# Surgery 8/7



## jade (Aug 6, 2013)

My surgery is scheduled for 10am tomorrow. I haven't been too nervous until today because I've been on vacation and keeping busy. I'll be staying overnight so I'm trying to get a bag packed right now. I hope I can sleep tonight because the closer it gets, the more worried I'm getting.


----------



## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

No need to pack anything other than pajamas and a robe.

Try and relax - it's all going to work out.

When will they be starting your replacement?


----------



## jade (Aug 6, 2013)

I don't think they said when I'd start the replacement.


----------



## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Sending positive vibes your way! Best wishes for a very successful surgery!


----------



## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Wishing you the best today!


----------



## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Good luck to you and we will all be anxious to hear from you when you are feeling up to it!

Hugs and prayers for good times!


----------



## a2bc2 (Jul 22, 2014)

please keep us posted. hope that you heal quickly.


----------



## jade (Aug 6, 2013)

I just got back home. Surgery went really well and I'm going great so far. I think the operation was about 4 hours or so. (I had TT for multi-nodular goiter/Graves/compression symptoms). No pain other than a minor sore throat when I eat or drink something. I was walking around at the hospital last night and had a regular dinner. My voice was a bit hoarse yesterday, but it's not as bad today. I didn't get stitches, just Dermabond, but everything looks good so far. I'm mostly just shocked by how easy the whole thing was. Once the anesthesia wore off in the recovery area, I started feeling back to normal very quickly. No calcium issues or pain at all. I started the synthroid this morning, so I hope getting on the right dose goes as well as the surgery, but so far so good. I was lucky to have a great surgeon and the everyone at the hospital was so nice. Thanks everyone here for the messages and thoughts. I appreciate it  I'm going to try to get some rest now because it was kind of hard sleeping at the hospital.


----------



## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Wonderful news! Take care of yourself.


----------



## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Awesome news! Isn't it amazing how they can cut your neck open and several hours later you feel almost normal? Our bodies are pretty incredible.


----------



## jade (Aug 6, 2013)

I'm feeling pretty good today. Still not much pain, just some general soreness around my neck. I'm using a cool pack off and on and it helps. I feel like I have some congestion in my throat and on two occasions felt like I could choke on my saliva after eating. Once it was mac & cheese and the other time with Tums. Maybe it's the dairy/calcium? I was clearing my throat right after I woke up and the nurse told me not to do that too much. I'm sticking with hot tea and clear liquids for now. Has anyone else had this happen after surgery?


----------



## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Yowza!!! You are the bomb and so is your medical team! We are all so so happy to hear from you so soon!

Gentle hugs,


----------



## jade (Aug 6, 2013)

Doing much better today. The choking seems to have resolved itself for now. Still no calcium problems. My voice is great. No pain, just some tightness in the front of my neck. I'm so relieved things are going well so far. I guess my thyroid was going down into my chest so I didn't expect such a fast recovery. Thanks everyone for your comments & support =)


----------



## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

jade, the breathing tube they use during surgery can sometimes cause congestion in your lungs/throat, so don't be surprised if you have some coughing fits or even cough up some congestion (ew, I know). I kept some peppermints on hand for a few weeks after surgery because the coughing fits aren't much fun when your incision is glued together, lol!


----------



## jade (Aug 6, 2013)

jenny v said:


> jade, the breathing tube they use during surgery can sometimes cause congestion in your lungs/throat, so don't be surprised if you have some coughing fits or even cough up some congestion (ew, I know). I kept some peppermints on hand for a few weeks after surgery because the coughing fits aren't much fun when your incision is glued together, lol!


Okay, so I'm glad it's not just me. I'm finding hot tea is working well too.


----------



## jade (Aug 6, 2013)

My incision is closed with Dermabond (no external stitches) and there's a steri-strip over it. There's a few vertical pucker lines across it (looks like smoker's lines) so it doesn't lie completely flat on my neck. Does anyone know if my scar will still heal flat or there will be these lines? They'll remove the glue & steri-strip at my post-op appointment next week.


----------



## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

The usual advice is to be really diligent about scar massage once the steri strips are removed and things have healed up. You'll want to use a vit e lotion and try to press on the scar. The more firmly you can press, the better (but, to be clear, at first you need to be gentle).

Also, you might want to look into the silicone scar strips. I know people have had good luck with them -- I never used them.


----------



## jade (Aug 6, 2013)

joplin1975 said:


> The usual advice is to be really diligent about scar massage once the steri strips are removed and things have healed up. You'll want to use a vit e lotion and try to press on the scar. The more firmly you can press, the better (but, to be clear, at first you need to be gentle).
> 
> Also, you might want to look into the silicone scar strips. I know people have had good luck with them -- I never used them.


I'll just have to be patient for now since this is only day 4 post-op. The nurse said the steri-strips might fall off on their own before the appointment, but it feels like they're on pretty good. I'm going to look into the silicone strips. Thanks


----------



## KeepOnGoing (Jan 2, 2013)

Four days post op, my scar looked dreadful - puckered and lumpy.

Now you really can't see it at all.

One more suggestion for when the time comes - Bio-oil. The surgeon didn't seem to think that it would make a difference, but I did like the feeling that I was doing something positive to make things better and I'm certainly very pleased with the end result (and I had two ops, not just one...)


----------



## jade (Aug 6, 2013)

KeepOnGoing said:


> Four days post op, my scar looked dreadful - puckered and lumpy.
> 
> Now you really can't see it at all.
> 
> One more suggestion for when the time comes - Bio-oil. The surgeon didn't seem to think that it would make a difference, but I did like the feeling that I was doing something positive to make things better and I'm certainly very pleased with the end result (and I had two ops, not just one...)


Thanks for the suggestion. I've seen that in stores and wondered if it worked. Right now the steri-strip looks like it's superglued to my neck like hard paper mâché almost like it's become part of the skin so I can't actually see the incision. I'm guessing it's going to feel worse than ripping a bandaid off when it does come off. Anyways, I'm doing great. I took a short drive to the grocery store today and would've taken a walk if it weren't for my hayfever. I've found sneezing isn't too fun after surgery.


----------



## jade (Aug 6, 2013)

I had my post-op with my surgeon today. The path report says benign multi-nodular goiter with 'mild patchy lymphocytic thyroiditis'. No cancer. The two nodule biopsies I had last year were benign, so I wasn't too worried that it was cancer. The incision is healing well. It's 5cm because my thryoid was pretty big, but it looks mostly flat now. I had lots of nodules but the doctor wrote that he didn't see the kind of changes typical of Graves. Not sure what that means. My voice is still mildly hoarse at times and it's hard to talk very loud, but I hope that's normal since it hasn't been 2 weeks since my op. I feel like there's improvement each day. All 4 parathyroids were preserved and fine. He's re-testing my levels in about 6 weeks. I'm feeling 100% and don't have the annoying comnpression symptoms that were literally choking me for months and months. I got some Bio-Oil to start now and some ScarAway strips to start in a week or so.


----------



## jade (Aug 6, 2013)

For those of you who had a TT, how long did it take for your voice to get back to normal after surgery? My voice isn't hoarse, but I feel like I'm talking monotone and it's a strain to have much inflection or talk loudly. My surgery was just over 2 weeks ago.


----------

