Has anyone had thyroid surgery?

[sonnyjane]

Sorry for the downer topic!!! I was hoping that with all the people on these boards, maybe someone could help me. I found a thyroid message board, but traffic is light.

I found out three days ago that I have thyroid cancer and will require surgery to remove my entire thyroid. The cancer is not aggressive, and I'm assured that once the thyroid is removed, the threat is eliminated. That said, I'm still dreading this surgery and recovery! Has anyone had, or know anyone that had, their thyroid removed? I'm most worried about recovery time, as I have a very physical job, so I'm afraid I'll be out of work for a while and want to know what to realistically tell my managers. The first available consult appointment, even with "urgent" status, is Oct. 14th, and at that appointment I'll just be meeting my doctor, so until then I'm trying to do some research on my own to know what questions to ask at that meeting.

Thanks in advance

 

[groovygirl927]

I haven't had any type of experience with that type of cancer but contact the American Cancer Society. They should be able to give you information, resources or answer any questions you have. (I have gotten resources from them)

Sorry to hear about your diagnoses and know the waiting can be hard. It is good that you are thinking about the questions to ask the doctor I suggest to write them all down (sometimes when you are in there you tend to forget)

 

[3Siamese]

Hi Sonnyjane. I Had thyroid surgery 5 yrs ago. I had a partial thyroidectomy (I still have the left side of the gland, right side removed.) The surgery itself is very straight forward, I had an overnight stay in the hospital and was released the next day.

From my experiance the recovery time for me was 4 weeks. My surgeon told me 3-4 weeks for recovery was average. Part of my job intales lifting and moving of heavy objects and I was told to not lift anything of a heavy nature for the 1st week at a minimum.

The recovery after the surgery is not to difficult. Having siad that though there are a few challenges. A sore throat and neck are the obvious issues. Eating and maintaining a good caloric intake was my biggest hurdle. For the 1st 2 weeks after the surgery even liquids hurt going down and I also had a noticeable change in my taste sensation, so those two things in combination made it very difficult to eat. People may joke aout that being a good time to lose some pounds , but the body needs to have as much energy as possible to help in the healing process so you may need to force yourself to eat. I am sure your surgeon will give you lots of dietary advice (mine did) but here are 2 things I can offer from experiance:

1) Dietary Supplement drinks like (Ensure and Boost) are great at helping to keep your nutritional levels up to need levels but try to eat other things as well. These drinks should be used as supplements not replacements.

2)My change in taste that I experianced( my doctor siad that that doesnt happen with everyone) made it that most foods tasted down right aweful. So my advice is dont eat any sort of comfort food while you are recovering (if you notice a taste change that is). I still cnat eat a few of my favortie "happy foods" as I still associated a bad taste with them.

Hope that this helps you. All the best and good luck.

 

[sonnyjane]

Thanks guys! That's a great start.

3Siamese - A typical day at my job is 8 hours of standing/walking and includes a lot of lifting and squatting, so I'm imagining when I am ready to go back to work, I may have to be on light duty for a while.

That's a good tip about the Ensure drinks. I am physically fit *ahem* for the most part, but that's because my job is so demanding. My diet isn't exactly ideal right now, so I have a feeling once I have the surgery and I need to take artificial hormones to regulate my metabolism, I'm going to have to be a little more responsible

 

[3Siamese]

Easing back into your work is a good idea if you are able to do that.

Thankfully my thyroid levels have been good so I dont have to take a hormone replacement, but the replacement is a regular pill you will take so its not a big issue.

I am sure everything will be fine for you and in no time you will be on the road to recovery.

Heck it even gives you a good reason to make a DLR trip once your feeling better.

Again best of luck.

 

[KCmike]

My wife was diagnosed with this very thing. She had a complete thyroid removal. I will tell her about this posting and she will tell you everything she went through. I'll tell her to post later today.

 

[Dory's Squishy]

Hi, Sonnyjane. I am KCMike's wife. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in September 2009. I had a total thyroidectomy at the end of that month. Before I had the surgery, they weren't sure if it had spread to my lymphnodes (that was their biggest concern). Depending on how much it had spread would have determined how much radiation therapy I would need after the surgery. Fortunately, they caught the cancer very early and no radiation treatment was necessary. I hear that if you have to go through the radiation, that can take it's toll on you.

For me personally, I think everything went pretty well. My recovery time was about two to three weeks. I didn't go back to work until a month later. I had a sore throat and neck pain for a few months, but it wasn't that bad. I had a hard time singing, in fact, I didn't think that I would ever be able to sing again (I love singing to my kids) but eventually my vocal cords healed and I'm back to singing. The scar itself healed within nine months, I still get pain in it sometimes but nothing to bad.

