A year ago today I had a partial thyroidectomy because the right lobe of my thyroid was not responsive to treatment and it was getting so large that my breathing was becoming affected. I’m sure I could have gone another few years before the whole breathing thing got out of control, but my doctor and I discussed and I decided to go ahead and have that lobe removed. It was one of those things that I was going to have to do sooner or later.
I’m amazed and impressed with how well the surgery went aside from the puking (I don’t get along with general anesthesia). I never took any pain medication and after a week I took off the bandages and got on with my life. I had a follow up with the surgeon only because my endocrinologist thought I was retaining too much fluid in the neck area. That all subsided with time and by summer the area was much less tender. Now, I don’t even notice it. The scar has steadily faded and I can no longer make jokes about being in a knife fight.
I will always have to take synthetic thyroid medication but I was going to have to take that with or without the surgery. What I can do now that I couldn’t do before is move my head and neck in any way I want and not feel the need to cough or catch my breath. Clothing resting on my neck doesn’t bother me either. Maybe I’ll finally go back to wearing turtlenecks.