Thyroid Surgery - South Hamilton,MA

I had my thyroid and 30 lymph nodes removed in March of 06. My doctor did an amazing job. I had no nerve or parathyroid damage. You can barely see my scar. I was in the hospital for 2 days. I had help when I got home because my daughter was only 3 months old. I was not allowed to lift anything heavier that 10# for a few weeks. I was really tired until my thyroid meds kicked in. I also cannot take any opiate based pain meds so I alternated tylenol and advil. It was 2 weeks before I was really functioning normally. Now it might be different for you because I was breast feeding and had a tiny baby. My surgery was unusually long (7+hours) so hopefully that wont be the case for you. I honestly have no idea weather that success rate is good or not but you can probably look your doctor up on healthgrades or some other website. If you need any further information please let me know.
If you have cancer and that is the reason for the thyroidectemy then just know there are loads of resources out there for you. Good luck please don't hesitate to send me a message with any other questions.

I had a thyroidectomy in 99, for thyca. The doc (an endocrine surgeon at a teaching hospital) sent me to a diff doc before the surgery and he tested my voice. Then I went back after the surgery and it was tested again - no problem. He also paid close attention to my parathyroid and ended up 'transplanting' one (there are 4 total) from my thyroid to my neck. The insurance initially refused to pay since they hadn't authorized a 'transplant' but after the doc explained everything, they paid.

I was in the hospital for 24 hours or so. My neck was very very sore for 1-2 weeks (I wish I had signed up for a massage during that time!). Between the swelling of your throat and the fact that they intubated you during surgery....it hurt to swallow for several days. It was a challenge to wash my hair without getting my neck wet. I couldn't drive for 10-14 days. I was off for 2 weeks full time, and another week at half time. My doctor was one of the few that didn't 1. do the radiation treatment automatically (he tested to see if it was needed and he deemed it wasn't) and 2. waited 4-5 months until he actually ran the test (a thyroid uptake scan - which involved being off meds for 3-4 weeks and then when the tsh was high enough, giving me a low level radiation pill. The body was then scanned to see if there was any thyroid left (hence, a thyroid uptake scan)). He felt that it was too hard for the body to go through the surgery and then the 3-4 weeks without meds - he liked to give the body a chance to recover.

My scar is minimal ( I asked him to put it in a fold in my neck...) and while I still go for annual blood tests and have to take thyroid medicine everyday....it really wasn't too bad.

If you have any other questions, you can email me directly. hth!

My sister had her thyroid removed a couple of years ago- she had a great doctor and everything went fine- she is still doing great today. If you have any concerns at all, just talk to your doctor- it's part of their job. Recovery for her was a little longer then she expected- but it was pretty uneventful.
Good luck!
~C.

Please make sure you get a doctor that specializes in thyroid surgery. Ask how many thyroid surgeries he (or she) does in a year and what percentage of his (her) business is thyroid. I found a great deal of difference in the experience level of the doctors that I called.