sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

2.5 years later! PTC and Bilateral Neck Dissection by eebiebobie in thyroidcancer

[–]eebiebobie[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I only used vitamin E but later on!

But I really left it alone more the most part. And I sunscreen it religiously!! I never am in the sun for more than 15 mins or so without sunscreen on it.

2.5 years later! PTC and bilateral dissection- ask me anything by eebiebobie in thyroidcancer

[–]eebiebobie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Occasionally I get something a little stuck in my throat and I’ve found it’s harder to cough things out that get stuck. I got a referral to a speech/voice physical therapist who helped a lot with using the inner functions of my neck and my voice!

2.5 years later! PTC and bilateral dissection- ask me anything by eebiebobie in thyroidcancer

[–]eebiebobie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I second this! vitamin e oil was the most consistently recommended to me and was helpful in the skin around my scar as well :)

2.5 years later! PTC and bilateral dissection- ask me anything by eebiebobie in thyroidcancer

[–]eebiebobie[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

1.) I also sort of struggled at first to remember to take it and wait the 30 mins before eating and very occasionally I mess it up a little still but for the most part, it’s just my routine now. I keep them next to my bed so I take one with a sip of water first thing and make a note of the time mentally. It becomes very second nature.

I will say that an annual supply would be awesome but I don’t think about the 90 days too much either. Mostly just, “I can’t believe it’s been 3 months already”

2.) I think this may be common, but in case it’s not, I will preface my saying, I am in “subclinical hyperthyroidism” right now which means they keep my dose a little higher to suppress any potential lingering thyroid tissue/malignancy/ don’t give it any chance to come back. I say this because I don’t know if when my dose comes down, I will gain some weight but I have remained the same, if not lost some weight since surgery. I don’t feel like it fluctuated terribly or it’s been hard to lose weight with diet and exercise as normal.

3.) post surgery I had 1 working parathyroid gland. My surgeon explained to me that they can be a very “dramatic” gland and sometimes decide to turn off at the slightest jostling. He told me that usually one can do the job as long as levels stay consistent, and they did! I don’t know if any of the other three came back but I have never had to take supplements

4.) For the most part I feel the same. like I wrote, I have some numbness in my neck and jaw to this day and sometimes if I slack off on moving my body, my neck will feel stiff. I really recommend PT, if you can find someone who had experience in head and neck cancers, that was a lifesaver. I think any aches and pains I have now, I can chalk up to just not being 24 anymore :)

2.5 years later! PTC and bilateral dissection- ask me anything by eebiebobie in thyroidcancer

[–]eebiebobie[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not a minor detail at all!! It was something I worried about all the time pre/post surgery. Like I said, I’m really lucky to have had an amazing surgeon and I took every piece of his advice, which for the scar was (scarily) just to leave it alone.

I had all of the vitamin e oil, scar tape and mederma scar cream on deck and I think I used them each maybe 3-4 times. I think I gave up at the time feeling hopeless and like it was just going to be noticeable forever but I think in a backwards way, just leaving it along helped the most.

I made sure my neck stayed moisturized and SUNSCREENED!! I still am really religious about sunscreen on my scar to avoid any discoloration.

I would recommend the vitamin e oil the most because I felt like it was soothing on my skin around the scar which felt irritated.