The Three Most Important Tips....

Could everyone who has had a TT, sort out and and post the three most important pre-op and post-op tips for patients. You have been through it, we are about to go through it (for me, in two wks.) What is it you wished you had known, or had prepared for in advance? Any help would be appreciated...if we could do this for each other, maybe we could prevent some pain and unecessary inconveniences. Thanks. BJ

Well, I don't know if I have 3 tips, but the most important one is to make sure you get a good surgeon with lots of TT experience.  Beyond that, I can say that my surgery was very easy -- stayed over one night and was home with no pain the next day -- no issues or complications.

So, for those about to undergo surgery, relax -- it's not bad at all.   It's the having cancer part that stinks and makes you nervous.   In my opinion, the actual surgery is not too bad.  No real prep required and once I was home, no issues either.    I did have a bunch of turtlenecks and scarves on hand to hide my scar because I did not want people asking me about it.

For myself, the surgery was easy.  But after getting my stitches removed, the doctor told me to apply vitamin E to my scar to reduce the appearance.  If I had known that in advance, I would made sure I had it at home, instead of going to the pharmacy the day of stitch removal with this huge red scar asking the pharmasist which is the best kind to use.

I also found it easier to eat while at home to have my plate raised up on a few books to avoid the up and down motion of moving my neck to see my plate.

And as an fyi, my surgeon also mentioned that it will take your body 1 yr to heal from the surgery itself (applies to any surgery).  That is the reason why you are so tired afterwards.

This surgery was not bad.  Be prepared with clothing to cover the wound if you feel uncomfortable exposing it to others.  Personally, I did not want people asking me questions about what happened to me.  The location was too high on the neck for me to wear a necklace to cover it, so a scarf or turtleneck was perfect.  Since I had surgery in the middle of the summer, that was a bit ackward.  For the first week or so, the wound looked much worse than it was because of the surgical glue they used.  It looked like someone had melted candle wax on my neck.  Once the glue started to peel away, my wound become itchy and the glue looked dirty, but they told me not to mess with it.  As the glue released from the skin, I would clip it away with scissors to clean up the appearance.  Covering the wound just made it more comfortable to me to deal with.  Ice cream was a soothing treat during the first few days.  I was ready to eat within hours of surgery, but they would not let me eat solid foods until the next day.  I was hungry, so that was frustrating.  The worst part was trying to rinse shampoo out of my hair;  it is uncomfortable to lean your head back for about a week.  Some people say they also had trouble turning thier neck, but I did not have this.  I did excercise and stretch frequently weeks prior to surgery to help condition my body for the trauma.  Don't know if it helped, but don't think it hurt.  I had surgery on a Thursday afternoon and returned to work on Monday (desk duty).  I had a stomach surgery in April and I thought the thryroid surgery would have been much worse, but it was not.  It really was not bad.  Get plenty of rest before and after the surgery...you will do great.  Best wishes.

I will too say that the surgery is the easy part. For me, no pain afterwards, no voice or calcium problems, ate steak the next day.

The only trouble was that I already had some back neck pain which worsened after the surgery because of my position during the 3-hour-long surgery. So if you have such issues you can ask the surgeon to make sure your position is as comfortable as it gets during surgery.     

Prayer, Support, and Patience are my tips. Finding out you have cancer is harder than the actual surgery. I read the other comments and was suprised that they didn't have much pain after their surgeries. I did experience some pain, I don't want to scare you, I am just being real. I had more pain than I thought but everyone doesn't respond the same, ya know?! It just depends on how your body handles the surgery because it is a long one. I am not knocking anyone else for how they feel but as for having turtle necks and scarfs I don't know about that because I have never been one to care about being stared at or asked questions. My scar is healing pretty well, I just had my surgery on July 31, 2009. I have gotten stares and only a hand full of people have asked me what happened, I just say I had surgery, the rest is really none of their concern. I look it at my scar and see a mark of courage, strength and determination to beat my fight with cancer. I wish you the best and know from one TT patient to another it's not as bad as you think. You will be fine and I will pray for you. Good luck.    

Someone at the hospital suggested this when I preregistered.   Wear a button down shirt.  It;s much easier to get into when you are leaving the hospital.

My surgery was also in the summer and I did wear light scarves around my neck when I was in public the first couple weeks. 

Also, i did not have much of a voice and my kids put a bell next to my bed and I could ring it and they would come running and find out what I needed.

On Nov 04, 2009 12:58 AM Adrian09 wrote:

Prayer, Support, and Patience are my tips. Finding out you have cancer is harder than the actual surgery. I read the other comments and was suprised that they didn't have much pain after their surgeries. I did experience some pain, I don't want to scare you, I am just being real. I had more pain than I thought but everyone doesn't respond the same, ya know?! It just depends on how your body handles the surgery because it is a long one. I am not knocking anyone else for how they feel but as for having turtle necks and scarfs I don't know about that because I have never been one to care about being stared at or asked questions. My scar is healing pretty well, I just had my surgery on July 31, 2009. I have gotten stares and only a hand full of people have asked me what happened, I just say I had surgery, the rest is really none of their concern. I look it at my scar and see a mark of courage, strength and determination to beat my fight with cancer. I wish you the best and know from one TT patient to another it's not as bad as you think. You will be fine and I will pray for you. Good luck.    

Thank you. My surg. is scheduled for Mon., the 16th at 5:30 pm. What do you think of that time? I will have to go without food for 18 hrs...I am uncomfortable getting out of recovery at 9 or 10 at night. I am hoping all goes well...thanks for your info and support. What was your pathology? Did you have to do RAI?

Hi - Hope i caught you before the surgery! I just had my TT on October 8. The worst part for me were the 24 hours immediately after. I was really sensitive to the morphine and puked the entire time the rolled me from recovery to my overnight room! Once I got home it wasn't as bad as I thought - the worst part is feeling SUPER tired and, for me, my voice. I could barely talk - sounded like a chain smoker for weeks after. Just over a month later, my voice is almost back to normal. But it gets tired and raspy every day really easily.

Other than that, my real advice: If you have allergies, dust your room (or wherever you will be camped out after surgery) before you go to the hospital! I have allergies and didn't think to clean before. And SNEEZING HURT THE WORST! So, spend the night before dusting : )

Oh, and good luck on Monday! Just think of it as a new experience to tell stories about later. That's what kept me (relatively) calm in the pre-op area at the hospital : )