I recently had a thyroidectomy. Here’s what to expect.
If you know me in person or follow me on any of my social accounts, you may know I recently had a thyroidectomy. For me, the took out half of my thyroid. The right side to be specific.
Before my surgery I had spent some time looking around the internet to see if I could find some things on what to expect, what the scar would look like, how long I may be out and any other info that could help me plan for what was coming.
Sadly, I didn’t find much. So I want to share my own experiences with anyone who may be going into something like this themselves.
For me, I had a partial thyroidectomy. The right side had a 2 inch cyst growing on it for the past several years that was really starting to become a problem for me. It was making it harder to breath. Now that it’s out I see that it was also making it difficult to swallow, and it was also effecting how I would sit or lay on the couch. Any position where my chin was curled in, was super uncomfortable as it was pushing in towards it causing it to push into my throat.
The Surgery:
The day leading up to the surgery I was told not to eat or drink anything basically 8 hours or so before the surgery. They gave me some things I could eat like an apple at certain times prior but I learned that if your doctor is fast and efficient, your surgery can be moved up and if you ate an apple you have to wait. So maybe skip the apple haha.
The surgery itself was super fast and an outpatient surgery. I came in some time in the morning and left by 3. This was my first surgery so the whole experience was interesting for me. From being wheeled around the hospital in a bed to getting pushed out to the car in a wheel chair. Since this was my first surgery and I’d never been on any kind of Anesthesia, I wasn’t sure how I was going to act. I have seen all the videos of people waking up and saying funny things to people, that was not me. I could not stop crying. I felt so full of emotion that I was a crying disaster. It wasn’t like I was even trying to cry, it just kept coming out and I kept apologizing for crying to all the nurses.
I sat with an ice pack on my neck for a long time. Had something to drink and some crackers and when I felt like I was good to stand, put my clothes back on and was discharged.
After Surgery:
Before I left the hospital, I asked if there was any specific way I should be laying down, things I should be doing, not doing. They told me that I shouldn’t get my neck wet for 2 days and that I was not to lift anything over 5lbs for 2 weeks. When I got home to rest, it felt best to lay on the couch with the ice pack on my neck. My muscles and neck were starting to get sore and it was all a little painful-even while laying down. Most of the pain came while I was actually laying down, like the act of laying backwards. It helped to sit sideways and lay down, same with getting up. I didn’t realize the amount of muscles that go into your head hitting a pillow for the night. Turning over was also uncomfortable and difficult. After a day or so, laying down was much easier and I found good positions to sleep in.
I felt pretty ok. I was really tired though and felt like I could take a nap all day for the first couple of days. About day 3-4 I was up and walking around but still had an obvious lack of energy. By the end of the week I was basically back to normal but taking a good time to rest when needed.
Healing Progression
Since I’m a photographer and I like to document everything. I took some photos of my neck and the healing process. The first image a couple hours after surgery in the car on the way home. The next image is a progression of 4 days after surgery. The 3rd image is about a week out after my check up appointment when the glue had basically fallen off and you could actually see the full incision. The last image is what it looks like today. It hasn’t changed much really from this image. Still a little red line.
I did ask my surgeon to take a photo of my thyroid for me because I was so curious to see what it looked like. I had in my head what I though it would look like and what a cyst looked like but no idea of what it actually looked like. I felt funny asking that because I happened to ask as I was falling asleep pre surgery but, they did what I asked and took it for me. I didn’t get to see it though till my check up appointment. I’m going to post the image below but if you’re not into seeing medical things or are grossed out by this…. stop scrolling now… or scroll really fast. :)
STOP SCROLLING OR SCROLL FAST IF YOU DON’T LIKE MEDICAL IMAGES
The top of the thyroid and where my cyst was located is on the left. The thyroid is butterfly shaped, so this is just one half.
SAFE POINT :)
Mine came back noncancerous, thankfully, but it was still something that I’m glad I got taken out. I’m now currently working on getting my medication levels correct. I even got one of those little pill cases to keep by my bed to make sure I took the pills every day. Skipping them on accident makes me so tired for days to come.
If you are looking to have this done and have questions I may not have answered, feel free to leave a comment and I’m happy to share what my experiences were that I may have forgotten to add into this post. If you’re having this done, I’m sending you all the biggest healing vibes and good luck your way! <3