My biggest problem wasn't the incision, it was my tsh level. Once your thyroid is completely gone, you are dependent upon medicine (I take Synthroid) to keep your tsh level in the right place. If it is too high, which mine was for quite awhile until my doctor was able to get it under control, you are completely exhausted. I was so tired, I would fall asleep sitting straight up. I felt like I was walking through mud all day. It was very difficult to stay focused on my job and hard to keep up with my husband & kids. I can always tell when my level gets off and when it does it is hard to get back on track.

I get my blood work done everything 3 months. I see my primary care doctor every three months and I see my oncologist every six months. On my cancer anniversary, my oncologist will order some tests to make sure the cancer hasn't come back. The worst one so far was a radiation CT where I had to be on a low iodine diet for 3 weeks and then take radiation pills (which make the leftover thyroid cells glow) so the CT can spot any cancer growing. Usually, I just have to have a thyroid sonogram to make sure they don't see anything.

I hope this information helps. If you ever have any questions, please send out another post, KCMike is always on the DIS and he will let me know. I hope that the surgery goes well, you will be in my prayers.

 

[sonnyjane]

Hi, Sonnyjane. I am KCMike's wife. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in September 2009. I had a total thyroidectomy at the end of that month. Before I had the surgery, they weren't sure if it had spread to my lymphnodes (that was their biggest concern). Depending on how much it had spread would have determined how much radiation therapy I would need after the surgery. Fortunately, they caught the cancer very early and no radiation treatment was necessary. I hear that if you have to go through the radiation, that can take it's toll on you.

For me personally, I think everything went pretty well. My recovery time was about two to three weeks. I didn't go back to work until a month later. I had a sore throat and neck pain for a few months, but it wasn't that bad. I had a hard time singing, in fact, I didn't think that I would ever be able to sing again (I love singing to my kids) but eventually my vocal cords healed and I'm back to singing. The scar itself healed within nine months, I still get pain in it sometimes but nothing to bad.

My biggest problem wasn't the incision, it was my tsh level. Once your thyroid is completely gone, you are dependent upon medicine (I take Synthroid) to keep your tsh level in the right place. If it is too high, which mine was for quite awhile until my doctor was able to get it under control, you are completely exhausted. I was so tired, I would fall asleep sitting straight up. I felt like I was walking through mud all day. It was very difficult to stay focused on my job and hard to keep up with my husband & kids. I can always tell when my level gets off and when it does it is hard to get back on track.

I get my blood work done everything 3 months. I see my primary care doctor every three months and I see my oncologist every six months. On my cancer anniversary, my oncologist will order some tests to make sure the cancer hasn't come back. The worst one so far was a radiation CT where I had to be on a low iodine diet for 3 weeks and then take radiation pills (which make the leftover thyroid cells glow) so the CT can spot any cancer growing. Usually, I just have to have a thyroid sonogram to make sure they don't see anything.

I hope this information helps. If you ever have any questions, please send out another post, KCMike is always on the DIS and he will let me know. I hope that the surgery goes well, you will be in my prayers.

That was extremely helpful, thank you! The more I read, the more I realize this isn't going to be the "walk in the park" surgery that I have been thinking. My job involves heavy lifting and speaking for extended periods of time to audience, so, I'm thinking it might take longer for me to be back at work than I originally anticipated. And even then, until my medication dosage is figured out, I'm sure I'll be quite exhausted, and since I'm on my feet for 8 hours a day at work, that will probably keep me out of the game for a while as well. Sigh...

Thanks again!

 

[KCmike]

Can I ask how you found out about your thyroid issue?

My father died a few years ago and we immediately went to our primary care physician and weren't happy with his lack of focus on us. We changed to a new one and we both went (wife and I) for a physical and blood work and he immediately diagnosed my wife after checking/examining her throat with thyroid cancer. I was like this guy is crazy. No biopsy or sonogram and he just blurted it out. He was dead on. It was fate for us for this to happen for us. So I am just wondering how your path lead you to find out medical condition. If this is too personal I completely understand.

 

[lcasa]

I didn't have any surgery but I do have an underactive thyroid ( VERY common among women apparently) and also take Synthoid. I haven't had any problems with it but it is VERY important not to forget it daily or take too much ( worse than skipping a day). Too low a dose and you're very tired and forgetful - too high and you may find yourself not able to sleep at all and feeling anxious. Pay attention to both -- you'll need to let your doctor know.

Best of luck.