| Entry # 13 - Minimally Invasive Hemithyroidectomy with Laryngeal Nerve Monitoring |
| My Story - My Thyroid Surgery | |||
| Wednesday, 07 January 2009 00:00 | |||
|
I’m back from my cruise and the day of my surgery is quickly approaching. I’m feeling anxious. At this point I really want to get the surgery over with so I can move on with my life....
I had a preoperative appointment with the anesthesiologist and otolaryngologist one week prior to the day of the surgery. They wanted to make sure everything was just right before the surgery.
Picture of Neck Before Surgery
I woke up very early on the day of the surgery, around 4:30 am. I was scheduled for an 8:30 surgery but it was a two hour drive to the hospital. As soon as I check into the hospital the nurses showed my wife and I to our private room. Yes we had a private room for pre-op and recovery, lucky us. This was where I change into a hospital gown and jumped onto the hospital bed. The nurse eventually came in and started an IV in my left arm. She was just prepping for the surgery. My wife and I had a good 30 minutes to be nervous before the nurses rolled me down to the OR prep room. This is where all the doctors and residents came in and talked to me about the surgery and risks. The OR nurse introduced himself. The first doctor I met was the anesthesiologist and his resident. My surgeon also came by and talked to me about the risk of the surgery and ensured me that things would be OK. He also marked my neck with a pen where he intended to make the incision. He really tried to put the incision in a neck crease to help hide the scar…very thoughtful.
Once I entered the OR the nurses transferred me onto the OR bed. The anesthesiologist then started pushing his medication and I was out. The next thing I remember, I was waking up in the OR recovery room. Here the anesthesiologist monitored me and provided pain medication. I actually didn’t feel any pain at all. My neck just felt a little sore. After about 10 minutes of recovering in the OR recovery room, I was transported to the private recovery room where my wife was waiting. I stayed here for three to four hours and then I was released.
Surgery # 1 So this is what my necked looked like 12 hours after my first surgery. There was mild neck swelling and bruising, more so on the left side of the neck. Only the left lobe of thyroid was removed so this is why there was more bruising on the left side. The incision was closed with surgical “super glue” and a strip of tape was put over the top. There are no external sutures. This was done to help minimize scaring. The doctors sent me home with pain medication, percocet, and some medication for nausea. The general anesthesia did make me a little nauseated but the medication helped. I had little pain. My neck felt slightly tender….like it was bruised. Overall, I was very impressed with how little discomfort I had. The surgery went very smoothly and I was comfortable the entire time. It wasn’t half as bad as I thought it was going to be. My neck had minimal swelling and bruising. At this point I was hoping to get a negative pathology report.
|
