New to Thyroid Surgery

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-10-2004
New to Thyroid Surgery
2
Thu, 09-23-2004 - 12:20pm
I have just been diagonsed with possible Thyroid Cancer. I have had a noticeable lump on my right thyroid for a few years and just now they decided to do the fna and discovered some abnormal cells. I am scheduled to get my right thyroid removed and possibly my left one also--all depends on what they see when they go in.

I didn't get much info from the surgeon as I was still in shock from hearing the term cancer. I have tons of questions.

-what should I expect waking up from the surgery

-what will the cut look like

-does it hurt

-if all my thyroid is removed, how soon will I feel the effects of no thyroid chemicals being produced

-what is the recovery time (dr said I would be in the hospital 5 days of all thyroid removed and then home for 2 weeks before I head back to work). Is this excessive??

Thanks

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-12-2004
Fri, 09-24-2004 - 8:16am
hello I had the surgery 3 years before ...I was scared also because they thought I had cancer also....I did not have it....had nodule wrapped around vocal chords surgery was long for me because of that...my recovery was 6 weeks.....my scar is not very noticible after surgery you may start feeling different i was hyper before surgery now i am hyposo I wanted to sleep all the time about 20 hours a day ....remember to talk to doctor all the time after surgery and listen to your body...good luck and talk to caty in this rooom or any of us....this message board helps me every day frankied2004
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
Fri, 09-24-2004 - 10:14am
Hi and welcome - Here is a link to all of ivillage's info on thyroid cancer and the thyroid cancer board: http://www.ivillage.com/topics/health/0,,232618,00.html I hope that helps you with some of the "nuts and bolts" of it.

I hope that some of our members who have experienced thyroid surgery firsthand will post for you to share their experiences with you. I haven't had it myself but a good friend of mine had thyroid surgery to remove most of her thyroid because of cancer and she is just doing great! Her recovery time wasn't too extensive and she was back on her normal routine pretty quickly. She is taking thyroid replacement hormone now and is just starting to try to lose the weight she has gained, about a year after her surgery. Overall, she is doing very well.

A good book on thyroid issues in general and it includes a great chapter on thyroid cancer is called The Thyroid Solution, by Dr. Ridha Arem. He covers everything in such great depth, it is really a book worth getting. Hope this helps and I hope you hear from others. Cathy :)