Hello, In November I found out that I have cancer in my thyroid. I am due to see the specialist on Thursday to see what they are going to do.  Both myself and my wife are worried as too what is going to be said. How was your operation and how long did it take to remove the thyroid. How long did you stay in hospital afterwards. I am not looking forward to stay in hospital. I hate them, especially more now because of Covid. So any advice you have will be gladly received.

Hi, sorry to hear your news. It is a worrying time and nothing I can say will make it any easier. We all deal with things differently. I had a hemi thyroidectomy in June (half removed) and that's when they found the cancer, initially they were just removing a large lump and didn't suspect cancer. I was in hospital for just 24 hours which was great although I couldn't fault the doctors and nurses for their care. I then had a second surgery 4 weeks later again was just in for 24 hours. I think it depends on the hospital and surgeon, but most people on a Facebook group I joined were also just 24 hours. Hopefully yours will be too. If I'm honest the first 24 hours pain wise was the worst but it started to ease after that. I was off work for approx 5 months but that's because of having to shield between each lot of treatment and then I lost my voice (quite rare) and had to undergo speech therapy (I work as a receptionist so I couldn't do my job).

Don't be afraid to ask the specialist questions on Thursday, write a list (I did) it's a worrying time and you need to have your concerns answered. I wish you the best of luck on Thursday, please feel free to ask me any questions,

Hi. Sorry to hear your news. I had surgery in November - total thyroidectomy and selective neck dissection. I stayed in 4 nights. I had 2 drains. 1 came out on day 3 and other on day of release. They normally keep you in until drains are out. I had a bleed during operation and low calcium (had to have a drip for 24hrs) which probably slowed my release from hospital by a day.   Hope everything goes well and if you need anymore information please ask x

Saw Ent today, its appears my cancer in the thyroid is a rare one.(trust me to get one of them) I had to have another lot of blood tests done and will have to wait two weeks before I know what's happening. On top of that, the lung cancer they have now found a cyst on one of my kidneys..After reading up about the cyst that can easily be resolved. One of the tumour in my lung has shrunk so looks like things might just get better soon for me.

Hi, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in March after having a lump and half my thyroid removed in Feb.  I had my consultation yesterday and I have to have the other half of the thyroid removed and radioactive iodine treatment.  

Has anyone else had the iodine therapy?  I've just been reading up on it and I'm not sure if I want to have it or not? 

I had radioiodine treatment last May. It was more annoying than anything else, with the low iodine diet beforehand and the distancing afterwards. I think covid made it easier, to be honest, as people are mostly staying two metres apart anyway. And I was working from home at the time, so didn't need to take time off. The only side effect I had was a nose bleed about 11 days afterwards and a slight tenderness in my nose after that, if that is what you are concerned about.

There are a number of restrictions but most really aren't a big deal. They told me it was really just about social distancing at home as well as outdoors.

I was reading up on it and there is a risk of having a stroke and secondary cancer but I'm not sure how high the risk is?  

How long did you have to stay in hospital for the iodine treatment? 

I stayed in hospital for two days. Went in on Tuesday, went home fairly early Thursday morning. 

My full schedule went like this: Friday: an appointment to meet with the medical team and I think get a blood test. Sunday: first injection of Thyrogen. Monday: second injection of Thyrogen. I went home after each of those appointments. Tuesday: hospital admission and iodine tablet. Thursday morning: full body scan and go home.

I didn't hear anything about the risk of having a stroke and my medical team didn't even mention it so I doubt it's significant. They did mention a slightly increased risk of leukemia, saying that some studies said the risk is slightly increased, some say it isn't.

I'd ask the medical team about anything you've read that concerns you. While it wasn't anything particularly worrying, I saw advice online beforehand about seeing a dentist as it could cause tooth decay. One of the doctors said I could check with a dentist if I wanted to be sure, but that she had never had a patient who had any problems with their teeth as a result.

Thank you Margaret, that's helped a lot.  

It doesn't always help to google stuff ! x