Hello,
I am reaching out to anyone who has undergone a Total Thyroidectomy and lymph node dissection and may have issues with swallowing.
My 78 year old Mum was diagnosed in April with a rare type of Thyroid cancer called Medullary Thyroid cancer. She had a Total thyroidectomy and full lymph node dissection on the left side of her neck.
She almost died in surgery as her windpipe closed up during surgery and had to be put into an induced coma for 24hours.
She was then extubated the next day and her windpipe closed so they had to put her into a coma for a further 6 days.
They attempted to extubate her again and she ended up needing an emergency tracheostomy.
She was in ITU for a total of four and half weeks.
The cancer has spread to her liver and hip and is on Levothyroxine for the rest of her life.
She has been tube fed for 11weeks and has now had to have a PEG fitted to get her fluid, nutrition and medication.
She now has problems with her swallowing due to the surgery. Her vocal cords don’t close properly and she is at risk of aspiration if she was to eat or drink anything orally.
She has saliva patches to dry up her saliva so she does not inhale this into her lungs either.
She must do swallowing exercises, as well as learn to walk and talk properly again.
All the time we haven’t even started or considered treatment for the Cancer itself.
Has anyone else had this experience from this surgery with a loved one or themselves.
Thanks
