My Total Thyroidectomy Post 10

“I am releasing you into the wild,” Dr. Broome told me 3 weeks after surgery. I had had no problems, no complaints, no complications, no pain. I was free…sort of. He had visualized the nerves innervating the vocal cords perfectly during surgery – they were not touched. He had visualized the parathyroid glands & not needed to touch them during surgery. My serum calcium levels were holding well according to the blood work. Dr. Broome said that relatively speaking, this was an easy surgery because there was little inflammation in my neck at the time of surgery (Woo Hoo! & thanks to Dr. Michele for the use of the cold laser!) & the thyroid gland shelled out of the neck like a pea coming out of a pod.

The pathology report came back with absolutely no evidence of cancer. Just a huge thyroid gland. How huge? A normal thyroid gland weighs 15 grams. Mine weighed 61.8 grams! Yikes! No wonder my throat had a full feeling. No wonder the muscles are spasming – they’re just thrilled to be able to move around again! Now I’m beginning to understand why I have had some strange voice issues the past couple of years!

So, what does 15 grams vs. 62 grams look like?
Pumpkin Seeds

Or:
Partial Garlic Bulb

Partial Garlic Bulb, loose garlic cloves & a good-size Shallot

Or:
Spoonula

Spatula

Or:
Milk bones

Lucy was going nuts while I made this photo!

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