# going under the knife 6/6/12



## Rochelle70 (May 5, 2012)

Well it's almost here and tomorrow I call to find out the time of surgery and wash my body with the special soap that they gave me and then SHOW TIME!!!! I have spent hours on here reading your stories on what to expect after surgery and a part of me is ready to just do it but the other part of me is afraid of the unknown and the what if's....what if my thyroid is attached to some major artery and it gets cut and I bleed out? why do I feel like the only person in the whole wide world who has ever had this type of surgery? will I be in major pain as soon as I wake up? will I be able to talk?

Prayers, thoughts and all them good vibes will be greatly appreceiate...Thank you!


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Hey, I'll be thinking of you.  Everyone has different experiences, but I would be surprised if you were in much pain. Good luck!


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Best wishes to you! I was surprised after my surgeries--I was not in much pain at all. I had never had surgery before my partial thyroidectomy, but I liked it so much, I had the other half taken out a few weeks later! 

(Okay...kidding about that, sort of. My pathology showed cancer, so I had to go back for a second surgery, which also wasn't bad.)

You're already a step ahead of many of us - I don't remember anyone on these boards talking about "special soap" before. 

Keep us posted.


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## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

Octavia said:


> Best wishes to you! I was surprised after my surgeries--I was not in much pain at all. I had never had surgery before my partial thyroidectomy, but I liked it so much, I had the other half taken out a few weeks later!
> 
> (Okay...kidding about that, sort of. My pathology showed cancer, so I had to go back for a second surgery, which also wasn't bad.)
> 
> ...


No special soap for me. I was told not to wear deodorant the morning of my surgery because my underarms might catch fire.  When I woke up, all I could think about was finding some deodorant!!

Good luck! I don't remember being afraid of anything in particular - I was so anxious about EVERYTHING that I pretty much made myself physically ill. Once I got to the hospital everything seemed better, everyone was very kind and anxious to help me.

I was never too uncomfortable post-surgery and I absolutely could talk, and eat! My thyroid was grossly enlarged and the surgery was kinda' extensive causing my parathyroids to be damaged but it didn't hurt. I had to stay a few days until the parathyroids recovered enough that my calcium level stabilized but I was up, walking around, visiting with other patients, etc. I had surgery on a Friday morning and went out of town to a family reunion a week from the following Sunday.

We all have unique experiences but I truly hope your surgery will be uneventful and you can go home quickly.


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

Best wishes to you! I have had the surgery twice too, although mine were 20 years apart! I don't think you'll be in a lot of pain, but if you are, they have plenty of options there. I was groggy, dehydrated , and just wanted to sleep. Breakfast the next day was French Toast, and I embraced it totally!

Take care, we'll be thinking of you!


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Rochelle70 said:


> Well it's almost here and tomorrow I call to find out the time of surgery and wash my body with the special soap that they gave me and then SHOW TIME!!!! I have spent hours on here reading your stories on what to expect after surgery and a part of me is ready to just do it but the other part of me is afraid of the unknown and the what if's....what if my thyroid is attached to some major artery and it gets cut and I bleed out? why do I feel like the only person in the whole wide world who has ever had this type of surgery? will I be in major pain as soon as I wake up? will I be able to talk?
> 
> Prayers, thoughts and all them good vibes will be greatly appreceiate...Thank you!


You have my prayers, thoughts and well wishes. All good things will be with you tomorrow and you will be posting here on the 7th. or the 8th..

I just know it!


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## teri2280 (Feb 7, 2012)

Good luck tomorrow! As another poster stated, it's different for everyone, but for me, it was pretty much a breeze. I say pretty much only because I got bronchitis the day after my surg and it hurt like he** to cough, but that was honestly the worst (and only part) of my pain. I've seen stories of people getting pain meds in the hosp and before going home, but I didn't even get those. I'll admit that I was kind of bummed about this - I try to keep a stash just in case, (for my back) and since my stash was getting on the low end, figured I'd "sweeten" it a bit through this, but no. LOL. The worst part for me was not eating or drinking after 9 pm the night before, then having a noonish surg. time. I was joking around with the nurse before hand, telling her I'll come out of the anesthesia, have to use the restroom, and I'll be hungry. (My TT was my third surgery that I was knocked out for - I know anesthesia doesn't affect how I eat.) She doubted that I'd be hungry post anesthesia, but sure enough, I woke up, and the first 2 comments were "I gotta pee" and "I'm hungry" (I came "out" of it around 5 pm, around 20 hours since I'd eaten anything). The hospital food sucked (I work in food service, have for a long time, and could tell it was basically a microwaved tv dinner), so I picked at it a bit, napped a little bit, and when I woke up, sent my hubby to the McDonald's in the hosp. for chicken nuggets and a milkshake. 

My surgeon had to remove one of my parathyroids in the process, so I had a little bit of calcium rebuilding to do (Tums every 4 hours), but not enough that kept me in the hosp. more than overnight as was planned. They let me loose around 11 am on the day after my surg.


