Date for my op

[cloudwalker]

Hi everyone i finally have a date for my op to totally remove my thyroid it is 3rd march at the mo anyway as i have had 3 pre assessment appointments cancelled for this month alone i now have an appointment for that on the 17 february

I am pleased to have actual dates for things but i admit i am really nervous about the operation and how i will be afterwards half of me wants it over and done with and the other half would rather not go at all

Any experinces or advice would be brilliant, thanks for reading this x

[brfran]

I had a thyroidectomy for multi nodular goitre, with central lymph node removal, on the 22nd December. I was home the next day, with a sore throat. I'm on Levothyroxin, the dose seems good, there may be a little fine tuning needed. I have a small problem with my voice, in that I'm having difficulty with my higher register, but apart from that i feel well. I'm doing everything i did before the operation. Actually rather more, as the goitre was starting to interfere with deep breathing. Yesterday i got my swimming back to a full kilometre, and shaved a minute off my usual time. The scar is now hardly visible, but i am still using silicon tape at night.

So, personally it went well. I think the main thing is to have a good surgeon, I chose carefully and got all the information I could beforehand. Are you in the UK? Look up your surgeons experience before the appointment, I believe in UK you get some choice as to where you go.

[cloudwalker in reply to brfran]

Hi yes i am in the uk i am so glad your op went well and you are doing so well, i feel much better after your reply i really do thank you so much for sharing your experience

[LAHs]

I can completely understand how you are feeling. On one pre op visit with the (very wonderful) surgeon the meeting was over and he was about to leave the room. I grabbed his arm and said, "Dr McC, Excuse me but I am so terrified I can hardly move, and can think of nothing else. Am I going to die? I am so terrified, so terrified!" He turned back to me, sat on the gurney thing and said, "I know you are but you are not going to die, we do lots of these every week and everyone is running around out there, even my nurse had a thyroidectomy and she has more energy than I do, go talk to her if you want to!" Well, when op day came around and I was in the pre-op room Dr McC came in and said, "Oh you came back! I wasn't sure that you would, we do have a lot of terrified people that are no shows!" I just took the attitude that I stood a chance at a good shot at the rest of my life rather than slowly deteriorating for about another 6 months.

So, yes it is scary, you don't feel a thing, you wake up and it is all over. You might have a sore throat for the rest of the day and night - but the woman in the next bed to me was perfectly normal and couldn't wait to get out of bed and go home. You will probably fall somewhere in the middle of that. It's not too bad, honest.

[cloudwalker in reply to LAHs]

Thank you so much your replies have made me feel so much better and honestly i cannot even describe how much

My health has been described as reasonable and you're absolutely right LAHs it is better to get it done and get on with the rest of your life than have your health get worse i already have endometriosis to deal with

Thank you again so much x

[faith63]

if it's not cancer, i certainly wouldn't have it removed! Why?

[brfran in reply to faith63]

Well, faith, Bethseda 5 and Tirads 4a was a pretty good indication for removal in my case. I don't think anyone has it done without a good reason.

[faith63 in reply to brfran]

yes they do! Some doctors remove it from just nodules from Hashimotos, Hashimotos with lots of hyper symptoms too. Some if they get a choking sensation. All kinds of reasons. But these are all treatable thru proper meds and a diet based off of food sensitivity testing. Hahsimotos is curable!

[faith63 in reply to brfran]

Yes they do! Some doctors remove it from just nodules from Hashimotos, Hashimotos with lots of hyper symptoms too. Some if they get a choking sensation. Graves Disease too. All kinds of reasons. But these are all treatable thru proper meds and a diet based off of food sensitivity testing. Hahsimotos is curable and so is Graves.

[brfran in reply to faith63]

If you look at cloudwalker's other posts you will see why she is having a thyroidectomy. Same reason I did. Not hashimotos.

[faith63]

i don't know if either one of you has hashimotos..have you been tested?

[brfran in reply to faith63]

Yes, I have, and no, I hadn't. I had cancer.

[cloudwalker in reply to faith63]

I have been tested and i do not have it either

[faith63 in reply to cloudwalker]

some people are having their thyroid removed for unnecessary reasons, so i was just checking.

[cloudwalker in reply to faith63]

Thank you for checking i do appreciate it, the consultant i saw in the ent department actually said the first time surgery was mentioned that it was too risky compared to my symptoms, it was only with further tests with the nuclear team that both sides agreed surgery was the only option not what i was expecting as i nearly cancelled the nuclear appointment as i thought their time would be better spent on someone else as the ent side made me think everything was okay, i'm glad i didn't now as the nodules had changed in apperance and shape and in a short amount of time

I'm scared about having the surgery and wish it wasn't what i had to have though

[snow31]

Hello.

I am 2 1/2 weeks post total thyroidectomy. I too posted on here asking for reassurance and I was very scared before.

I have to say I have had a good recovery to some extent.

I had a bit of problem in recovery but think it was more me than the surgery. Surgery took 2 hours and voice was great the next morning. I was in for 2 nights. I had 2 drains which were taken out the next day. Scar is amazing. I have taken photos to see the difference over the 2 weeks. It's incredible how well it heals. I had 7 staples in and they were taken out after a week and that doesn't hurt.

My calcium levels did drop on the 2nd blood test so am now on 1000mg calcium 3 times at day. has now risen so will see how long I'm on them for. Easy to take as dissolvable.

I am now on 125mg of levothyroxine. Which I'm taking on waking. I so hope I can lose the weight that went on suddenly last year

So far everything has been so much better than I feared. Just remember that you have to rest and be kind to yourself.

Please message me of you need anything else.

Good luck and hope all goes well

[cloudwalker in reply to snow31]

Thank you for your reply i hope you are well i am so pleased you had a good experience i know we are all different but it is reassuring☺

My op is in the afternoon too and my letter says i can have a light breakfast up until 7.30am, did you have breakfast i get so nervous and wondering if i should or not my other op's have been morning ones so it wasn't an option

Thanks again x

[snow31 in reply to cloudwalker]

I was really scared and anxious after reading lots of things. But the hospital staff were great and actually on the day I was quite calm considering how I had been. My op was 2pm so I had 2 slice of toast and a cuppa at 7am. When I got to hospital they said I could have a glass of water upto 11.30. Once they start organising everything and you have final checks it will hopefully go by quite quickly.

On the day, I actually saw 2 nurses who had had the same (one was 12 months post and the other 2 months post) - both were doing really well though the latter said she was feeling a lot more tired but she had only had it done 2 months so still early days.

I always think the worse and have been (touch wood) surprised at how well it has all gone considering. Not as bad as I had thought. I so hope it all goes well for you too.

Normally people who have problems/bad experiences go onto sites for help & support so it is lovely to see people on here who have had good experiences too to reassure people like us that things can go to plan.

I came on here due to not good times so I cannot thank everyone who has supported me and I hope now to do the same in both good and bad.

Am here if you need to talk things through.

Snow

x

[cloudwalker in reply to snow31]

Thank you i really appreciate your help and advice and for being there for me to talk to

I hope your recovery continues to go really well, take care