@BigMama1 Good luck on your surgery. March 27 isn’t too far of a wait! I know it’s long compared to the USA medical system, but here in Canada that’s pretty speedy. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly. As one of your Instagram followers, I can’t go too long without Gus-Gus photos. 
Will your body be automatically pushed into a hypo-thyroid state or can the remaining thyroid keep your levels in the normal ranges?
Big Mama - Please keep me informed as to how it goes! I think I had the same pathology results, but my surgeon opted to wait the extra 6 months. I’ve got it in my head that I’ll be having the surgery sometime this spring/summer - if it doesn’t have to happen I will be pleasantly surprised.
I read that the recovery is generally about two weeks. I’m glad that it sounds like the plan will be to remove only half your thyroid. That’s what I’m hoping for as well. I’m hoping that means much less reliance on medication.
The next 5 or 6 weeks will go by quickly!
Hardest part of prepping for surgery will be getting ahead in my work and the stipulation that I can’t take Advil or Aleve for two weeks before. How do horse people live without Advil or Aleve lol?
If all goes well, operation will be day surgery, and then dr recommends a week off work to rest and heal. Definitely no riding for a week, according to him, but people who have had it done tell me two weeks is more realistic.
As thanks Erika! What’s your Insta handle?
Apparently 2/3 of people are able to maintain normal thyroid function with one lobe removed. Once the surgery is done the ENT will hand me off to an endocrinologist for ongoing monitoring. Of course that all depends on the results though. If it is cancer, they will have to check for spread to the other half of the thyroid and lymph nodes, and assess risk of spread. The other half may still need to come out - I asked if it wouldn’t be better to just take it all now but they prefer to be conservative and preserve thyroid function if they can, which makes sense.
Thank you!
@BigMama1 I thought I replied to you, but apparently not. Whoops! My insta handle is ejhovius
We are about to enter into March. Not much longer now before your surgery. Just think, you will be recovered in time for spring & the start of the show season.
Erika
Thanks for that Erika. Just got the call for my pre-op appointment today so surgery is feeling closer. If only spring seemed as close!
Did they ask you to be 2 hours early for your pre-op appointment and then be prepared to stay for 4 hours? I got that exact request a number of years ago.
No. I’ve never had that one before. For previous day surgeries I’ve found the pre-op to be pretty quick - a blood draw and a bunch of paperwork, that’s it. I hope it’s the same this time!
Fingers crossed for you today!
Thanks for thinking of me. Sitting in pre-op now with my IV, waiting to go in. Will keep you all posted.
Home from the hospital. Stoned and sore but otherwise ok. Will be a week to 10 days for pathology results
Glad it went well…are you feeling better now?
Incision looks great - staples come out tomorrow and it’s already almost invisible. Not sure if the surgeon will have pathology results for me tomorrow or not. Would be nice to finally know.
My throat is still super sore - like strep throat level sore - and has been since surgery. Apparently that’s from the breathing tube during anesthesia and could take a couple of weeks to resolve. It’s very annoying. Otherwise I feel totally fine as long as I’m doing nothing. Walking around the block or folding a load of laundry wipes me out completely. Hopefully that improves more because I’m going back to work on Wednesday and was really hoping to start riding again in another week.
Time passes quickly. Do what you can, but be kind to yourself. You will be back in the saddle soon enough!
Staples are out and the incision is almost completely healed over already - benefit of having a plastics guy do it I guess!
Throat is still super sore - like can’t sleep at night and can’t swallow because of hot knives stabbing my throat sore. Surgeon had a look and said there’s nothing wrong; it’s just inflammation from the breathing tube and is also what’s causing a bit of ear pressure and dizziness. His suggestion was to keep taking the Tylenol 3 for the pain. Not thrilled about that since I go back to work tomorrow and need to be able to function, drive, etc.
No pathology results yet, will be another week of waiting. If it is cancer, the ENT will refer me to an endo. If not, apparently my family dr is just supposed to monitor my thyroid levels and prescribe medication if needed. However since I’ve had thyroid issues for years that she ignored because my blood levels are always “normal,” I think I’d like to ask for a referral to a specialist even if it turns out not to be cancer.
If you can take another few days off work try to do that! Surgery really does a number on your body and you need to take the time to heal…also stay on top of the pain as per the surgeon with the Tylenol 3. I let my pain get away from me exactly once after my surgery trying not to take the Tylenol 3, and it’s so not worth it. It really does make a difference to take the painkillers as directed! On a good note, plastic surgeons are fabulous and your scar will heal amazing…
Glad to hear that it’s gone well so far for you, BigMama. I had my repeat biopsy this morning and was informed that it needs to come out. So now I wait to hear from the surgeon’s office to get everything moving forward. I can deal with a sore throat- it’s a good excuse to eat lots of ice cream (and hopefully lose a couple of pounds from not eating much else!).
Good luck with your surgery! I’m down 7 pounds in one week - can’t deny that it would be good for me if the sore throat lasted a few more moths lol.
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