Hello pepperpol888, 

It's bound to be a rather stressful time for you as you are waiting to have your surgery -  now you've had your pre-operative assessment, hopefully it won't be too long before you have a date for your surgery. Our website has useful information on the total as well as on the partial thyroidectomy which I hope will be useful to you and help you prepare a little for the operation. It's totally normal that you forgot to ask questions during your appointment - you were probably still taking in all the information they were giving you and it can take a while to process it all. If you have any questions and would like to talk things through with one of our cancer nurses, feel free to ring them on this free number 0808 800 4040 - their line is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. 

I hope that you will hear from others on the forum who have had similar surgery before and that they will explain the process to you and share their own experience. I've had a little look on the forum and found a few threads which might be of interest and which you are welcome to respond to. [@Boobah66]‍ posted this thread back in November and also had a partial thyroidectomy and therefore could be a good person for you to connect with. I thought I would also mention [@L1980]‍ 's Partial Thyroidectomy thread and in particular [@MargaretMary]‍ who responded to that thread may have some helpful insights into your situation having been diagnosed herself with thyroid cancer a few years ago now. 

Best of luck with your operation. I hope it all goes well and that you find out more very soon - keeping everything crossed for you! 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi there student Nurse and thyroid cancer patient here. I had a total thyroidectomy with central and bilateral neck dissection for PTC back in November. Thyroid Cancer is generally very slow growing and the 10 year survival rate is rediculously high at 98% with distant metastasis exeedingly rare also. 

It's very common for it to spread to the lymph nodes (approx 30-50% of all thyroid cancer patients) and even when it has, it generally makes no difference to the outlook (it's not too serious). 

Levels 2 3 and 4 follow along the large muscle in your neck called the sternamaclastoid (CSM). You can normally see it if you turn your head left to right whilst facing forward. 

My surgery was fine (you'll have a cool scar). It's fairly routine for them. I hope it all goes well for you as it does for most people. These next few months may be a roller coaster but remember - Everything has a beginning, a middle and an end.