Hi!
You will feel better- definitely- but, it will not be an easy road. It takes time and patience. Make sure you have a surgeon who is very, very knowledgable about thyroidectomies and performs many of them! Ask questions, be confident in your choice. I was in the hospital only 4 hours after surgery and then was allowed to go home, but I think most surgeons have patients stay 24 hours. Two weeks is a good amount of time to take off from work. I’d say around day 6 I started to feel better. The first 48 hours are rough, but I only needed Advil for pain. My voice was weak and raspy and tired easily for 3 weeks. I think I got my voice back full again around week 6. I took Tums for calcium for 3 weeks – 1000 mg 4 times a day the 1st week, 3 times a day the 2nd week, and twice a day the 3rd week bc the parathyroids are inflamed and won’t regulate your calcium well for those 3 weeks. My parathyroid weren’t damaged at all though. I had to sleep upright for 3 nights to help with draining (I didn’t have a drainage tube though).
Ask for a subcuticular stitch and asking if your surgeon uses a recurrent laryngeal nerve stimulator (RLN stimulator) to protect your vocal chords isn’t a bad idea either.
I’m almost 3 months post surgery and have been on Synthroid since day 2 after surgery. 100 mcg for 6 weeks and then upped to 112 mcg. and have been on that since as it has leveled out my hormone levels.
Are you taking SSKI (potassium iodine drops) for 7 days before surgery? That will help shrink your thyroid and pull the blood away from it to make it less vascular and easier to operate on. Gives you a nice metal taste- ick! Not a big deal though. After you come out of surgery and sip your first water, take time to coordinate your swallowing. I didn’t and almost choked! I learned pretty quickly to coordinate after that! Good luck to you & just make sure you have a great surgeon!
