# Partial Thyroidectomy :)



## Alli (Sep 14, 2012)

Well I had my surgery on Thursday 11/15... 1.5 weeks earlier than originally scheduled thanks to being on the cancellation list. They removed the left part of my thyroid and a baseball sized tumor.

I am so thankful that I waited for the surgeon I had because he& the team of people he chose for my surgery was AWESOME. The NIMS monitoring has preserved my voice & they used the smallest tube possible for anesthesia.

For those of you still waiting for your surgery and are worried about pain. I had MORE PAIN from my fine needle aspiration than I have had from my surgery. I just feel AWESOME right now, but that is probably to be expected when/if they remove a baseball sized tumor from your thyroid that was pressing on your carotid artery & trachea. For the first time in forever I can breathe... I had no idea how bad my breathing was until that thing was removed!!!

I am still waiting for pathology to come back... hopefully this week at the latest I will have news on Tuesday when I have my follow up.

Now for my BIGGEST TIP for surgery recovery... ask your Dr about what you can do to keep good range of motion in your neck... I think my obsession with yoga, working out, stretching (and lots of physical therapy experiences) has helped me to get back on my feet faster than I thought I would (I was planning on being down & out for a week). From the moment I woke up I purposefully asked the nurses & Dr.'s what I could do to improve range of motion/avoid getting a stiff neck. So I did the exercises they gave me, I have 100% of the range of motion I had prior to surgery and my neck doesn't hurt to turn. The only PAIN I have is at the surgical site itself and that is minimal (Motrin is plenty for pain after day 3) and I have a very LOW threshold for pain (example: sometimes someone hugging me normally hurts like crazy).

I'm just do glad to have this behind me... even if I have cancer & they have to take the other 1/2 out I know what I will have to deal with and know that I'm not going to be in a world of pain for weeks on end.

Thank you to everyone who has helped get me through this!!


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Massage - I had several massages post op to loosen the muscles in my neck which decided to tighten to the extreme.

The massages also break any adhesion's that has made my surgery a non event.


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