Please don’t be scared.
I had mine removed last month. My situation is a bit different than yours as I had developed a very large tumour and my thyroid basically wasn’t producing any thyroxine at all. I also had a large number of nodules.
(I knew going into surgery that they were removing a tumour- it wasn’t something I only found out afterwards).
I was terrified. Absolutely terrified. My BMI increased in the last while (thanks to lack of metabolism!) and I was worried about being under anesthesia.
I was so nervous on the morning of surgery that they had to give me Xanax to bring my heart rate down.
I was in surgery for 4 hours and came-to really quickly afterwards. Pain was minimal- I was told morphine was an option, but I didn’t need anything stronger than Panadol at any stage.
I stayed in hospital for one night and was very much fine to go home the next day.
When I woke up, I was bandaged across the neck. I was able to remove the dressing after ten days, and the stitches are dissolvable.
Before removal, I was having breathing and voice issues as the growth was pressing on my trachea and vocal chords. Before and after the surgery, they looked at my vocal chords using a small camera that went up through my nostril and down my throat. Not a particularly pleasant procedure, but there was local anesthetic and it was bearable. To be fair, they weren’t able to get the camera down as far as the needed pre-surgery due to the level of blockage.
Prepare for your voice to be affected. For a good week or ten days, I could barely speak above a whisper. Four weeks on and my voice is nearly back to normal but there’s a touch of hoarseness that’s improving every day.
I also found swallowing a bit tough for the first while. I drink a lot of water and am used to gulping it back but couldn’t do that for about two weeks after surgery, so would recommend having a few straws available. Or sports drinks with those sports caps. I felt dehydrated as I wasn’t getting as much fluids as I was used to, so sports drinks helped.
For the first few days, I stuck to very mushy foods like yogurt, and soft mashed potato, then built my way back up very slowly to my usual foods. Just because of swelling, I my throat felt quite restricted so I would gag a bit.
I also found it difficult to get comfortable in bed at times but just had a selection id pillows and adjusted as needed. Instead of just turning over at night, I found it easier to sit up and then turn, just to prevent straining my neck. But I think that’s just me being a restless sleeper.
Four weeks on and I’m back to my normal food and drink. My scar is obviously very new and quite visible, but it’s not looking bad at all. It’s very thin so I’m confident it’ll heal well. Because the mass I had removed was exceptionally large, my incision is bigger than normal. I did develop an infection at about the two week mark but antibiotics are kicking in- look up seroma, it’s can be fairly common when a large mass is removed from the body (seroma doesn’t always mean infection, I was just unlucky).
I started Elthroxin the day after surgery and will be on that for life. I’ve done some research and learned that it’s best taken in the morning, 30-60 mins before food, and with a full glass of water. I’ve had no side-effects.
Just be warned that, with the thyroid gone, you’ll have hypothyroidism until the medication kicks in and stabilizes. You may experience exhaustion and some other symptoms like intolerance to cold, or constipation. For me, the exhaustion is very severe.
Pre-surgery, my neck was very unsightly due to the lump but that’s all gone now and I’m feeling much better about myself and delighted I had the operation.
Best of luck with your surgery. I know everyone says that the thoughts of it are the worst but that was 100% the case for me. In the weeks leading up to the operation, I kept thinking “oh I wish I could fast-forward a month and be out the other side”, that’s where I am now and I’m delighted with how it’s all gone.