Thyroidectomy Recovery

Hey, there lovely friends! Wow, it feels great to be back and saying hi to all of you after a few days away. I’ve missed you guys and am super excited to catch up with all of you. So, in case you have been wondering where I have been. Well, I’ve just undergone a total thyroidectomy, and let me tell you. I’m so glad it’s all over!

Thyroid Problems

A few years ago I went to my doctor about a sore neck. And she found some nodules on my thyroid. This unexpected and totally unwelcome discovery led me down a path of incessant worry and anxiety for years. You can read all about it here, anyway in March this year I finally had enough. I plucked up the courage and made an appointment to see an endocrinologist. And when he examined me in May he immediately recommended that I get a total thyroidectomy.

He said that I had three nodules and a cyst. If I didn’t do anything about it now, the cyst was bound to give me problems in the future. Once he told me this I just agreed to go ahead with the total thyroidectomy. I was done with worrying and resigned to getting it over and done with asap! So it was a huge relief to book the first available surgery date-15th of June.

Thyroidectomy

So the day that I had dreaded and worried about for what feels like forever finally arrived. And early Thursday morning Steve drove me to the hospital.

And I tried really hard to act like a brave grown-up even though I felt like a scared kid. I’m just no good with any medical stuff. The last time that I had surgery was when I was about four years old to get my tonsils removed.

We waited for ages for the nurse to come and finalise my hospital admission. See the scans in the brown bag?

I joked to Steve that I guess I’ve reached that time in my life when I have now started to collect these. Anyway, the nurse was really lovely, she asked a bunch of health-related questions and she assured me that everything would be fine. She could tell I was clearly super anxious.

The nurse led me to my hospital bed and gave me a blue gown, compression stockings and non-slip socks for me to get changed into. I liked the blue and pink colour combo, they used to give out bright red ones. (My mum had quite a few red ones from all of her procedures) But I think that these are much prettier!

I said bye to Steve and after he left I burst into tears. Yep, I had run out of bravery by then! The sweet nurse gave me a cuddle and I will forever be grateful to her for her kindness and understanding.

The rest is a bit of a blur but I remember being wheeled to the operating theatre and thinking about all those medical shows that I really wished I had NOT watched. Then I spoke to the anesthesiologist, said hi to the surgeon and his lovely assistant and then it was nighty night for me.

The Surgery Was Finally Over

I think I went into surgery around 11 or 12 and I woke up around 3 pm. Later in the day another kind nurse gave me something to eat and she helped me get changed out of the blue hospital gown and into my pyjamas.

I had a drain thing sticking out of my neck so I needed help, plus I felt so groggy and sore. Groggy, sore but oh so relieved that it was over!

My wonderful boys came right up to my room once they heard I was moved to the ward, they had been waiting around at the hospital. My cousins also came to visit and I got so many lovely texts and messages from kind friends. Steve, Sam and Luke stayed until the end of visiting hours and we watched an episode of Dr Who and an episode of Star Trek on Sam’s laptop. Haha, I have absolutely no clue what happened in either show! I was still floating in the world of anesthesia.

Before the boys left to go home my surgeon came around to see how I was doing and he asked me if I wanted to see a photo of my thyroid that was removed. I had signed some paperwork at his office giving permission for them to take photos to show medical students. So I said yes! I did indeed want to see it and so did Luke and Sam, even Steve who gets easily grossed out agreed.

Well, after seeing that photo I am so happy that I underwent a total thyroidectomy. I could see the large nodule that had been visible on my neck. But I was so surprised to see that it was nothing compared to the size of the huge ugly cyst that had been growing on the right lobe of my thyroid. Oh my goodness I don’t know how that thing sat inside my neck but it was certainly taking up a lot of space!

Thyroxine

Early Friday morning I took my first-ever thyroxine tablet. And now that I don’t have a thyroid anymore, I will be taking this little tablet daily for the rest of my life. Thyroxine, also known as T4 is a synthetic hormone that I now have to take to make up for what my thyroid used to do naturally. Thyroxine will ensure that my metabolism stays balanced and my energy levels remain steady.

Home!

Steve picked me up from the hospital on Saturday morning and I was so happy to come home. Sushi kept meowing and meowing when I walked in. I think she might have missed me.

I am just so incredibly grateful for the unwavering kindness and support from my family and friends during this time. Their calls, texts, and messages filled with well wishes, along with thoughtful gifts and delicious meals they provided. Have meant the world to me! I have felt so loved and looked after and It’s almost hard to put into words how touched and grateful I feel. I am truly blessed!

Feeling Better Today

This morning I felt better than I have in days. My throat doesn’t hurt very much anymore and my neck is much less sore, even though I’m still turning my head like a robot hehe. I have a follow-up appointment with my surgeon this Wednesday. I’ll sure be happy to get the tape taken off as it feels itchy. And I will also get the results of everything they biopsied after the thyroidectomy. Both the endocrinologist and surgeon said that they think everything should be ok. So fingers crossed!

Anyway, it sure has been an eventful few days! I am off from work for two weeks and then it’s the end of term two. And we have two weeks off for the winter holidays. So I will be off from work for a total of four weeks. I am looking forward to catching up on blogging and reading blogs as I take it easy to recover from my thyroidectomy.

Thank you so much for being here today. I always really appreciate you stopping by to have a read. And I hope that you have a wonderful week.

Happy Monday (gosh, I had to stop and think about what day it is!)

Linking up with Holly and Sarah

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