December 15, 2010

How long would the operation be?

According to the admission letter, the op will last about 2 hours.

Will I be awake during the op?

This is a medium risk surgery so I will be under General Anesthetic.

What’s gonna happen during the surgery?

Within that 2 hours, the base of my throat will be slit open about 8cm or more and the surgeon will proceed to remove a part of my right thyroid particularly the part where the nodule is and then freeze it and send the frozen tissue for biopsy. In the meantime, maybe they’ll crack jokes about me while waiting in the operating theatre. if the pathologist calls back and confirms its cancer, they will proceed to remove everything. As much of the thyroid as possible. If its not (quite unlikely), they will remove the rest of the nodule and then sew me up.

Are there risks related to the surgery?

Yes, there is a possibility which the surgeon has to remove my lymph nodes as long, particularly along the throat. As the thyroid cancer tumour may have grown into the wind pipe, if he has to cut off more tissue, he may cut off the parathyroid glands. Parathyroid glands help the body to produce calcium or we will get pins and needles in the feet and hands, if that happens, I have to be on calcium pills for life. There is also risk of my vocal cords being affected. So, I may end up sounding like I have sore throat for life. I may not be able to reach high notes when singing as well.

What will happen after the surgery?

I don’t know how long it will be before I wake up but I have been warned that I will vomit when the effects of the anesthetic wears off. Given my past record of vomiting even when I am having a headache, I figure I will have a major vomit time.

Will I be in ICU right after the surgery?

The anesthesiologist has informed me that because its a throat related surgery, if I have difficulty breathing normally after the op, I will be placed in ICU until everything stabilizes.

Can I walk about and talk after the op?

My energy will be low and it will get lower as the days pass. See, other ops make a person feel better, my op will deprive me of thyroid hormones for life. So, expect me to be weaker and weaker till my body starts on the hormone replacement.

I will not be able to talk much after the op, my dad warned me my throat will hurt, like a perpetual sore throat and his was only to remove part of the thyroid. My entire thyroid will be gone so I figure the pain factor will be 10 times more. On top of that, the breathing tube will be stuffed down my throat so it will also make the throat more sore. In short, the entire throat will be attacked.

How long is my stay in the hospital?

Its estimated to be 3 days, I am hoping it stays that way.