Advice on surgery

Hi

I hope you have got home and taking things easy. Please make sure you don’t lift the children, I appreciate that’s easier said than done. I found online grocery shopping brilliant . I still had control of what we ate!

My neck and shoulders were incredibly stiff and I had very little movement as my muscles had completely seized up. After about 10 days I went to an osteopath who gave me my movement back. It was well worth the £30 as I could drive again.

I had my thyroid and 30 lymph nodes removed at the beginning of April. After I was discharged I had an appointment 4 weeks later which was a follow up and I was told I needed RAI therapy. This was because of the size of the tumours and that my lymph nodes had been effected. I waited 6 weeks to for an appointment with nuclear medicine. I know have dates for preparation for RAI but not the actual treatment. If you require RAI there are restrictions when you are realeased. I have twins who are 12 and will still be on school holidays. The restrictions are such that my husband is going to take the children away for a few days when I am released. For us this would be less stressful. I will miss them!

i can’t help with travel insurance but will be sure you will be ok to travel. Just remember factor 50 on your scar!

Best wishes and a speedy recovery

Hello hello, 

Welcome to the forum though I'm sorry you have to be here! 

In regards to the tumour spreading quickly, the answer is generally no. What's more usual is that the ultrasound pictures weren't great - have you seen them? Looks like white noise mostly! - and what they thought was the edge of the tumour in the pics, wasn't.

One thing I've noticed with Mum's is that they almost always put the kids and family before themselves. Now I totally get that this is much easier said than done, but at this time, you need to make sure that you're looking after yourself too. You need to take a higher priority than you otherwise might. If you don't look after yourself now, then you could make yourself more sick and make it last for longer. Which isn't good for you or the family. 

As a heads up, you may need RAI after this depending on what the histology says. That's around 4 days in hospital in isolation, then when you're released it could mean another 2 weeks - worst case scenario - of having to be apart from the kids. There are ways to try and make that 2 weeks shorter, but we can talk about that if they decide you need the treatment. I just thought you should know so you can start planning in your head where you could stay and what support your husband and Mum might need while you're unavailable. This again goes back to looking after yourself, if you are offered the treatment then I would strongly advise taking it as it gives you the best chance of no recurrence. Don't let the separation put you off, because without the treatment, things could be a lot worse in the future. 

Regarding travel insurance, did you buy it when you booked your holiday, or are you still to buy it? If you bought it when you booked, were you undergoing medical tests, and if so did you tell them you were? It all makes a difference I'm afraid. 

Lass

Xx

Thank you for responding, in regards to the travel insurance, I had booked the holiday and brought the insurance before the tests and I honestly was not aware I had this issue, my appointment was for sinusitis originally.  

I have been told I am more than likely going to have the RAI treatment and being in isolation - what do you do for 4 whole days on your own?? I constantly have someone around me - it will be a shock to my system!!

Unfortunately I did not see the scan I was just told it was 3cm by 2cm. This may sound silly but does the size of the tumour matter?

MissNRP

Heya, 

Honestly? The size of the tumour doesn't usually matter at your age, not when it comes to prognosis. It can affect treatment though, as these days they don't usually give RAI for lumps less than 4cm. However there are a lot of factors to getting RAI or not, and they judge each case on what the lump shows.

See, I've only got my cats around. So the isolation is no different to my normal life. So what to do? You need to shower twice a day, so that takes up some of the time. Then you can turn it into a bit of a spa break. So get a hair masque, deep nourishing treatments for hair and skin, get all that dead skin off your feet, moisturise everything, and so on. All those pampering things that as a Mum and wife you'd never have time for normally.

Take a book or two to read. Watch TV. Catch up on movies you've wanted to see but had no time for. Puzzles, whether they are jigsaws or ones in books like crosswords and Sudoku etc. Colouring books. 

Just enjoy the peace with noone demanding anything of you, as well as having all your meals cooked and delivered to you. Though from my experience, I'd suggest supplying your own breakfast if your hospital will allow you to take in your own food and drink. But those sorts of questions will come later once you meet the nuclear medicine team should they want you to have the RAI. 

Regarding your insurance, give them a call tomorrow and update them with your diagnosis. Just make sure they'll still honour the insurance and that you're covered for everything. Make sure and take your EHIC card with you too, just in case. 

Lass

Xx