# What to Do to Prepare for Surgery?



## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

I'm a big list maker and my surgery is on Oct. 10th, so I'm starting to prepare everything (helps me calm down!).

I've got plenty of v-neck shirts and pajama pants, I'm planning to deep clean my house the weekend before surgery, and I will stock the fridge with soft cold and hot foods. My parents are coming up to stay with me and take care of my dog when she comes back from the kennel (she has epilepsy and I'm afraid if she has a seizure I won't be able to help her like I usually do).

What else is recommended? I read earlier threads where some people mentioned a travel pillow helped, but aren't those the things that wrap around the back of your neck? I feel like I'm not going to want anything near my neck at that point.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

I couldn't stand the airline pillow so that was a NO for me...but I think some people feel like their necks are weak and need the support.

Insulated cups with straws were a life saver for me. I don't know how to explain it better, but my neck muscles felt oddly weak when it came to swallowing. Drinking without a straw was tough for the first week.

I didn't ice, because I couldn't stand anything touching my neck, but I would have some soft ice packs ready. Also Advil...if you go home with any narcotics, you'll want to get off those ASAP.

My biggest regret is that I stocked up on books I really wanted to read. I have no idea if this is an individual thing, but I swear I lost 20 IQ points in the week after surgery. I couldn't concentrate and had trouble following a plot line. So, if I had to do it all over again, I'd stock up on really low brow movies and/or cartoon/Disney-esque movies to pass the time.

Are you staying overnight in the hospital? Bring something to entertain you...there's no sleeping in the hospital.


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Thanks, joplin!

I have a pretty high pain tolerance so I'm planning to get off of the narcotics as soon as I can, in the hospital, if possible. I have enough problems with hypo constipation as it is! And I will be in the hospital overnight so I was planning on bringing my Kindle with me--it has books and can also access the internet if there's wifi available. And I'm going to throw some straws in my overnight bag.

I think I'm going to avoid the travel pillow, my neck feels weirdly sensitive enough right now with just my thyroid being swollen that I don't like anything touching it. I can't imagine it will feel much better after it's been cut open and glued back together. One of my friends who had a TT two years ago said the first time in the hospital she tried to get out of bed, she had to grab her hair at the top of her head and haul her head up manually, lol!

I'm not really nervous yet, but I am oddly fixated on vocal chord damage and having a drain in my chest for 24 hours. Those two things kind of freak me out.


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## StormFinch (Nov 16, 2012)

Were you told absolutely that you'll have a drain? The reason I ask is that I didn't, but then my thyroid was also pretty small from all the years of being destroyed and the large doses of MMI I'd been on.

Try to put the vocal chord damage out of your head. It sounds like your surgeon has things well in hand, literally. 

I second joplin's suggestion of movies. I too didn't feel like reading. I had even bought a new video game to help pass the time, and instead ended up watching marathons of series reruns and chick flicks that my family of y chromosomes don't typically like. 

Netflix on my tablet was a major lifesaver in the hospital during those predawn hours. You might also want to pack a few snacks. The hospital I had mine done in was really good about keeping things stocked for off hours binging, but I've heard about a few that didn't.

Go ahead and pick up some Tums ahead of time in case you have calcium problems in the days afterwards. I found that the fruit smoothies tasted the best to me and were easier to swallow.


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## KarenB (Jul 19, 2013)

I second (or is it third?) the straw suggestion. I had all sorts of problems tilting my head back to swallow, particularly after the first surgery, and the bendy straws were the only thing that got me through.

Also, I just ate a whole lot of yoghurt and drank juice for the first two or three days out of the hospital. Soup was good, too, but the cold stuff was magic.

I found ice was really good too, and really helped with the pain and swelling. I do get why some people felt weird about putting stuff on their neck though - if you can get past it, the ice can help.

I got off the pain meds really early - by the time I got out of hospital, I was only using them for sleeping, and even then only the first night or two.

I didn't use a travel pillow, but having learned from the first car trip home, the second one I used a rolled up towel behind my neck and it really helped. It also helped sometimes at night having a small rolled up towel between my neck and the pillow, in the first few nights after surgery.

