Hi all. I just had a total thyroidectomy 7 days ago due to a highly suspicious nodule, and I had a lot of non suspicious nodules and swelling along with Hashimoto’s for years now. I haven’t gotten my pathology results yet. My surgeon said he went ahead and removed some lymph nodes near my thyroid just in case there was cancer. I have a regular thyroidectomy incision that is just a few inches long.
So, my recovery has been going fine overall. However I’ve noticed in the past couple days, the right side of my neck feels almost back to normal but the left side of my neck is still quite stiff, and there is that “lump” feeling when I swallow but I only feel it on the left? I also feel the “lump” when I turn my head either direction. It feels as though it’s right behind the incision or a little above it. I cannot feel it through the skin with my fingers or see it on the outside. I also have a swollen lymph node at the top of my neck below my left ear that has been swollen since January 2019. I had two physicians ultrasound this lymph node including my referring ENT who both said it did not look worrisome to them. So this node is still swollen, and it feels as though it is “pulling” at this node when I stretch my neck to the right. I’ve also experienced occasionally a “clicking” sound when I swallow. Is that normal? Is any of this normal? I have not felt any trouble breathing so I’m assuming whatever it is, it is not a huge deal and will hopefully clear up within the next week. My follow up appt is on the 11th. I figured maybe the left is where he removed some nodes and maybe cut through muscle that is still inflamed. Or could it be scar tissue already?
Thank you so much in advance for your thoughts. I am trying not to let anxiety get the best of me through all this.