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## desrtbloom (May 23, 2010)

You'll do GREAT! hugs1 Remember to ice, ice, ice your neck after the surgery to keep the swelling down so you heal faster. Be kind to yourself. Take the time to heal and don't expect miracles overnight. You have my prayers and positive thoughts for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.

Patti


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Good luck, Rochelle70!! I'm sure everything will go smoothly and you'll be back to posting here and letting us know how it went soon.


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## haimia (May 9, 2012)

*I had to use the "special" soap before my last surgery - through neck to reach the spine! The "special" soap was to cut bacterial problems. I was allergic to it. My eyes stung for a few days after the surgery and now it is listed at hospital as one of my allergies! I am allergic to a lot of skin products - soap, shampoo, lotions, etc. because of the amount of formeldedhyde (sp?) in them.*


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## Rochelle70 (May 5, 2012)

First of all I want to thank everyone on this board for all the kind words, thoughts, prayers and all of the stories on here that has helped me to get through all of this craziness.

Well I am in day 4 of the healing process and it has been pretty rough to say the very least and I wish I could post on here that it was a breeze but it has been one of the roughest things that I have ever been through and I have pushed out 2 children (one with a huge head) and went through a hysterectomy and I probably would do that all over again than go through all of this again. So that being said, I guess i'm still a bit fuzzy brained and I really feel like I got a tummy tuck across my neck. I just have a ton of questions for the Dr because it all happened so fast and everytime he came in to see me I was pretty out of it but all I know is that he took out all of the right side and half of my left because it just didn't look good to him and he didn't want me to have to come back, he did say that it looked good to him and that it didn't look like cancer and the nurses told me that he has a good eye for that sort of thing and has been right 95% of the time but I will know more when I get that report. He started me on Levothyroxine soon after and I just don't understand why I should start taking this if I still have some of my left side and shouldn't I wait to see if it will work on it's own? The nausea has been the worst part of this, I guess I can't handle the pain meds well and so I can only take ibuprofen. My incision pretty much is across my whole neck about 5 inches so my neck is sore and is numb from the incision to the chin area with a tingling feeling, is this normal? my husband called the Dr's office on Friday and they said yes but shouldn't it be getting better? i'm trying to move around more because laying around is uncomfortable and my hips are starting to hurt (odd) I am able to eat everything now and don't have any throat or swallowing pain. Also not sure if this is normal but I have this wierd saliva thing when I lay down that is going down my throat and making me cough a lot, I started having coughing fits as soon as I woke up in recovery and had a lot of phlegm that they also said was normal??? all in all I am still in the rawness of all of this and it has been a slow and uncomfortable 4 days and Milk of Magnesia works a little too well.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Rochelle70 said:


> First of all I want to thank everyone on this board for all the kind words, thoughts, prayers and all of the stories on here that has helped me to get through all of this craziness.
> 
> Well I am in day 4 of the healing process and it has been pretty rough to say the very least and I wish I could post on here that it was a breeze but it has been one of the roughest things that I have ever been through and I have pushed out 2 children (one with a huge head) and went through a hysterectomy and I probably would do that all over again than go through all of this again. So that being said, I guess i'm still a bit fuzzy brained and I really feel like I got a tummy tuck across my neck. I just have a ton of questions for the Dr because it all happened so fast and everytime he came in to see me I was pretty out of it but all I know is that he took out all of the right side and half of my left because it just didn't look good to him and he didn't want me to have to come back, he did say that it looked good to him and that it didn't look like cancer and the nurses told me that he has a good eye for that sort of thing and has been right 95% of the time but I will know more when I get that report. He started me on Levothyroxine soon after and I just don't understand why I should start taking this if I still have some of my left side and shouldn't I wait to see if it will work on it's own? The nausea has been the worst part of this, I guess I can't handle the pain meds well and so I can only take ibuprofen. My incision pretty much is across my whole neck about 5 inches so my neck is sore and is numb from the incision to the chin area with a tingling feeling, is this normal? my husband called the Dr's office on Friday and they said yes but shouldn't it be getting better? i'm trying to move around more because laying around is uncomfortable and my hips are starting to hurt (odd) I am able to eat everything now and don't have any throat or swallowing pain. Also not sure if this is normal but I have this wierd saliva thing when I lay down that is going down my throat and making me cough a lot, I started having coughing fits as soon as I woke up in recovery and had a lot of phlegm that they also said was normal??? all in all I am still in the rawness of all of this and it has been a slow and uncomfortable 4 days and Milk of Magnesia works a little too well.


Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw; I am so sorry to hear this. It must have been a really tough operation. Sometimes that gland can twist around other organs in the area and that of course makes things more complicated.

Are you icing down?

Hopefully those who have had the surgery will be along to offer experience and suggestions.

I can only offer comfort from afar. And send you hugs.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Oh, I'm so sorry...I hope by the time you are reading this, you'll feel a bit better.

My incision was teeny, so I'm not sure I can totally relate. However, I do recall hearing from other posters with larger incisions that the numbness does pass. I believe it has to do with the nerves growing back and that can take some time...like, weeks, not days.

I do remember having trouble falling asleep the first couple of days because I was coughing a lot when I laid down. It felt like a post-nasal drip sort of a thing. IT did pass for me eventually.


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