Best of luck - the first three days are the worst, but when you get through that, you will get better in leaps and bounds. I am sure you will be fine


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

I did zero preparation for my surgeries, but the one thing I wish someone had told me was to let the surgeon and anesthesiologist know I'm prone to motion sickness. I was terribly sick after my first surgery (lots and lots of vomiting...I really had to think about how bad I wanted to get up and go to the bathroom each time, because that meant I would get sick again), but they did something different because of it in my second surgery, and boy, did that make a HUGE difference! (They changed the anesthesia cocktail.)


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## Kenwood (Aug 18, 2013)

I was REALLY uncomfortable in the hospital bed, cause my back hurt. So they brought in one of those recliners....and that made a world of difference in my comfort level. Stayed in that for the next two days.

Also they have these "warmed" blankets that really helped when my body temo fluctuated .


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Kenwood said:


> Also they have these "warmed" blankets that really helped when my body temo fluctuated .


Hee. Speaking of those warmed blankets...

Just so you know, while you may not experience this, you could have that whole thyroid dumping thing going on...especially if you have TSI. I had virtually no pain, but, mercy, was I ever a witch about body temperature (where's the emoticon with innocently blinking eyes???!!  ). They had a warming blanket on me when I woke up and I thought I was going to cook to death. I would love to tell you that I asked nicely for them to take the dang thing off, but, sadly, I was not that pleasant.

Later, in my room, they kept trying to cover me up and "keep me warm." Meanwhile, I was drenched in sweat and would have been perfectly happy if I was stark naked.

Again, I had no pain, but the hot flashes and overall jittery feeling was what made my hospital stay unpleasant.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

joplin, that's interesting. I had the exact opposite...no amount of warming blankets could effectively warm me up. Of course, prior to my surgeries, I had spent my entire adult life trying to stay warm (most of the time unsuccessfully). Since then, I'm much more regulated, body temp-wise. I still get a little cold sometimes, such as in a restaurant if I'm sitting under the vent, but it's nothing at all like it used to be.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

I was like that too -- always cold.  But I woke up from surgery drenched in sweat and was hit with hot flashes all night long. It was really confusing and frustrating at the time...I have to believe, now, that it was the dumping process.

Now I'm back to normal. Well, as normal as I get.


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Thanks again for the suggestions everyone!

I'm going to pick up Tums with calcium this weekend (in between cleaning the house marathons and watching football) and I'm super lucky because my dad is an anesthesiologist, so he's going to meet the anesthesiologist doing my surgery with me and tell her what I need (I get car sick very easily). I already drink pretty much everything through straws, so I'm good there.

My endo told me about the possible thyroid dumping and side effects and it sounds like a ramped up version of my hyper flares, so I'm glad to be aware of that. Usually during my hyper flares, I pop an extra beta blocker to slow my heart down and crank up the A/C. At the very least, I suppose this is preparing me down the road for menopause and hot flashes, lol!

I've got those gel packs you stick in the freezer so if I'm up to having anything on my neck after surgery I'm going to use those. I had to have gum surgery a few years ago and those helped with the facial swelling (I looked like Muhammad Ali had punched me in the mouth!).

I think I'm set, now it's just the waiting.


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## melissafitz (May 5, 2013)

Good luck! You've already gotten lots of good advice and sounds like you have everything prepared.  I just wanted to add one thing that helped me a lot in the days right after surgery. I found it very helpful to tuck my chin when swallowing (basically tilting your head down when swallowing). When you swallow normally, your larynx elevates, but after surgery with the inflammation your larynx will likely be less mobile, and tucking your chin gets your larynx in the right position. I found right after surgery that using a chin tuck swallow was more comfortable and also led to less coughing from having things "go down the wrong way." It was especially helpful when needing to swallow pills.

Good luck with your surgery! I was also worried about voice damage, but I was surprised how good my voice was even right after surgery. It was weak, but I never had any hoarseness. And it was completely back to normal fairly quickly.


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