# 1 month post completion thyroidectomy



## KarenB (Jul 19, 2013)

Hello everyone! I have been a little absent - my internet connection at home died a death and it's so hard at work to find time for anything other than my incessant inbox.

On Monday I was exactly 1 month post my completion thyroidectomy, following my PT on 15 July. Overall, my recovery is going well. I think the things I am having issues with are really just because of impatience.

My scar is healing nicely - I am taping it every 2 to 3 days (depending on how grotty the tape looks). Ripping that tape off is no fun at all, but I put on my big girl pants and rip it off like a bandaid - all in one go!

I still have swelling - under my chin, and above the scar. It's getting better, but slowly. I am sure that's just to do with the fact that I am not really resting as much as I should be 

I have pretty much normal neck movement back - some mornings when I wake up forget the scar is there at all! It's only when I do something stupid like scratch it without thinking (ouch) that I remember there is an incision there.

General well being is a little more patchy. I have good days and bad days. I get bad headaches now, which I never used to get - usually in the afternoon, around 2pm, after I have spent the day at work staring at a computer screen. I get very, very tired in the afternoons and evenings. I am sure this is something that will work itself out, but right now it's frustrating.

My skin is terrible - my rosacea that I had prior to all this has flared up a lot, and my skin is really dry. I'm hoping this has a lot to do with the unseasonably warm winter we're having, and not the thyroid meds!

The muscle twitches etc I was having have all stopped, and I am sleeping a lot better. Sleeping is more or less back to normal.

I have been bumped up to 150mcg per day, for all 7 days. I have a follow up endo appointment in 3 weeks (doing full bloods).

RAI treatment is scheduled for 25 September. I am apprehensive on one hand, because I worry about a) having radiation inside of my to the point where I have to be isolated from other people and b) the possible side effects. But I am also looking forward to it in a way - once this is done, I can fully get down to getting well, and hopefully all this will be behind me.

One weird thing - I haven't had trouble swallowing at all since the CT, but just during the last week there is a weird pressure in my windpipe, like something hard is pressing down in there. Like there is a thumb pressing down on the front of my throat. Food gets stuck there too, sometimes. I think this is probably normal, but it feels weird that it has come on now, and not initially after the surgery.

I am exercising about 4 days a week - alternating between jogging 4 to 6 kms outside, spin classes, and cardio intervals (bike, cross trainer and treadmill). I am starting back with my PT next week, doing light weights, and I honestly can't wait.

In hindsight, I would have taken longer off work. I took 7 working days - so one week and two days. I think I should have taken at least 2 weeks - I'm fine, but I think having that extra time would have meant I could have come at work etc with a different level of energy.

Anyway, that's my update! I hope this helps people who are about to go through the same thing. Even with the negatives - it's all manageable. I'm fine, and I am still positive that I will ultimately get through this to feeling 100% myself again. I just have to learn to be patient!


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## Velcro (Jul 26, 2013)

Glad to hear everything is going well!


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Glad to hear everything is going well. Listen...I jumped back into the gym thing quickly too...and I think it threw my numbers off. If you are feeling tired and having headaches, pull back to walking. I think it was Andros who said it would take a full 18 months to get back to normal and, you know what? She was right.


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## Velcro (Jul 26, 2013)

Isn't Andros always right?


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> Like there is a thumb pressing down on the front of my throat. Food gets stuck there too, sometimes. I think this is probably normal, but it feels weird that it has come on now, and not initially after the surgery.


I choke sometimes - now - they move alot around in your throat and may have strained some muscles. I read there is a flap that is suppose to close the wind pipe and ppl who have had throat surgery sometimes have trouble with swallowing or choking due to the flap not properly working.

Mine seems worse when I am stressed but can also act up completely unannounced. It freaks ppl out when it happens to me - an ENT said to breath out of my nose when it happens - it works to help open up the throat.

The tightness could also be adhesion's forming - if you have a massage therapist - go have your throat massaged,


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Lovlkn said:


> I choke sometimes - now - they move alot around in your throat and may have strained some muscles. I read there is a flap that is suppose to close the wind pipe and ppl who have had throat surgery sometimes have trouble with swallowing or choking due to the flap not properly working.


I have this issue as well... I swallow wrong and/or choke probably a few times a week. It stinks, but I guess it's just my new reality. Maybe choke is the wrong word for what I experience, but the food or liquid just doesn't go where it's supposed to go sometimes...well, I do think it's a mild choking...not like needing a heimlich maneuver type of choking, but definitely a "need to cough this up and keep coughing for a few minutes" type of choking...I don't know...I think I'm rambling...but yeah, I do also have some long-term issues.


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## Eliza79 (Jul 23, 2013)

Glad you are doing well and it's hard to believe a month has already passed! It's been a month for me as well (since a PT) and I know what you mean about feeling impatient. We want to snap back to normal and have the energy we had before. And we don't want to have to take it easy for weeks on end!
I hope the exercise routine helps you and that your RAI experience will run smoothly. Please let us know how everything goes. 
I'm entering my 3rd week of jogging since surgery and today was the first day I couldn't meet my mileage goal. (I've been jogging 10 miles per week plus probably 15 miles of walking). I have been SO hot lately and literally overheated while running today and felt like I was going to faint so slowed and stopped 1/2 mile short of my goal. It was a bummer. I am feeling dispirited because I have been pretty active despite everything but weigh 7 lbs more than I did when my thyroid started acting up a few months ago. I can't seem to lose weight. Hope this is not something you are experiencing!


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