Free After Years

UCLA Health article
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3 min read

I was referred from my thyroid doctor to Dr. Yeh. I actually did my own research and saw all his wonderful reviews, and I also had friends who were his patients so I came in knowing that he was one of the best. I had thyroid nodules that were growing which caused my goiter to grow larger to the point where I was having trouble swallowing food and felt pressure in my throat. Before surgery, I went to his clinic and Dr. Yeh was very sweet. He explained the basics and general details of the procedure such as the possible side effects in a way that was easy for me to understand. He recommended that I get a complete thyroidectomy, since my goiter was quite large.

I wasn't afraid of undergoing any surgery or operation, but I was worried about whether I was doing the right thing for my body. I've had this goiter for many years and I have never had problems with my thyroid function, so I was wondering if I really needed to remove my entire thyroid and start taking thyroid medication for the rest of my life. After surgery now, I know that I did the right thing. I am sure that my goiter would have continued to grow and those that I knew on thyroid medication for life did not have any problems. Dr. Yeh also explained that if anything spread to my parathyroid glands I could even have problems with my calcium levels too and not just my thyroid hormone levels.

The surgery itself was very well done. I was very impressed because the operation did not impact my voice which I was worried about. My cousin underwent thyroidectomy by a different surgeon and the operation has still affected her voice even many years after. I truly believe that Dr. Yeh is the best. He told me that my operation would be 2.5 hours but he was finished in only 1.5 hours. The only difficult portion of the operation was my body's reaction to the anesthesia, but I had no problems with the surgery itself. I have scar tissue right now inside my throat which puts pressure on my vocal cords as well as visible scar tissue but I know that it takes time for the scar to heal and it is slowly getting better and fading. I started thyroid medication and I feel that my body still needs time to get used to it. I am waiting until May for labs to test whether the medication dosage is adequate for my body.

I truly believe he is one of the best. From my experience, he is very fast and accurate. I cannot speak for all patients with different conditions but for me, I was very happy.