My Surgery Experience

Monday July 16th, 2012 – 7 a.m.

Said good bye to the kids and my parents and started off to the hospital in rush hour traffic! Reached the pre-op center at around 8:45 a.m. My husband ate some breakfast while I watched him (nt allowed to eat after midnight, but I was not really hungry though, too nervous) and we checked in to pre-op around 9:15 a.m.

After a short wait, I was taken in to pre-op and asked to change into a gown/slippers/hair net. My clothes and shoes were neatly packed into a garment bag and sent to my recovery room ahead of me. Several nurses came by to take vitals, ask me a bunch of questions (do you smoke, etc.) and I got my IV inserted. The nurse said that it would be the most painful part of my day (which was true, but she didn't say anything about the following days!) :-D

I was the second surgery on my surgeon's list of the day, so someone from the surgical team came by every half hour to let me know how the first surgery was going and when I could expect to go in. Everyone on the surgical team had heard from my surgeon that I am a singer and the anesthesiologists, surgeons, and nurses all said they would take the greatest care possible with my voice. Most of the staff held my hand for a bit or patted me on the back and helped me feel reassured and get through that ghastly waiting time in pre-op (so nerve wracking!)

Monday July 16th, 2012 - 12:30 p.m.

Nurse came by to walk me down to the OR. Kissed/hugged my husband good bye and he was off to the main lobby where a nurse said she would come by every 1-2 hours to give him an update.

I got to the OR and everyone gave me a big "Hi!". Before I even reiterated anything to the anesthesia team, my surgeon called the OR himself and told them to give me a size 6 intubation tube because of my singing voice. The team in the OR asked me to sing a song and gave me something to relax. They must have knocked me out while I was singing because I don't remember finishing the song, but it was a lovely and peaceful way to go under. :)

Monday July 16th, 2012 - 6:30 p.m.

I remember waking up in the OR and being moved to my recovery bed. The next thing I remember is being in PACU (post anesthesia care unit I believe) and my nurse giving me some morphine, calcium, and calcitrol. I had some tingling, but nothing too bad.

The next time I woke up, my husband was there to spend a few minutes with me. As he was about to leave, my surgeon came by to give me an update on what happened. I was originally scheduled for a total thyroidectomy with some exploration of the adjacent lymph nodes. Once my surgeon took a look inside, my neck was a MESS apparently. I had tumors on my right side wrapped around my recurrent laryngeal nerve, two affected parathyroids, and several affected lymph nodes. My surgeon ended up removing the thyroid, the two parathyroids, doing a central neck dissection, removing several lymph nodes, and severing my right RLN (he brought in two other surgeons to consult during the surgery to make sure they had no other choice but to remove the part of the nerve mangled up in the tumor).

I was still woozy and he said "I'm not sure you'll fully remember the conversation but I'll come again in the morning to explain it again. It was a lot more involved than we expected, but you're going to be fine".

I stayed Monday Night in the PACU (usually patients move to recovery within 2 hours) because of calcium levels and also I was feeling nauseous on and off. I was connected to the drain and the IV, and to blood pressure and leg cuffs so I didn't really get much rest. I was pretty hopped up on morphine so I was able to close my eyes for a while.

Tuesday July 17th, 2012

My surgeon came back to check on me, went through the surgery again, but I asked him if we could talk again in the afternoon when my husband would also be there. He said he would come back. My husband came in around 8:00 a.m. and I got moved up to my recovery room. 

The nurse ordered me a liquid breakfast (some vegetable broth, a lemon ice, and some jello) but as soon as I stood up to use the bathroom, I felt super nauseous again. So she gave me some anti nausea meds and I ended up waiting another couple of hours before trying to eat anything.

The surgical team came back in the afternoon and I had already drained 45cc by that time. He said I couldn't go home unless my 24 hour output from the drain was less than 30cc. We talked more about the surgery and he reassured me that in a few weeks (6-8) I could go see a laryngologist and we could discuss options to temporarily/permanently repair my severed right RLN.

By dinnertime, I was able to eat normally. I had pasta, roasted vegetables, garlic bread. I didn't let my pain get too bad, tried to stay ahead of it.

My roommate got discharged so I had the room all to myself Tuesday night. I still didn't sleep too well because while the pain medication helped with the general pain, I still had tons of stiffness in my neck and back (later I learned this was from me trying to hold my drain in place).

Wednesday July 18th, 2012

I saw my surgeon and his team bright and early in the morning as my husband and I were taking a walk around the floor. He checked my drain again and said if didn't have too much output by 2:00 p.m. he would discharge me. Unfortunately, the minute he I got back to my bed, my drain filled up (65 ccs!) so I pretty much figured I would be staying in the hospital Wednesday night too.

For some reason, I had the worst trouble with swallowing on Wednesday, my throat was super irritated so I tried a soft foods lunch (mashed potatoes, broth), but then by dinner I felt OK to eat regularly again (french fries!).

I had trouble sleeping again, my sore back was just getting worse and worse.

Thursday July 19th, 2012

After the big 65 cc drain I had on Wednesday morning, I had only put out another 5 cc. One of my surgeon's associates came by to remove my drain (ouchie) and then said the pharmacist and nurse would be by to discharge me. I also made a follow-up appointment to see my surgeon in one week.

The pharmacist came by with my medications - Synthroid, Calcitrol, Colace, Ultra TUMS, Percoset, and Senna.

The nurse came by, went over some care instructions (don't shower for 24 hours, no looking up at the ceiling for a few weeks, don't life anything greater than 10 lbs for a weeks, no upper body exercises for a few weeks)

I got dressed, said good luck to my new roommate who had come in Wednesday night and left for home!