Thyroid surgery

[maryrose59]

I am schedule for surgery this Thursday, 10/16 also my b-day.  I have a complex nodule on my left lobe that came back suspicious after a FNA.  I have read a great deal and although I know intellectually that the chance that it will be cancer is small I am still so filled with anxiety that I don't think that I can breath sometimes.  I have been practicing some relaxation breathing and that seems to help. ANYWAY I was wondering what to expect for my recovery.  My doctor said I can't return to work for a full week. I teach children with Autism so it can be very physically stressful. Any information will be helpful thanks so much. This forum has helped me so much in my quest for answers.

[sayeer]

Hi Maryrose59,

I too know what you are going through. I have a nodule also that came back as suspicious papillary carcinoma and I am scheduled for surgery on Oct 29th. I am not really looking forward to the outcome too. I am really scared if they tell me that it is REALLY cancer. Allthough I was told by my Endo that It takes about a week for the results to come back. So I am confused on when you really know what you have or not.

My father is a Leukemia survivor and know what he has been through too and the whole cancer thing has me terrified.
Best of Luck to you..

[lilypad300]

Best of luck to you!
I had my TT in August for Graves Disease (not cancer) & the surgery itself and the basic recovery isn't bad at all.

  BUT, Utahmomma is 100% right about watching your calcium levels after surgery.  If you feel tingly or off at all, let someone know.  My surgery was on a Monday, Tuesday my calcium levels were low, so they kept me an extra night.  Wednesday they released me and by Friday morning I was back in the hospital after my calcium came crashing down.  It wasn't pretty. . .I felt like my whole body was tingling, dizzy and my entire body cramped up and I had never been so frightened in my life.  They ended up keeping me in the hospital for about a week on an IV calcium drip.  Not fun.
Granted this is supposed to be pretty rare, but it is something to watch out for.

Good luck with the surgery & be well!
Happy Birthday!!!

[selmaS]

...sorry u have the surgery to face on ur birthday...I will pray yhat the outcome is a clean bill of health....u will have support from all ur friends here.


Godspeed
"selma"

[pep88]

What a way to spend your birthday!   I know it seems totally weird, and if you're like me...(FNA came back suspicious for pap cancer too)  I kept thinking, hey, it's not cancer, can't be, other people have cancer.  Not me.  I didn't even know I had this "thing"...  They found it on accident so it must be nothing.  My mindset prepared me for the "nothing", benign outcome.  

They said cancer when I woke up, and you could have knocked me over with a feather.  And as Utah said, the depression can kick in at any moment.  Especially when you're so unprepared.  That being said.  Even if it is cancer as it was for me, (and I wish for you a truely benign outcome), it's so not something to worry or be depressed about.  I had the RAI a month and a half after the TT and that will probably the last of it for me.  (I find out tomorrow).  

I watched my little sister go through breast cancer the year before my TT.  Before I knew that I too, would face cancer, and soon.  What I know now is that I wouldn't trade cancers with her in a million years.  Chemo sounded horrible!  She lives on the other side of the US so I didn't get to see it first hand, I just held her hand via cellphone as she spent countless hours getting filled with the stuff... for months!   I only took one little radioactive pill and stayed away from people for a while!  Poof, bad stuff gone.

My point is, the surgery is not bad at all.  My C-section was worse pain wise.  Odds are that it will be nothing, but if it is cancer, it's really easy to be rid of and get on with your life.  Don't fear what you don't know for sure, just prepare yourself for either outcome.  And I'm hear to tell you that I faced the word cancer and came out the other side relatively unscathed and am proceeding onward and upward with my life.

[Thypatient]

Best Wishes & Happy Birthday!  Breath.

[utahmomma]

I've had the surgery twice and it wasn't that bad.  Surgeries on Thursdays and back to work on Monday both times.  Watch for muscle aching and tingling - let your doctors or nurses know ASAP if that happens - you are having a drop in your calcium levels (very important)

Ice is a wonderful thing for the incision - make sure that you keep an ice pack or two around and putting one on the incision before sleeping really helps.

Be very careful lifting anything - including those kids!   Do you have a teacher's aid you can use for a while?

Give yourself time to heal and recover.   Be prepared for the questions from the kids at your school - the incision will be pretty noticeable for a while.

Also, be prepared for *your* reaction if (god forbid) it is cancerous.  It can sneak up on you and the depression can catch you off guard.

Happy Birthday and what a great day to get on with healing!!!

Utahmomma
papillary carcinoma '03, second surgery '04
recurrence and RAI '06 and probably '08
three sisters with papillary carcinoma
another sister and daughter with precancerous nodules