How long in hospital for neck dissection? Advice for mum with young children

Hello there,

I was diagnosed with Follicular Thyroid cancer last December.

I can't comment on the neck dissection as I only had my thyroid removed, I was only in overnight each time, I did have my thyroid removed in two operations and the recovery for me wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be.

I have had the radioactive iodine and I was in hospital for 5 days went in early Thursday Morning and came out Monday afternoon. I couldn't see my children for two days after the treatment but they do say to allow for up to a week as everyone is different and it all depends how quickly the radiation exits your body. During my treatment I drank plenty of water during the day and made sure I had sweets to suck on as that helps with your saliva glands.  

Hope this information is some help to you

Hi there, if it's any help at all I had spread to lymph nodes from thyroid too but mine is Medullary thyroid cancer so had to all be removed surgically (as you can't use the Iodine treatment with Medullary). So although I can't help with the Iodine treatment sorry, my hospital stay was 5 days with two drains in. Mine was a very invasive 6hr op though but it gives you an idea. 

I've learnt from this forum though, that even though others have thyroid cancer too, each person's cancer, surgery, recovery and nerve/muscle repair is so very different it's hard to compare. 

Hope that's some help anyway. I wish you all the best with your op and recovery x

PS sorry forgot the important bit for you!! My op was total thyroidectomy, bilateral neck and chest dissection. Hope it's some help x

Thank you so much - it’s really helpful to get an idea for the radioiodine treatment- I am trying to organise things for my children especially as the oldest is starting primary school but it’s so difficult when I don’t have a timeline yet. I really appreciate you replying and i hope you are recovering well?

Thank you so much - I’m sorry to hear you had to have such extensive surgery and i hope you’re recovering well. You’re absolutely right that it’s different for everyone, but so far I’ve only seen the general NHS guidelines and it’s really helpful for me to hear some real life experience - I’m trying to plan for my two little ones who haven’t ever been away from me for more than about 36 hours!! So knowing that even if it is the more extensive surgery it still might not be more than 5 days away is so helpful to know - thank you and wishing you all the best x

Hi,

I'm so sorry you have to go through this with two little ones. It makes everything that bit harder doesn't it. 

When I was diagnosed my children were 4, 2 and 5 months. I went in for surgery the day my little girl turned 6 months. So I have some idea of what you are going through . 

I think that people's experience of time in hospital/recovery seems to be really varied. They had planned a left side neck dissection for me but when they went in there was also extensive spread on the right so I ended up having a bilateral neck dissection. If all went well with my calcium, my second drain came out 5 days later and I think I would have been discharged then. But I had severe symptoms of low calcium so in total I ended up staying in for 7 nights. I was really too unwell then to go home, it would have just been an additional burden only husband to have to mind me too, so I went to my parents for another 2 weeks. This was really tough as I was still breastfeeding my baby and had pumped all through my hospital stay. The children came to visit me every day. But I would also say it was absolutely the best decision in terms of my recovery. 

I wasn't able to drive or lift the baby for 6 weeks, I found this tough. We underestimated the amount of support we needed but luckily have family nearby who were able to help out massively. 

Again, it seems to vary depending on hospital as to restrictions following RAI. I was advised to stay away from the children for almost ,3 weeks. However, I wouldn't panic about this just yet as it really seems to vary by hospital. If I had come across this forum before I had my treatment I would have pushed for them to measure my levels after about a week to see how things were going. As tough as it was, being away from the children actually gave me a chance to rest, and to think about everything I had been through. I did a lot of walking! 

I'm happy for you to message me at any stage if you have any questions or need a bit of support. 

Thank you so much for your reply. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that with such young children too. I hope you are doing well now?

I’m finding it very hard to know I won’t be here for the children (they are 2 and 4…I honestly don’t know how managed with a 6 month old - that must have been incredibly difficult) - I just keep reminding myself that children are very resilient though and we do have lots of support. I worry also about the strain on my husband. 

I really appreciate the information you have shared on time frames etc. I don’t want to go into it expecting it all to be short and easy when the reality might be very different. I am wondering whether to plan to stay away from home for a while for my recovery as well - my concern is if I’m at home my 2 year old especially will find it almost impossible not to climb all over me!! 

Thank you again…and for your offer of messaging - is there a way to message privately on this forum?? 

I really hope you are recovering well and enjoying your little ones!! 

Your welcome, I have more investigations coming up as my scan showed the iodine had gone further than they wanted and there is a new mass. But that's why we have the scans I'm taking each day as it comes and continuing to be optimistic. Good luck with your future treatment and if you want to ask any questions and I can help I will

Oh I’m really sorry to hear that. Great that you’re taking each day as it comes and i hope you get better news soon. Look after yourself and wishing you all the best

Thank you for the well wishes. I wish you well in your journey.