I wanted to post on here my experience so far in the hope that it may help and give reassurance to others in a similar situation. I read through this website coming up to my surgery and it helped me a lot.
I am an active and healthy 32 year old female who enjoys exercise, music,gigs and fashion.
I noticed a lump in my neck 4 months ago. I am a Dentist so I knew the importance of monitoring these. To begin with I thought it was a swollen node but when it had not resolved and had grown in size over a period of the next 4 weeks I booked an appointment with my GP. He referred me for an ultra sound scan. I had the scan a month later which showed a suspicious nodule attached to my right thyroid lobe. I was then referred for an an ultra sound guided FNA. I had this 1 week later. The experience of the FNA is much better than it sounds. I had local anaesthetic injection into the thyroid area and then another needle in the area to remove some cells for testing. It was not a painful experience only slightly uncomfortable. The wait for the results was much worse.
The results came back as a thy3f, no cancer cells was detected in the sample however the cells present were abnormal. The lesion was 5cm. 1 in 4 thy3f are cancerous and therefore a partial thyroidectomy was advised by my consultant.
This news was hard to digest. I have always had a major fear of having a GA ( although I have been involved in many surgeries over my career) I was terrified about the scar it was going to leave and the recovery process. My every waking area was spent feeling dread and of the verge of tears, I wasn't sleeping and struggling to eat. I couldn't get 1 out 4 our my mind.
I had the surgery 5 days ago and I feel amazing. I had no sickness after the GA, the pain was minimal and controlled easily by paracetamol. The worst bit of it all was the over night stay in hospital, I just couldn't sleep as I am a fussy sleeper any way.
I had my drain taken out the next morning, which was unpleasant but manageable. My wound was held together by staples which is pretty shocking to look at to begin with but I returned to hospital three days later to have the staples removed. The wound is red and swollen still but very neat and I really think over the next few months it will heal and blend well and I am already proud of it, it is part of me and an achievement.
I am waiting for the results of the thyroid tissue which is going to take three weeks but I am calm and keeping myself as busy as my stiff neck will allow me! I am eating lots of protein and vegetables to heal my wound and feed a positive mind.
I hope if someone's reads this and is having a similar procedure it makes them feel less afraid and good luck to you.
