Thyroidectomy

[susan]

Has anyone had a thyroidectomy?

I am especially curious about recovery, and how or if the surgery impacts Sjogrens & RA.

I have been feeling, for lack of a better word, rather fragile lately, so am hoping to wait until November for the surgery.

Thanks for any info. you can share.

[engy]

I have Susan. It was relatively easy. One night in hospital, I was grilling on deck 2 days later but this was before any of my other AI issues were diagnosed.

I had a great surgeon! I had a complete thyroidectomy because of an enlarged goiter and  multiple nodules that were growing & constantly being biopsied. It was hard to breathe or swallow. The surgeon glued the outside so no outside stitches at all to be removed. Inside stitches desolvable obviously. Slight scar but barely noticable. Get a good surgeon who will glue & not make you look like Frankenstein! A friend's mom had stitches that hurt & left big scar 

In recovery the dry mouth was my biggest complaint! I probably had sjogrens then too & didn't know it. I was given a morphine drip but only used it once. I had very little pain. I did keep ice on my neck all night over the bandage. My nurse told me it was uncessary but it helped with swelling & felt good.
I couldn't drive for a week I think because you are not allowed to look over your shoulder while you heal. However I didn't have any pain once I left the hospital.

The better you can feel going into a surgery the easier it will be on your body. I truely believe mine was so easy on me because I got a surgeon who only does thyroidectomies & was very careful to remove as much as possible without nicking my vocal cords.

I also recommend getting your levels checked frequently after because mine were all over the place. Sorry I don't know why & just could have been me but I was hypo. like crazy so very tired until got up to the necessary amount of meds.

I rambled so hope some of it made sense.

Good Luck sweetie! Carie

[susan]

Carie,

Thank you so much for such a complete reply!

It certainly makes sense to have a thyroid only surgeon, and I am glad to hear it went well for you.

Am a little concerned because my AI symptoms are troublesome now, and I feel kind of "fragile". I hope to wait till Nov. for the surgery, so hopefully will feel a bit better by then!

Also like the idea of using that "glue"

[aussie mum]

Hi,
I had a total thyroidectomy 12 mths ago. My experience was virtually identical to Carie,  I had a surgeon who specialises in Thyroid/Parathyroid surgery, I didn't have stitches, plenty of ice. I did have some problems swallowing the calcium tablets (they are huge) but was able to swallow soft food from the day of surgery. I could talk pretty well on the day of surgery too. My scar is pretty good, blending in with the wrinkles I have.

I had 2 nights in hospital and 2 weeks off work. I was given neck exercises to do before & after the surgery which certainly helped. It was a bit uncomfortable lifting my head at first, but all went well.

Hope all goes well for you too 

[susan]

Hi Aussie Mom,

Thank you very much for the info.!

It seems there is a pattern here----find a specialized surgeon, no external sutures, etc. Interesting about the exercises----that makes sense!

So glad it went well for you:)

I will be seeing the endo this week, so hopefully he will have a surgeon in mind!