Yes, if cancer is found, they will probably remove the rest of your thyroid. That might be it, then, though you will have to take medication for the rest of your life to replace what your thyroid does. For most people, me included, this just means you take a couple of pills each morning and get on with your life as normal. I have heard some people have difficulty getting the dose right and may feel unwell in the beginning. A colleague of mine told me before my operation that her sister had had it done and she felt tired and down for a few weeks when they were adjusting the dose, but that is a minority. I never felt any different.

If they feel it necessary, they might also remove some lymph nodes. This will be done at the same time as they remove the thyroid and means you might take a bit longer to recover, but again, in my case, they removed my entire thyroid and something like 57 lymph nodes and I was back at work, teaching, a month after my operation.

The other possibility is that some time after the operation, you might have radioiodine treatment to prevent recurrence. Again, this depends on how likely they think recurrence is in your case, so even if they do find cancerous cells, this is only a "maybe." It sounds more involved than it is. It's really just a matter of taking a capsule and doesn't make you feel sick or hurt or anything. The only reason you have to remain in hospital for a few days after it is because you are radioactive and they want to keep you away from people who might be vulnerable. It's annoying as there are restrictions on your movements and so on (though mine took place during coronavirus when most of the restrictions were on everybody anyway, so I didn't have to worry so much).

My experience was a bit different from yours as I never had a partial thyroidectomy. They removed it all after the biopsy showed malignancies, but if you want to ask any more, feel free to do so.

Thank you so much for the swift reply Margaret, this is so helpful.