Hi.
In March I was diagnosed with papilary thyroid cancer. Had surgery and I am 4 weeks past RAI (radioactive iodine capsule) now. Feeling really fed up as swelling in and around my neck is not going down. I was fine after few weeks post surgery,all healed nicely and scar loosened up and now after RAI all that came back with vengeance. Will it ever go down (the swelling and tight feeling round the neck)?
I do not have cancer/Macmillan nurse so cannot ask them.
Thanks all.
Hi IsabellFel,
Thanks for getting in touch and welcome to the Online Community. I hope you have found it supportive so far. I’m Helen, one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line. I am sorry to hear that you are having problems with swelling in your neck following treatment with radioactive iodine.
Some people may have a feeling of tightness or swelling in their neck for a few days after treatment. This is more common if you still had a large part of your thyroid gland in place when you had the radioactive iodine. As you are still experiencing this after 4 weeks it’s really important that you let your team at the hospital know.
As you don’t have a named nurse at the hospital, we would suggest you contact your consultant’s secretary and ask to speak to them. If you don’t have a number for them, you can ask the hospital switchboard to put you through.
It’s probably nothing serious but we would recommend speaking to your consultant, even if it’s just to put your mind at ease. As this has been a problem for a matter of weeks, we would encourage you to do this as soon as you can, so they can look into what is causing the swelling and start to resolve the problem.
If you experience any worsening of your symptoms, such as difficulty in breathing or swallowing please don’t hesitate to call 111 or 999 depending on the severity of the problem.
I do hope you manage to get this problem resolved.
Best wishes
Helen, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist.
You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.
Ref: HK / DC
