Thyroid Surgery

A., please don't be overly concerned. I haven't had this surgery but my mom did many years ago. The doctors did find thyroid cancer but told her then if a person is going to get cancer this is the kind to get because the survival rate is extremely high. They knew what they were talking about. Mom is now 83 years old and has lived quite well without a thyroid gland for the past four plus decades. It is crucial to take your medication (synthetic thyroid and maybe calcium--don't remember what all mom must take) without fail but if you do that you should sail through life, see your baby grow up and enjoy your grandchildren (or great-great grandchildren in mom's case) never even missing your thyroid. Surgery is never fun but you will do great. Will keep you in my prayers.

My sister had her thyroid removed last year because of nodules. One of them did turn out to be cancerous, but all she had to do was take some radiation pills for about a month and then she was fine. Because of where it is at they are able to use the pills (I think they are iodine infused with radiation) that only target and affect the thyroid area.
The surgery went really well- we were all more worried then she was! It took a little longer because her goiter turned out to be larger than previously thought, but they got it all and she healed very well. She was very sore for the first week and it took a while for her to be able to move her head comfortably. She had my parents there to help her out for a week(she's not married and has no kids so she didn't have to worry about that). Make sure you have someone there to help you out when you get home and don't hesitate to ask for help from those who have offered. It is a major surgery and it will take time to recover.
My sister now has a light scar(barely visable) on her neck and she has more energy than she did before. Relax- I know that it's hard to do right now, but most thyroid cancers are among the easiest to treat and since your thyroid is gone, it doesn't come back.
God Bless!
~C.

Hi A.,

I am a work-from-home Mom of a soon-to-be 11 year old and married to a wonderful husband and Dad! What you are feeling was what I felt 2 years ago when I had my thyroid taken out. Everything happened so fast from the time the nodule was discovered until the time I had the biopsy until the surgery (2 months). My thyroid nodule started growing really fast so the biopsy was order and it turned out to be a benign which by the way I was told is most common if cancer is suspected. (The biopsy was worse than the actually surgery for me!) The good thing about thyroid problems including cancer is the majority of cases can be treated succesfully with surgery. I know it is hard not to worry but do try. My surgery went well; vocal chords weren't damaged and out side of the surgery area i felt great. Still trying to find the right dose of thyroid medicine to take but all in all I feel OK. My scar is still really visible but I don't mind scars becasue they just remind me of how good God is and that I survived and have another opportunity to love those entrusted in my care!

Take a lot of magazines or a good book to read, some hard candy to suck on and a notebook to write on. My husband also brought me some of those jello cups and goldfish crackers to snack on at night. I hope this helps...it will be OK. Where are you having the surgery? Who is the surgeon?

A., everything is going to be fine. I had thyroid surgery in January and had the left half of my thyroid removed. After lots of tests prior to surgery, they still couldn't determine that it was NOT cancer so we opted for surgery even though the doctor said (keep this in mind) that the chances of someone my age (30 at the time) having cancer was less than 4%. The surgery went well except that, during recovery, I developed a hematoma (blood clot) behind the incision and they had to take care of that before I could go back into recovery but I think that was because I was a smoker at the time (I quit after the surgery & haven't started back). I stayed at the hospital for about 24 hours and was on pain medication so I was rarely conscious. If your situation is the same as mine, there's not much you can do to be more comfortable except maybe have a pillow or blanket from home. You'll probably sleep most of the time. The worst part of recovery at home was that the mega-antibiotics I was given made me nauseous so I'd take a pain pill with each one so I could sleep through the nausea. Other than that, after a few days I felt fine although I did tire easily. I'm prone to keloid scarring so aside from that, the scar isn't too bad. At first I wore scarves and high-collared shirts but as summer approached, I figured "screw it" and decided not to care about the scar. A little bit of make-up covers it enough. Also, even though my doctor ran tests and said my remaining thyroid functioning normally, I gained 10 lbs within 4 months of my surgery. Since you're having your entire thyroid removed, you may want to think about starting a regular excercise program if you don't have one already. I joined Curves and love it!

I hope all of this is helpful. Keep us posted on how your surgery and recovery goes. Good luck!

I had this when I was 24 & yes you will be ok. Unfortunately, it is scarey & doesn't feel that good.
My best advice is to be patient; it's hard; but with a lot of love & support you will make it through. Your throat will hurt, so anything that makes that feel better is great(jello, pudding, soup, frozen coffee, etc.). Mine was malignient & I had to have radiation twice in the last 10 yrs. My best advice there is again patience. For me it was more of an inconvience than anything else. Mine was a pill & insolation which was not fun. I didn't get sick; but without thyroid hormone you feel very run down. Plan ahead, clear out your own spot in the house, collect some books, magazines, movies, etc for your entertainment. Also, once you have the radiation your diet goes back to normal so stock up on treats you where unable to have before (you get put on a low sodium diet for 2 weeks before). Be prepared to gain a little weight; but, as long as you stay active & in good spirits you will be fine. The most important thing is to stay positive & remember God doesn't give you more than you can handle. Good Luck & please feel free to email.
M.

First of all, relax! Read Philippians 4:6,7. This surgery's really not that bad. Unless your doctor has given you reason to think that there is an unusually high chance of malignancy, then it probably is not cancerous. I remember though that even knowing there was a chance of it is very scary. My surgery was pretty easy (of course, you sleep through it) and recovery a snap. The greatest anxiety personally was before surgery knowing that it can mess with your vocal chords (but usually doesn't.) I am a singer and that was pretty stressful. And happy to report that I had no problem there either. The only thing I can remember is that it took longer (several days) than I anticipated to really get strength and endurance back (post general anesthetic.) I felt so good, I thought I was fine, but you tire much faster. Give yourself time to heal. Calm down and you'll be fine in no time!

I had this surgery 7 years ago for the same reasons - nodules that could be cancerous. It turned out they were not. My surgery was outpatient. I remember feeling like I really didn't feel good enough to go home, but was glad to rest in my own bed when I got there. My scar is barely visible at all. I take thyroid medication daily and it has not been a big deal at all to get the dosage correct. I just go to the doctor every six months to give a blood sample.

Odds are you don't have cancer, but if you do, my doctor told me if you have to get cancer, thyroid cancer is the one you want. My neighbor had this procedure and turned out to have cancer and she is just fine now. Good luck to you!!