[hmm0304]

#1059699

Hi all,
I’ve decided to have a TT to treat my Graves. Not thrilled, but RAI doesn’t thrill me either. Sigh. I’m wondering what the recovery is like after a TT? I’m 27 and have an 8 month old baby I stay at home with (and breastfeed).

We don’t have family in the area, but my mom has offered to fly out from Phoenix to help. I’m curious how long I should tell her to stay around and help? Will I be able to talk? Eat? etc.

I’m not meeting with the surgeon to go over everything until March but I’d like to give my mom and idea of how much time to take off work. Thanks everyone

[Kimberly]

#1176862

Hello – We do have some regular members here who have chosen surgery as their treatment option, so hopefully, they will chime in here. This board also has a search function (in the top right-hand corner of the screen), so if you are logged in, you can run a search for “thyroidectomy”, “surgery”, etc. to read their stories. This is also an informative site from the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons regarding recovery from thyroid surgery:

(Note on links: if you click directly on the following link, you will need to use your browser’s “back” button to return to the boards after viewing, or you will have to log back in to the forum. As an alternative, you can right-click the link and open it in a new tab or new window).

http://endocrinediseases.org/thyroid/surgery_recovery.shtml

Hope this helps – please check back and let us know how you are doing!

[ChristinaDe]

#1176863

Hi @hmm0304!

I had my TT on 2/1/13 (so about 1 1/2 weeks ago). I feel great! Sounds like you’re trying to get a feel for what things will be like immediately after. I’ve put up 2 posts since my TT…if you can find them they’ll give you some insight into what my recovery has been like. Here’s a synopsis tho…

I was able to speak as soon as I woke up from anesthesia. I was only slightly hoarse & that quickly went away…as in a day or 2. I was able to eat & swallow pills immediately…and I was starved! I did have a bit of a funny sensation when swallowing my saliva for a few days. Not that I couldn’t swallow it, and not that it hurt, but just like it was a bit of a chore. That resolved in about 3 or 4 days. My surgeon said no lifting over 5 to 10 pounds for the 1st week. He lifted that restriction at my post-op visit (5 days after surgery). So it would probably be a good idea to plan to have someone with you the 1st week for that reason alone.

As for pain…when I first woke up my neck hurt. They gave me IV morphine and when I woke up the next time I had some pain but it was much milder and I used oral Vicodan that time. I stayed in the hospital that 1st night because my calcium was low and they wanted to bring it back up. My surgeon warned me of that possibility in about 30% of cases. The next morning I was discharged since my calcium was back up with oral supplements and my pain was well managed on the Vicodan. I took about 3 or 4 additional doses of the Vicodan at home for the 1st 24 or 36 hours and then I went off pain meds entirely…not even Tylenol was needed! I had some neck stiffness the first week, but gentle neck stretches were very effective in loosening it up. Oh, and I drove myself to see my surgeon on the 5th day without issue.

I immediately felt better as far as mood goes. My only issues post-op that would have required help from someone (if I’d had an 8 month old child) would be the lifting restriction, general fatigue from having just had surgery (which was significant the first 5 days, and completely gone by day 8…but I’m older than you…51!), and a bit of an issue w/ my calcium levels. Apparently the parathyroids sometimes decide to take a nap after being manipulated during TT. When and if this occurs, it is typically temporary (my surgeon says 90 to 95% of the time) and the nap typically lasts a few weeks or less. This doesn’t happen to everyone, and if it does happen it’s not a huge deal…they simply have you take calcium at home 4 or 5 times a day. My problem stemmed from the type of calcium I was given (TUMS). While this works to replace calcium in the majority of people, it didn’t work for me because I also took Prilosec. So my levels unwittingly dropped by about Day 5, causing some uncomfortable joint and muscle pain, some numbness and tingling of the hands, feet and face, and a couple episodes of tetany (a bit scary and painful, but very short-lived). Just so you know, as uncomfortable as all that was…once I was switched to another form of calcium that I could absorb while on Prilosec, my calcium quickly came back up and the low calcium symptoms were completely gone (tetany within 24 hours, and the joint pain within 2 or 3 days). Even with that accidental setback, I felt 100% by post-op day 10. Had it not been for that, I think I would have felt pretty good at the one week mark if not a little before.

Also, I’ve never felt hypo or hyper since TT. My surgeon started me on 100 mcg of Synthroid a few hours after surgery. I’d forgotten what it felt like to feel this good.

So I’d say that if your post-op course goes smoothly that you can expect to gradually feel better and more energetic each day. I was feeling pretty good at about day 5, just tiring a bit easily…and suspect that I would have felt really good at day 7 even w/ the calcium issue if I hadn’t been on Prilosec w/ TUMS. But there is always the possibility that a few extra days may be needed (as was the case for me). So if my daughter was getting this surgery and needed help with her baby afterward, I’d probably schedule 10 days to be on the safe side or a week at the minimum…but I suspect that she’d be wanting to kick me out somewhere between day 5 and 7!!

Good luck to you! And I hope that you’ll be as happy with your decision as I am with mine…and that you’ll feel just as great after you’ve completed your initial recovery!!

[hmm0304]

#1176864

Thank you so much for the response, great information for me to consider. I never even thought about a lifting restriction. Glad to hear you are feeling well and thanks again

[snelsen]

#1176865

Hi hmm 0304,
I was in the exact same situation as you, when I had my TT. It was years and years ago. I had a 7 month old boy, was entirely breast feeding. I gave him a good feed before I left for the hospital, and had expressed milk for 2-3 bottles while I was having surgery and afterwards. (back then, no breast pumps, I expressed it by hand! a lot of work.) My mom fed him during the surgery,
and when I was about 3 hours post op. I did stay overnight, so my mom brought him over for me to feed-I was SO READY and SO FULL, and gave him a big meal then! There were no restrictions on feeding him. Generally, TT’s are pretty short surgeries, usually around 2 hours.

Everything else Christina De said is pretty much what I would say. My mom stayed for 8 days, and i was glad of it. She did all the cooking, playing with baby, brought him to me (as well as coffee in bed in the morning, I loved it.)
Did the laundry, etc. You might be surprised how easily you get tired, that is what I remember the most. After she left, my friends in married student house (we were both in school, and there were millions of babies and kids in our housing area) took Doug to play and get him out of my hair for an hour so in the morning, and some time in the afternoon. It was pretty unstructured, based on their lives and when I fed him. THat gave me time to get some food together and cook, fold laundry. I did ask people to do my laundry and that was a big help. It almost felt like a vacation!

I had no calcium issues at all, just a slightly sore neck, more from the position of my head/neck than the incision. I was in school as a student nurse, and I went back a bit too early, at about 10 days post op. I was one tired puppy. At that time, we lived a 2 minute walk from the hospital, so I’d use my lunch break to feed him, and/or have someone bring him to me and I’d feed him in the break room at the hospital. Super helpful that he was a fast eater, but he always fussed when he left me. All went well.

Write if any more questions.
Shirley

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