Thyroidectomy surgery

To prepare myself for surgery I read many accounts. They were very helpful so I wanted to do a great job describing mine so that I could help others. I Also wanted to give a male perspective (because there aren't many male perspectives online) although the experience is essentially the same. I hope I do a good job.

First, let me recognize that everyone is different and therefore may have different experiences. Surgeons have different experience and different techniques and medical care is different around the US and in other countries. I only hope you have as good of an experience as I have had (even though I had complications).

I will get into the day by day, and sometimes hour by hour details. But basically I fell asleep and woke with a sore throat from the breathing tube and that was my story. If you have ever had a sore throat from a bad cold? That was it. 

Recovering from the anesthesia was an experience that I will cover. Again, not bad - just something you should know about. 

Here is the story:

I wasn't allowed to eat past midnight so I had a bowl of cereal at 10pm (13 hours before surgery). Even though I ate, I woke up in the morning hungry and wanting coffee. 

I shaved my beard off my neck because I just didn't want to deal with it post op. I gave myself a last pre-op weight check. Said goodbye to the family and dog, and drove to the hospital with my wife. I arrived 2.5 hours before surgery.

I highly recommend using the time before surgery to completely clean yourself out in the bathroom because the anesthesia will cause havoc to you in that department.

There is a well rehearsed process to get me ready for surgery. I was called back and put in an area with a bed and a privacy curtain. I stripped down, put on a gown and slippers, and climbed into bed. A nurse then came in and asked me a ton of questions. They ran an IV into the back of my hand and then my wife was allowed to join me.

After a while I was taken to Anesthesiology. All the doctors stopped by, one at a time, to introduce themselves. There were so many of them I can't remember how many! 

They injected something in my IV that she called a "Margarita". Then I was taken to the operating room. I looked around the operating room - it was a very large room with a lot of people all ready for surgery. I wasn't in the room for two minutes before they knocked me out - bam - lights out!

Meanwhile my wife went to a nice waiting room where she could watch the status on a computer screen. She described the waiting room as being very nice, comfortable, and everyone working there was accommodating.

3.5 hours after surgery started, the surgeon called my wife in the waiting room and gave her an update. I had been taken to recovery. He explained to her the tumor was "sticky" requiring him to remove the two parathyroid glands on the left. He also said he saw nothing that concerned him with the lymph node.

4.5 hours after surgery I started waking up. My question to the anesthesiologist was  "Did they do the surgery?" I couldn't tell. He told me "yes".

I was tired and wanted to go back to sleep but I knew my role was to wake up, so, I really tried. It was like waking up for work Monday morning after staying out late all weekend.

5.5 hours (4:30pm) they sent me upstairs to my room. I was still graugy and had trouble focusing. My wife had my glasses and that did t help. They had me walk from one bed to another, which I did without problem. They gave me a new gown because I had sweated through the last one. They put compression straps on my legs so I wouldn't get blood clots.

The anesthesia had left me with a mild dull headache behind the ears. The breathing tube had left my jaw mildly sore and given me a sore throat. The back of my neck and shoulders had some dull aching simply from the position I had been in during surgery. The nurse gave a heating pad for the back of my neck and that helped. There wasn't pain... Just discomfort.

At six hours (5pm) my wife arrived and was able to give me my glasses. The nurses wanted me to practice deep breaths to get the anesthesia out of my system. I had to blow out all the air from my lungs into a device and then breath in deeply.

At seven and a half hours (6:30pm) headache was pretty much gone and I was feeling increasingly better as the anesthesia was working out of my system, but I was still light headed. I received a calcium pill and stool softener.

At eight and a half hours (7:30pm) dinner arrived. It was all liquid: broth, jello, and juice. I wasn't terribly hungry but had no problem eating it and it was really good.

I was still on an IV, which was making me pee every two hours. It was strange to throw my legs over the side of the bed and use the bottle but it was fine.

At 11 hours (10pm) my nurse came to walk me. That did a lot to help clear my mind from the haze. It was very beneficial.

The day ended with a sore throat and very mild soreness of my jaw and back of my neck. I was surprised I required no pain medicine.. Otherwise I was watching TV and talking with my wife as normal. I worked on deep breathing and I kept drinking (and kept peeing) and it was comfortable and not all that bad. They allowed my wife to spend the night in my hospital room and I took cat naps all night long.