was out at the barn about about 3 days later, but needed someone to drive me and only managed about 1 hour of petting my ponies. I believe I was told not to drive for a week due to the incision on my neck but I was good after about 5 days.
I don’t think I could have done chores for the first week for sure. After the two weeks I would have been fine.
I was in the saddle a little over a week later, limp as a noodle. Couldn’t do much but would have been more than content to just sit on my horse for 20min in the middle of the ring.
For the first couple of weeks it was just a matter of getting my energy and stamina back. I walked every day, increasing my step count. By the time I went back to work two weeks after the surgery I was feeling pretty good. I might have been helped by likely being a bit hyperthyroid due to the level of Synthroid I was on after surgery, which took a couple of years and a change to Eltroxin to sort out.
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I had a total thyroidectomy in 2008 and can’t remember exactly how long before I was back riding but it couldn’t have been more than a month. I had been on synthroid for a couple years before surgery so didn’t have a lot of work to get everything balanced with my tsh/t3/t4.
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Luckily I won’t be doing more than 10-20 minutes of tack walking as my horse just got cleared for them from his own injury and he’s a good babysitter lol
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Pay close attention to weight limit restrictions after surgery as I just noticed you said you clean stalls.
The doctor chatted a bit with me yesterday at my week check up post surgery and explained it’s really not about the weight but the blood pressure change from heavy lifting so if it’s something that makes me strain it’s a risk of hemorrhage and causing complications. So I have another week (2 total) and I’m allowed back to my regular schedule. Stall cleaning shouldn’t be a worry just hay (it’s soaked cause he has cushings and likes to choke so it gets soaked in the net) and water buckets. Everything else im cleared for because the horse is also still on rehabbing and only walking. Surgery went super smooth and aside from my neck being sore and tender it’s healing great and the doctor said really there’s little risk of me doing anything now but not to chance it.
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Glad you are on the mend but Please Be Compliant!!
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I was told one more week and I can go back to no limitations. This Thursday. I got most of them lifted minus anything strenuous like soaked hay nets and water buckets but everything else is game and I’ve been feeling great getting to do most of the care and riding again (walking). The healing is going solid
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