Thyroglossal Duct Cyst

Hi April,
I have a 12 year old daughter who had a Thyroglossal Duct Cyst removed when she was about 7 years old. The explanation your doctor gave you as to why it is there is exactly what our doctor told us. Surgey for our daughter went very well, and she has had no reoccurance of the cyst or any related problems. I can understand your concern for your son who is only 1 year old. We had another of our children undergo adenoid removal at about 18 months. That went well also (same ENT). I would just encourage you to find an ENT that comes highly recommended and that you feel comfortable with. Then you will feel more confident that all will go well...and it likely will. Hope that helps!

Hi April,
My son who is now 13 also had a Thyroglossal Duct Cyst. My ENT Surgeon explained to us that this was actually a part of the Thyroid that doesnt develope correctly as the thyroid grows.
We notice my son's at around age 1 also,when he looked up at me one day it looked like he had an Admas Apple. Our Surgeon advised to just watch it and do close follow up.He also said if surgery was required that he would not do it until he was at least 5 years old. We NEVER needed surgery it completley went away one its own,which he said might happen. We were releaved as we didnt want surgery either. Unless this starts to get bigger or cause other problems I would bet the ENT will say just watch it closely. Good luck and remember to always get a second opinon if your not comfortable with the Doctors advise.I'am in Charleston, SC and there's an execellent ENT group here that we use.

I'm really nervous about doctors, so when you said that your doctors had never actually dealt with this kind of thing it raised a flag for me. Can you ask to be referred to a specialist? Like and endocrinologist, someone who deals with thyroid issues? I would really want to see someone who has experience in this sort of thing first, especially since you said in your research none of the other children were less than 5.

Hi, April
My 3 1/2 yr old had one on his forehead when he was born and had it removed at 1 yrs old and everything went well. It has not returned and I have forgotten he had even had it now. We went to Atlanta Plastic Surgery on Peachtree St and they made us very comfortable with everything and I would recommend them to anyone for children needing something similiar done. I felt the same way as you about it and I know it is scary when you don't know anyone who has had the same issue with their child but it is a simple procedure....

Hi April,

My daughter was four when the Dr. told me exactly the same thing about her. She went in to have her surgery and I was a basket case. Well, you know they always tell you that they will let you know when the bioposy comes back. I was a nervous wreck until we went back to the Dr. to fill out it was cat scratch fever. She could have avoided surgery and been treated with antibotics if they had known. I wish you and your son good luck. Maybe you could just ask the doctor about cat scratch fever to be safe. Let me know how things go.

D.

hi april,
my name is S. and my husband and i have a little girl who is 3 1/2 years old now...she was born extremely premature at 28 weeks and only weighed 1 lb 9 ozs at memorial health in savannah. we brought her home 2 months later at 4 lbs 8 ozs...after many ups and downs, etc..i noticed a lump/knot just above her right eyebrow one day and thought to myself, oh, must be a mosquito bite. but it kept growing a little bit bigger and little bit bigger so off to the pediatrician we went to find out that it was a "dermoid cyst" a little similar to your boy, something 'in utero' happened and lots of hair and skin cells got packed into this area and created this thing called a dermoid cyst. after all the hospital stuff she had already gone through, she had to have an outpatient surgery done (january of 2006) to have it removed. i was so, so terrified even though everyone assures you everything will be just fine....when we handed her to the nurses to take her into the operating room and she started crying as they walked her away, i started sobbing and couldn't even breath....my husband made me walk to get a cup of coffee with him and kept me sane and the whole procedure was over in like an hour...she went under general anesthesia and was groggy and really sleepy that day and because they had to cut just to the outside of her eye and go up thru her eyelid to take the cyst out...she looked totally black and blue all around that eye for a month or so.....but it all worked out! she was about 20 months old when she had the surgery....hang in there...take deep breaths and hold onto your faith and the people you love.....it will be okay...your sons surgery sounds a little bit more invasive than our little girls was but....if you need any support or a hug or shoulder to lean on....let me know...good luck....
hugs,
S.

April,

I know you must be frightened but the best thing to do is what you are doing by arming yourself with as much information as possible. Make sure you are comfortable with the doctors. I don't know where you are taking your child but Emory has some really great doctors. My husband has seen Dr. Grist at Emory and he is great. We will say a prayer for your family!

Sincerely,
K.-www.balterbaby.com

Hey, I learned about this type of cyst in medical school but as a physician who does not treat children, have never seen one! anyway, from what i remember it is uncommon but benign (not Cancer!) and easily correctable for an ENT. If it is not corrected then he could develop a larger cyst which would look terrible (like a goiter) and pose a risk for infection too. i would be pretty nervous about having my child operated on, but remember that's what these folks do day in and day out. so, i would ask the ENT how many of these cysts they have seen and operated on, what potential complications may be, to go step-by-step thru the procedure with you. Ask if you can be in the recovery room and with your son in pre-op too, maybe while they are putting him to sleep. finally ask about recovery, will your son have to spend the night in the hospital, etc. Psychologically, this will be much harder on you than your son. He is so young, he will not remember a thing! hope this helps,
L.

Well I work as an LPN and I have worked on the surgical unit for 2 yrs. Having surgery at that age is common, but the main type of surgery that we see are tubes and adenoids. Never the less the anesthesia is not that bad, some patients do have adverse reactions and may be groggy or crying when they wake up. My son was groggy when he came out of surgery and was loopy for a few hours after that. The main thing is to remove this so that infection does not spread and cause other problems. Now that you know what your child has it will be easy to get antibiotics to fight the infection if it re-occurs or not all taken away during the surgery. I'm not telling you not to worry, but I wouldn't worry too much this is only a minor surgery. Research you and your husbands history and make sure your family dosen't have a history of reaction to anesthesia, because that would be your main concern right now. And prayer is the best medicine.
I hope this helps.

Hi, April.

The only other person I heard of with a thyroglossal duct cyst
was my Mom! She had hers removed as a child, and just had a small scar where the cyst had been.

I'm actually writing to you about your fears about a one-year-old undergoing anesthesia for an hour or two. My daughter had a TEN HOUR anesthesia performed at 8 DAYS old (and 4 pounds weight). She came through it fine. Since then, she's had at least 8 or 10 more major surgeries (mostly around age 1 to 2 years old, but another at 10 and this past summer at 12). She's also had general anesthesia AT LEAST 50 to 60 times more, for biopsies, scopes, MRI's, etc., etc. -- never once has she had a problem.

Anesthesia today is SO safe. Very different from when I was a child in the 1950's.

I think your only concern needs to be about whether it's best to do the surgery now? or wait?

Good luck to you!

Kathy

(Mother of Lily, just turned 13; married for 15 years;
work full time)