how long in hospital

[meljam00]

Hi there i was wondering how long you stay in hospital after a total thyroidectomy sorry for all the questions but i have no idea, my paperwork states in between 3-7 days just a few examples would be great thanks heaps :)

[Thypatient]

bet643:  "...did become very sick from the anestetic and started vomitting..."  ~ Oh you poor thing.  I said I needed to vomit and it caused a complete panic...my surgeon was rushed back in...they put me back out.  So glad you made it through - you strong woman, you!

GoofyDad:  Yeah, skip the Youtube thing.  I watched and it's 2 minutes of what looks like a mad science experiment (don't recognize what language the graphics are in, which adds to that thinking).

Then again, I like the show "Trauma in the E.R." but have to hold the remote in case some things get more than I can handle!

Also watched the parathyroid transplant video that popped up.  Yikes!

[GoofyDad]

YIKES .. reading about watching on youtube - I'm going to skip that. I started watching a hip replacement on the medical channel years ago in preparation for mine. WOW that creeped me out. I'll never make that mistake again - I can aford to be an uninformed consumer for this.......

[nissah46]

I don't advise watching it on the internet.  I am not a nervous person but I watched it recently and I was squirming in my seat. I had my TT 2 years ago.  Try not to be too nervous about being put to sleep.  It is not so bad, and it's over before you know it.  I had the same fears, I think it is very normal  Good luck.
Trish

[TXMomOfFaith]

I am having my TT on Tuesday and I am pretty nervous. I thought about watching one on the internet too, but now I am thinking twice about the whole thing. If it looks really bad then I don't want to make my fear worse. I am mostly scared of not waking up. Being put under is the scary part for me.  My doctor first told that I would stay overnight and then go home after lunch the next day.When I talked to his nurse when I got my surgery orders however, she said not to be suprised if I stayed 3 or 4 days. She said it all depends on calcium levels and such. I read online that it is much safer to stay a night or two just to make sure everything goes well and to help aide in recovery. The one thing I am looking forward to is being able to relax and be waited on after surgery and not feel too guilty. lol

[bet643]

I was lucky to be able to stay over night, since my insurance co thought that a total thyroidectomy should be done as outpatient. Can you believe that? Yep, 4 hours after surgery, they were sending me home. I had no drain, but I did become very sick from the anestetic and started vomitting, and boy did that hurt right after surgery. Because I was so sick from the anestetic and not doing so well after surgery,  my surgeon had to get approval from my insurance co. to let me stay over night. Other than that, I guess you can say that if you get to stay an extra night, consider yourself lucky.  Other than a sore throat, I was fine after a few days and then began the waiting game for my I-131, Best of luck to you.

[Jenry1013]

I stayed one night for my TT. No drain. Walking in a few hours.  Two days later I walked outside around the block with my husband.  A little foggy from all the Vicodin.  

[redheadaussie]

I stayed 3 nights each time. Had partial in May 07 then total in Dec 07. I suffer badly from the anesthetic though. Usually most stay 2 nights.

[nissah46]

I was supposed to be in for 2 nights, but stayed for a week due to calcium issues.  The surgery went very well, without any pain meds.  Good luck.
Trish

[lilypad300]

I was in for a while (2 nights initially and then a readmittance for 5 days)  because of my calcium levels, but the surgery itself went very well and I experienced very little pain.
Relax, get pleanty of rest & be good to yourself.

Best of luck!
Let us know how it goes.

[ChitChatNine]

I had a partial and had a terrible migraine with vertigo that got me an extra night .. so for me it was 2 nights.  All else went very smoothly.

C~

[meljam00]

Thanks heaps for your comments, ohhh getting closer only one more sleep after tonite, lol just watched a total thyroidectomy on you tube what a fool !!!! okey dokey off to bed now to dream about it all lol cheers and thanks once again...:)

[Thypatient]

I agree with above.  It mostly depends on what your calcium levels are after sugery.  If they're okay, you'd usually leave the next day.  If they're low, they feed you calcium through an IV until they become stable enough to discharge you.

It's really all an insurance game though, at least here in the U.S.  They throw you out ASAP.  The suggested protocol where you are, 3-7 days, sounds more sane.  

Good luck with your surgery.

[KB7004]

Mel it really depends . For me I was discharged the very next day after the operation. Here they did a couple of blood tests on calcium levels , saw my general condition and discharged me the next day. If the drainage pipe which they put around ( if they put one ) drains then it can be 2-3 days . But am sure you would be up and walking in 3 days time. Try and be little active after you recover your senses from the anasthetic...would be dizzy for first few hrs ....and keep taking painkillers they help a lot