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The scar is ugly for the first couple of months and then it starts to slowly fade. Most people don't even realize I have a scar now, unless I point it out to them.
I was nervous going into the surgery because we didn't know if it was cancer or not. They removed the lump to examine it, because a needle biopsy was inconclusive. It turned out to be benign (not cancer) but it was pretty difficult, emotionally.
Coming out of surgery was very difficult for me, because I have naturally low blood pressure so recovery from general anasthaesa is always an ordeal. My neck, lower jaw, and shoulders were sore for several days, but nothing that percosets couldn't fix. After two weeks, I was allowed to apply moisturizer, which I did, to promote the smallest scar possible. I used a combination of oils in a commercial product from Arbonne (it's a MLM skin care company - I was selling it at the time). But basically it was jojoba, palm kernel oil, apricot seed oil, olive oil, and vitamin E.
Don't apply anything until your ENT surgeon says it's okay to do so. Typically that's not til the stitches dissolve (or are removed, depending).
You'll get put on synthroid or levothyroxine once you're out of the hospital, and it might take a few months til they get the exact dosage right for you so try to be patient with that. The pills are very small, and don't have any side effects. They are synthetic thyroid hormone to replace what your body can no longer produce on its own because the thyroid is no longer there.
You'll probably need your thyroid levels checked every 6 months for at least a few years (it's just a quickie blood test you can get done at any lab), to make sure the dosage of your synthroid doesn't need to be further adjusted.
At this point in my life, I only get the test once a year, even though the doctor wishes I'd get it twice. But I've been taking the same dose since surgery, 20 years ago, and my levels haven't budged.
It looks ugly at first but you will come to not even notice it. It fades and mine is barely visible (5 years later). I have never had anyone mention the scar to me.
Came out of surgery with a sore throat that was gone by the end of the day. Only took an aspirin for a headache; no pain medication. I actually felt great; wanted to leave that afternoon but they wouldn't let me.
HI! I am going to have my entire thyrioid removed July 17th due to Thyroid Cancer and am very nervous!! I just watched a video online of the surgery and it looks gross with a long ugly looking scar. How did others feel going into the sugery and when it was all over? Are you embarrased by the scar? The surgeon said it would be 2-2 1/2 inches long. Please rreply ASAP as the sugery is 13 days away!!
Please read the story of a surviving thyroid cancer patient who was treated by David Brownstein, M.D., in MI after conventional doctors told her she could not have more radioactive iodine and there was nothing more they could do and she still had cancer markers (or something like that). It turned out to be that her husband and her 2 kids were hypothyroid as well; all she learned with Dr. Brownstein made her decide to become a naturopath and she started a Yahoo group about iodine. You can read about her in her website: About | Stepping Stones Living, LLC When I found the Yahoo group (in 2007) I went to her blog and read her ordeal, at that time I didn't even know if she had survived but there she is, very healthy and helping others to avoid what happened to her.
HI! I am going to have my entire thyrioid removed July 17th due to Thyroid Cancer and am very nervous!! I just watched a video online of the surgery and it looks gross with a long ugly looking scar. How did others feel going into the sugery and when it was all over? Are you embarrased by the scar? The surgeon said it would be 2-2 1/2 inches long. Please rreply ASAP as the sugery is 13 days away!!
I had mine out about a year ago, it was done on Out Patient Surgery. It ended up to be no big deal with the worse part being my shirt would aggravate the point of incision for about 6 months. Now my 2" scare has almost disappeared. My throat hurt worse from the biopsy that from surgery.
The medication I take pretty much overcomes the loss of my Thyroid. Don't worry JMO it is no big deal!
Hi. I started a new thread, but I basically have the same question. I am much older (75), and have been diagnosed with nodes on my thyroid. The doctor suggested I have it aspirated to see if it is cancer and if it is, suggested I have both sides removed. My symptoms leading to the test before aspiration are being tired. As far as depression, that is hard to overcome, I have lived with depression for decades. I do not take medication any more for that, I used to. I believe in what the Bible says, believing that God will straighten all things out, including emotional problems.
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There is hope!
